Nuclear Stress Test Cost in Missouri
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Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)
-7.2% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $376.59–$410.08.
Your ZIP in Missouri
Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What this number is
The figures on this page are 2026 Medicare physician allowed amounts for a specific CPT code: the professional fee, adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices. They are not a hospital chargemaster price, not your insurer's contracted rate, and not a quote. Hospital facility fees, anesthesia, implants, imaging reads, and pathology are billed separately when they apply.
National vs Missouri
Where Missouri ranks for this CPT
CPT 78452 by Missouri locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan st. louis | $410.08 |
| metropolitan kansas city | $405.15 |
| rest of missouri | $376.59 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
Nuclear Stress Test and how Missouri is priced
Missouri is a three-locality state: metropolitan St. Louis and metropolitan Kansas City are each priced separately, and everywhere else falls into a rest-of-state locality with lower geographic adjustments. Both metro localities approve higher amounts than outstate Missouri, and the Kansas City locality applies only to the Missouri side of that metro, since the Kansas side prices under Kansas's statewide locality. Springfield, Columbia, and the rural counties all share rest-of-state factors. The metro-versus-outstate gap is the main pricing story here.
St. Louis and Kansas City hold the state's academic medical centers and most of its specialty depth, drawing patients from far beyond Missouri's borders, including southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Outstate Missouri is served by regional hubs in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, with the Ozarks and Bootheel among the harder places to reach specialty care. Rural hospital viability has been a persistent concern across the state.
This procedure: A nuclear stress test (SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging) shows how well blood reaches your heart muscle at rest versus under stress, revealing blocked arteries. A small amount of radioactive tracer is injected, a special camera images the heart at rest, then you exercise on a treadmill or receive a medication that mimics exercise, and imaging repeats. Plan for a half day; the multiple imaging sessions and waiting periods make it one of the longest routine cardiac tests.
What Is Nuclear Stress Test?
A nuclear stress test (SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging) shows how well blood reaches your heart muscle at rest versus under stress, revealing blocked arteries. A small amount of radioactive tracer is injected, a special camera images the heart at rest, then you exercise on a treadmill or receive a medication that mimics exercise, and imaging repeats. Plan for a half day; the multiple imaging sessions and waiting periods make it one of the longest routine cardiac tests.
What Affects the Cost
- The radioactive tracer is a significant supply cost billed alongside the imaging, and tracer prices fluctuate with supply shortages.
- Pharmacologic stress agents, used for patients who cannot exercise, are expensive drugs billed as additional lines.
- Hospital outpatient cardiology departments charge substantially more than office-based nuclear labs.
- Abnormal results commonly lead to cardiac catheterization, a much larger downstream expense.
- The supervising cardiologist's stress supervision fee and the imaging interpretation fee are separate professional charges.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Has prior authorization been approved, and did my insurer suggest a cheaper test first?
- 2.Would a stress echocardiogram or exercise ECG answer the question for me at lower cost?
- 3.What do the tracer and any stress medication add to the bill?
- 4.Is this being done in an office-based lab or a hospital department, and what is the price at each?
- 5.If the result is abnormal, what is the next test and its typical cost?
Other featured procedures in Missouri
Nuclear Stress Test in other states
Nuclear Stress Test in Missouri: questions
How much does nuclear stress test cost in Missouri?
The 2026 Medicare physician office rate for CPT 78452 averages $397.27 across 3 Missouri localities, from $376.59 in REST OF MISSOURI to $410.08 in METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS. The hospital physician rate averages $397.27. Enter a ZIP for the exact locality.
Does the rate change inside Missouri?
Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $33.49 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What will a Medicare patient owe for the physician fee?
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $79 for the office physician line or $79 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
Is this the full nuclear stress test bill in Missouri?
No. $397.27 is the Medicare physician allowed amount for CPT 78452. Anesthesia, facility fees, implants, and other CPT codes billed the same day are extra. Missouri ranks #14 of 51 states on this physician line (7% below the national office rate of $427.87).