Wrist MRI Cost: TFCC Tear, Scaphoid & Ganglion Scan Prices 2026

Wrist MRI is a relatively quick, focused scan used heavily in sports medicine, hand surgery and occupational-injury workups. UK private prices start around £225. US prices span $400 at a freestanding imaging centre to $4,200 at a hospital outpatient department for the identical scan. MR arthrogram adds a separate fee for TFCC and ligament evaluation.

How wrist MRI is billed

Wrist MRI uses CPT 73221 (without contrast), 73222 (with contrast), or 73223 (without and with). The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule national average for CPT 73221 at a non-facility setting is roughly $221 for the global service. The Medicare Hospital Outpatient OPPS rate is several times higher because of the facility add-on.

Commercial-insurer negotiated rates for in-network wrist MRI typically run $250 to $750 at a freestanding centre and $1,200 to $3,000 at a hospital outpatient department in the same metro, per FAIR Health Consumer data for early 2026. Out-of-network billed charges (the chargemaster price) sit well above both at $2,500 to $6,500. Almost no patient pays the chargemaster price in full, but it sets the baseline from which discounts are negotiated.

UK private wrist MRI is almost always quoted as a single all-in price, with the radiologist report included by default. London clinics charge 20 to 30 percent more than regional equivalents for the same scan.

UK wrist MRI pricing

As of May 2026, current UK private wrist MRI without contrast: Vista Health from £225 in regional centres (this is often the lowest price for any single-joint MRI in the UK); Nuffield Health from £350 nationally; Spire Healthcare from £325; Bupa from £400; OneWelbeck (London specialist musculoskeletal centre) from £495 with consultant interpretation. Self-referral is allowed at every major provider without a GP letter.

MR arthrogram of the wrist is offered at most regional MSK-imaging centres and at every London musculoskeletal-imaging provider. Bundled MR arthrogram pricing typically: Vista Health from £450, Nuffield from £625, Spire from £595, OneWelbeck from £850. The injection portion is performed under ultrasound or fluoroscopy guidance immediately before the scan.

For UK NHS patients, wrist MRI is free with a GP, fracture clinic, or A&E referral. Suspected occult scaphoid fracture from a recent fall is usually scanned within 1 to 2 weeks under expedited orthopaedic pathways, sometimes same-week. Routine waits for non-urgent wrist MRI run 6 to 18 weeks.

US wrist MRI pricing in detail

US wrist MRI pricing follows the same facility-driven pattern as every other extremity MRI: huge variation by where the scan is done, almost none by who reads it. The CMS Hospital Price Transparency rule requires US hospitals to publish their chargemasters, including the gross charge, negotiated rates by insurer, cash-pay discount price, and minimum and maximum negotiated rates. The data is messy but accessible at every major academic medical centre (Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Mass General).

For insured patients with a met deductible: out-of-pocket typically $50 to $300 with copay and coinsurance after pre-auth is approved. Pre-authorisation is required for wrist MRI under almost every commercial plan; skipping it is the leading cause of MRI claim denial.

For high-deductible-plan patients with an unmet deductible: the negotiated in-network rate is what you pay. Freestanding centres typically beat hospital outpatient by 60 to 80 percent. Cash pay at an independent centre often beats in-network insurance at a hospital before deductible is met.

For workplace-injury wrist MRI in the US, workers' compensation covers the full cost of medically necessary scans with no patient out-of-pocket; the workers' comp insurer negotiates directly with the imaging facility. If the wrist injury was occupational, the workers' comp pathway is almost always cheaper for the patient than health-insurance routes.

Sources used on this page

• CMS Physician Fee Schedule, 2026
• FAIR Health Consumer CPT 73221 metro pricing
• CMS Hospital Price Transparency
• Radiopaedia wrist MRI protocol
• ACR Appropriateness Criteria, acute hand and wrist trauma
• Vista Health, Nuffield, Spire, Bupa, OneWelbeck published prices, May 2026

Related scans