CPT 73721
MRI of a joint in the leg, without contrast
An MRI of a lower-limb joint, most often the knee, without contrast. The usual scan for a suspected ligament or meniscus tear. Billed as a facility charge plus the radiologist's reading.
Billed to Medicare
$342
What providers submitted, on average, for this code in a hospital setting.
Medicare accepted
$63
What Medicare treated as payable. Not a commercial rate or a cash price.
The gap
5.5x
How many times the accepted amount the billed figure was.
National averages from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2024 data, retrieved 2026-09-14. Medicare fee-for-service, physician and practitioner claims only. The hospital's own charge for the same code is separate and is usually higher. Based on 215,822 services.
Among the 8 imaging codes on this site with CMS figures, this gap ranks 6 of 8 (median 5.5x). The widest is CT scan of the head, without contrast at 6x.
Where this line goes wrong
Prior authorization
Almost always required by commercial insurers. A denial for missing authorization is usually the ordering provider's responsibility.
Both knees is two studies
Each joint is a separate code and charge. One knee billed twice is an error; two knees billed twice is not.
Check it, then ask
- 1
Ask for the itemized bill and the imaging report, and check that each billed study has a report.
- 2
Check the two halves match: the facility line and the radiologist's line should carry the same code for the same date.
- 3
If the radiologist was out of network for an emergency visit or at an in-network facility, the No Surprises Act limits what you can be billed.
- 4
If you are self-pay, ask for the hospital's published cash price for the scan; it is usually a fraction of the list price.
The full walkthrough for this kind of bill: Your bill came in above the estimate.
For $49, a mediloop specialist reads your itemized bill and EOB, if available, checks every code against the record and available pricing, flags the lines to dispute, and prepares a step-by-step plan with the exact wording to send. It appears in your account within 24 hours after all required documents arrive.
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People also ask
Is a knee MRI cheaper at an imaging center?
Almost always, and often by a large margin. For a planned scan, compare published prices before booking.
Sources
This page explains a billing code in general terms. It is not a coding, legal or medical opinion about your bill, and the code descriptions are mediloop's own plain-English summaries, not the official CPT descriptors, which are owned by the American Medical Association. Whether a charge was correct depends on the record of your visit and your payer's rules.