What Does Mobile Imaging Cost? A Facility's Guide to Pricing

"What does mobile imaging cost?" is the first question most facilities ask. The honest answer is that it depends on one thing above all others: whether the resident is in a Medicare-covered Part A stay. Get that wrong and you will budget for the wrong number.

Who actually pays — this depends on the resident's stay

There are two cases, and they produce opposite answers. Establish which one applies before you compare a single price.

Resident in a Medicare-covered Part A stay

The facility pays. Under SNF consolidated billing, the technical component of portable X-ray — along with the associated transportation and set-up costs — is not separately billable to Part B. It is bundled into the SNF's Prospective Payment System rate. Only the professional component (the radiologist's read) is separately billable to Part B.

So for a Part A resident, a mobile imaging provider that follows the rules will invoice your facility for the technical component and the trip. That is not a provider being difficult; it is the provider billing correctly.

One lever genuinely reduces this: when several residents are imaged on the same visit, the single transportation payment is prorated across everyone served on that trip. Batching orders lowers the per-resident cost.

Resident not in a Part A stay

Here the familiar answer holds. Medicare Part B covers portable X-ray, ultrasound, and EKG ordered by a physician, and the provider bills Medicare (or the resident's plan) directly. The facility isn't invoiced per study — the billing relationship is between the provider and the payer.

For this case your decision isn't a sticker price — it's which provider, what response time, and on what terms.

Source: CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Pub. 100-04, Chapter 13 §90–§90.5.

Scope: this covers portable studies — X-ray, ultrasound, EKG. Studies that need a fixed scanner (MRI, CT, PET, full-field mammography) can't be delivered in-home and involve transport + separate facility pricing.

For how Medicare actually reimburses these — CPT/HCPCS codes, the transportation component, place-of-service codes, enrollment — see Medicare Reimbursement for Mobile Imaging.

What drives value (the levers that actually vary)

Even when the clinical service is covered, providers differ on the things that determine value to your facility:

• STAT vs. routine. A guaranteed STAT response (hours, not "we'll try") is the premium service — get the SLA in writing.
• Volume / contract terms. Steady volume can earn a preferred-provider arrangement: predictable response, consistent billing, a team that knows your building.
• Equipment quality. Digital (DR) vs. older CR/film affects image quality and turnaround.
• Coverage + travel. Whether the provider genuinely serves your ZIP at the urgency you need — not a state-wide claim.
• Report turnaround + delivery. STAT reads and how the report reaches your team (fax / portal / EMR).

For non-Medicare / private-pay

When Part B doesn't apply (e.g., certain private-pay situations), pricing is per-study or by contract and is provider-specific — ask each provider directly. We don't quote a market price because there isn't a single sourceable one; request it as part of comparing providers.

The bottom line

Ask one question first: is the resident in a Part A stay?

• Yes — the technical component, transport and set-up are yours, bundled into your PPS rate. Expect an invoice, budget for it, and batch orders onto a single visit to prorate the trip.
• No — the provider bills Part B directly and your decision is about reliability, response time, and report quality rather than price.

Either way: get the STAT SLA in writing and confirm the provider genuinely covers your area. And when you evaluate a provider, do not treat "will invoice the facility" as a red flag — for your Part A residents, that is what a compliant provider is required to do.

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Comparing mobile imaging providers in your area? Search by location and service → · New to ordering it? How to order mobile X-ray for your facility → · How billing works → Medicare Reimbursement for Mobile Imaging