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Procedure price report

Brief pathologist consultation without record review

CPT 80500the billing code this page is about

A limited review and written opinion by a pathologist on a laboratory or specimen finding, done without reviewing the patient's history and medical records; this code was in use before newer consultation codes replaced it.

Hospitals typically charge $51 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 168 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $63. Most fall between $21 and $181 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
168
States
34
Filings dated
Jul 2025 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 168 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$14$26$51$128$443

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 33× what the cheapest tenth charges ($14 vs $443).

How the prices are spread

$8 – $14: 13 hospitals$8$14 – $22: 16 hospitals$22 – $35: 30 hospitals$22$35 – $57: 30 hospitals$57 – $91: 19 hospitals$57$91 – $147: 17 hospitals$147 – $237: 18 hospitals$147$237 – $381: 1 hospitals$381 – $614: 8 hospitals$381$614 – $989: 3 hospitals$614median $51price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (155 of 168 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$8$1413
$14$2216
$22$3530
$35$5730
$57$9119
$91$14717
$147$23718
$237$3811
$381$6148
$614$9893

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $51.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWIMichigan: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceORNevada: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIAIndiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $1,005 across 13 hospitalsPA$1,005New Jersey: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCAUtah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $45 across 10 hospitalsNE$45Missouri: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $8 across 14 hospitalsOK$8Louisiana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $52 across 20 hospitalsTX$52Florida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $51. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Pennsylvania PA13$1,005+1870%$187 – $1,187
Texas TX20$52+3%$48 – $54
Nebraska NE10$45−13%$26 – $118
Oklahoma OK14$8−84%$8 – $31
Illinois IL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New York NY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Iowa IA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $51.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care106$48$20 – $182
Children’s5fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access56$48$25 – $140
Ownership
For-profit12fewer than 20 hospitals
Government35$72$32 – $154
Non-profit120$48$20 – $187
System affiliation
Part of a system126$48$18 – $185
Independent42$61$32 – $140

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$87
Median cash price$51
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

101 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $52 and the average of the middle 60% is $75; most fall between $26 and $187.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 101 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$18$31$52$171$443

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 25× what the cheapest tenth charges ($18 vs $443).

Of the 112 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 101 gave a usable cash price; 6 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 5 a list price only.

How complete is this

168 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (4%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 178 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted168
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here3
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded7
Hospitals that filed this code178

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 5, 2026 and September 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Lab.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Brief pathologist consultation without record review (CPT 80500) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-80500-brief-pathologist-consultation-without-record-review