The OpenDoc Cash Price Index — Q3 2026
Published 2026-07-17 · by OpenDoc
What U.S. healthcare typically costs when you pay cash — across 722 services in 60+ specialties.
OpenDoc is a healthcare marketplace where you pay the provider directly: every bookable service carries one posted price, and the posted price you see at booking is the final price — no claims, no adjudication, no surprises. To help patients orient before they search, OpenDoc maintains a curated catalog of typical national cash ranges for 722 services. This index is the first periodic snapshot of that catalog, published so patients, researchers, and reporters can see the shape of real cash prices in one place.
A note before the numbers: every figure below is a typical range, not a quote. Ranges are context. The only number that binds anyone is the posted price a provider lists at booking on OpenDoc — and that price is final.
Headline findings
- Half of the cash-price catalog is a sub-$200 purchase. 348 of the 722 cataloged services (48%) have a typical-range midpoint under $200. The median service midpoint across the whole catalog is $210.
- Routine labs are the least expensive corner of healthcare. The Laboratory category's median midpoint is $34. A complete blood count typically runs $10–$30 cash; a basic metabolic panel $10–$35; a hemoglobin A1C $15–$40; a lipid panel $15–$45.
- At the median service, the high end of a typical range is 2.0x the low end. Knowing a single posted price in advance — rather than a spread — is worth real money on almost everything.
- The widest relative spreads cluster in drug-administration services. Immunotherapy administration spans $800–$5,000 per session (6.3x), chemotherapy administration and biologic infusions each span $500–$3,000 (6.0x), and travel vaccinations span $50–$350 per vaccine (7.0x) — the widest ratio in the catalog.
- The widest dollar gaps are surgical. A facelift ($8,000–$18,000), revision bariatric surgery ($15,000–$25,000), and single-session stereotactic radiosurgery ($5,000–$15,000) each carry a $10,000 gap between the low and high end of their typical range.
- Specialty medians span a ~70x gulf. The median cataloged service midpoint runs $34 in Laboratory and $2,425 in Plastic Surgery — with OB/GYN ($120), Orthopedic Surgery ($125), Family Medicine ($144), and Urgent Care ($138) all clustered near the low end.
The ten widest typical ranges (high ÷ low)
| Service | Typical cash range | High ÷ low |
|---|---|---|
| Travel vaccinations (per vaccine) | $50 – $350 | 7.0x |
| Immunotherapy administration (per session) | $800 – $5,000 | 6.3x |
| Chemotherapy administration (per session) | $500 – $3,000 | 6.0x |
| Biologic infusion therapy (per session) | $500 – $3,000 | 6.0x |
| Scar revision | $1,000 – $5,000 | 5.0x |
| Intravitreal injection (anti-VEGF) | $500 – $2,000 | 4.0x |
| Joint injection (corticosteroid) | $100 – $400 | 4.0x |
| Basic metabolic panel (BMP) | $10 – $35 | 3.5x |
| Chemical peel (light/medium) | $100 – $350 | 3.5x |
| PET/CT scan | $1,000 – $3,500 | 3.5x |
Source: OpenDoc curated service catalog (typical national cash ranges, content updated 2026-04-08). Ranges are context, not quotes; the posted price at booking is final.
Specialty medians — the low end and the high end
| Specialty (≥8 cataloged services) | Median service midpoint |
|---|---|
| Plastic Surgery | $2,425 |
| Radiation Oncology | $650 |
| Medical Aesthetics | $625 |
| Pain Management | $600 |
| Gastroenterology | $425 |
| Cardiology | $219 |
| Dermatology | $175 |
| Pediatrics | $150 |
| Family Medicine | $144 |
| Urgent Care | $138 |
| Orthopedic Surgery | $125 |
| OB/GYN | $120 |
| Laboratory | $34 |
Selected rows; medians are computed over specialties with at least 8 cataloged services.
Spotlight: MRI and imaging
Imaging is where patients paying directly ask the most questions — and where the catalog's typical ranges are most quotable. An MRI without contrast typically runs $300–$800 cash nationally; adding contrast pushes the typical range to $400–$1,200. A single-view X-ray, by contrast, typically runs $50–$150, and a screening mammogram $100–$250.
| Service | Typical cash range (OpenDoc catalog) |
|---|---|
| MRI brain, without contrast | $350 – $800 |
| MRI brain, with + without contrast | $500 – $1,200 |
| MRI lumbar spine, without contrast | $350 – $800 |
| Chest X-ray, 2 views | $75 – $250 |
| Screening mammogram | $100 – $250 |
| Diagnostic mammogram | $150 – $400 |
| Bone density scan (DEXA) | $75 – $250 |
| Thyroid ultrasound | $150 – $350 |
| EKG (12-lead, with interpretation) | $50 – $125 |
| Echocardiogram (complete TTE) | $200 – $500 |
| Follow-up office visit | $75 – $250 |
| Psychotherapy, 60 min | $150 – $300 |
The least expensive common services in the catalog
| Service | Typical cash range |
|---|---|
| Complete blood count (CBC) with differential | $10 – $30 |
| Urinalysis with microscopy | $10 – $30 |
| Basic metabolic panel (BMP) | $10 – $35 |
| Hemoglobin A1C | $15 – $40 |
| Lipid panel | $15 – $45 |
| Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) | $15 – $50 |
| PSA (prostate-specific antigen) | $20 – $50 |
| Rapid flu test | $25 – $50 |
| Rapid strep test | $25 – $50 |
| Vitamin D level (25-hydroxy) | $25 – $65 |
Eleven cataloged services have a typical high end at or under $50; forty-two are at or under $100. The recurring pattern: the routine bloodwork that anchors an annual physical is, in cash terms, a fast-food-order-sized purchase when it is priced upfront.
Methodology
What the catalog ranges are. The typical cash ranges above come from OpenDoc's curated service price catalog — 722 services across 60+ specialties and subspecialties (content updated 2026-04-08), the same data that renders on OpenDoc's public specialty and cost pages. Each service carries a curated low/high typical national cash figure. Where a service appears under multiple specialties, the catalog merges them into one entry spanning the full observed range; "midpoint" is the arithmetic mean of a service's low and high. Specialty medians are computed over the per-specialty listings (specialties with at least 8 cataloged services shown).
These are typical ranges, not quotes. No number in this report is an offer, a quote, or a promise of what any specific provider charges. On OpenDoc, each provider lists one posted cash price for a service, and the posted price you see at booking is the single, final price — that invariant, not this index, is the product.
No provider-level pricing. This report contains no provider names and no provider-level ranking by price. All figures are service-level aggregates.
Data notes & caveats
- Curated, not claims-derived. Catalog ranges are editorially curated national figures, refreshed periodically (this snapshot: content dated 2026-04-08). They are not computed from OpenDoc transaction volume, and they will not match any single market — urban/rural and regional differences are real and are not modeled here.
- Merged entries can widen ranges. Where one service is offered under several specialties, the merged catalog entry spans the union of their ranges; part of a wide spread can reflect setting differences rather than like-for-like dispersion.
- No PHI. Every figure is a service-level aggregate from a curated catalog. Nothing here derives from patient records.
Cite this index
Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite the OpenDoc Cash Price Index with attribution to OpenDoc (opendoc.com) and a link to this post. The underlying catalog updates periodically, so cited figures should carry this edition's date. For questions or data requests, contact the team via opendoc.com/contact.
The OpenDoc Cash Price Index is produced by OpenDoc, the healthcare marketplace where every booking carries one transparent price — posted upfront, final at booking.