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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Chromatography with mass spectrometry for one substance

CPT 82542the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test using column chromatography combined with mass spectrometry to measure the amount of a single non-drug substance; billed once per substance measured.

Hospitals typically charge $86 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,057 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $90. Most fall between $34 and $181 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,057
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 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 3,057 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
$22$40$86$157$273

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($22 vs $273).

How the prices are spread

$15 – $21: 136 hospitals$15$21 – $28: 195 hospitals$28 – $39: 250 hospitals$28$39 – $54: 354 hospitals$54 – $75: 308 hospitals$54$75 – $103: 358 hospitals$103 – $142: 449 hospitals$103$142 – $195: 304 hospitals$195 – $269: 233 hospitals$195$269 – $371: 166 hospitals$269median $86price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,753 of 3,057 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$15$21136
$21$28195
$28$39250
$39$54354
$54$75308
$75$103358
$103$142449
$142$195304
$195$269233
$269$371166

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $86.

Alaska: median $168 across 18 hospitalsAK$168Maine: median $66 across 28 hospitalsME$66Vermont: median $160 across 14 hospitalsVT$160New Hampshire: median $98 across 22 hospitalsNH$98Washington: median $108 across 69 hospitalsWA$108Idaho: median $76 across 21 hospitalsID$76Montana: median $156 across 29 hospitalsMT$156North Dakota: median $98 across 32 hospitalsND$98Minnesota: median $100 across 96 hospitalsMN$100Illinois: median $101 across 130 hospitalsIL$101Wisconsin: median $112 across 101 hospitalsWI$112Michigan: median $31 across 76 hospitalsMI$31New York: median $65 across 104 hospitalsNY$65Massachusetts: median $111 across 50 hospitalsMA$111Oregon: median $80 across 46 hospitalsOR$80Nevada: median $107 across 18 hospitalsNV$107Wyoming: median $93 across 14 hospitalsWY$93South Dakota: median $112 across 27 hospitalsSD$112Iowa: median $116 across 71 hospitalsIA$116Indiana: median $93 across 95 hospitalsIN$93Ohio: median $99 across 136 hospitalsOH$99Pennsylvania: median $86 across 117 hospitalsPA$86New Jersey: median $28 across 56 hospitalsNJ$28Connecticut: median $97 across 19 hospitalsCT$97Rhode Island: median $80 across 10 hospitalsRI$80California: median $40 across 121 hospitalsCA$40Utah: median $296 across 40 hospitalsUT$296Colorado: median $90 across 60 hospitalsCO$90Nebraska: median $153 across 68 hospitalsNE$153Missouri: median $52 across 72 hospitalsMO$52Kentucky: median $72 across 61 hospitalsKY$72West Virginia: median $48 across 39 hospitalsWV$48Virginia: median $110 across 71 hospitalsVA$110Maryland: median $82 across 41 hospitalsMD$82Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $84 across 38 hospitalsAZ$84New Mexico: median $123 across 21 hospitalsNM$123Kansas: median $141 across 78 hospitalsKS$141Arkansas: median $52 across 37 hospitalsAR$52Tennessee: median $35 across 70 hospitalsTN$35North Carolina: median $80 across 83 hospitalsNC$80South Carolina: median $177 across 52 hospitalsSC$177Oklahoma: median $73 across 67 hospitalsOK$73Louisiana: median $43 across 47 hospitalsLA$43Mississippi: median $26 across 51 hospitalsMS$26Alabama: median $85 across 45 hospitalsAL$85Georgia: median $114 across 101 hospitalsGA$114Hawaii: median $112 across 17 hospitalsHI$112Texas: median $112 across 222 hospitalsTX$112Florida: median $39 across 149 hospitalsFL$39
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $86. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT40$296+245%$137 – $349
South Carolina SC52$177+106%$55 – $204
Alaska AK18$168+96%$102 – $272
Vermont VT14$160+86%$81 – $359
Montana MT29$156+81%$54 – $270
Nebraska NE68$153+77%$84 – $355
Kansas KS78$141+64%$73 – $268
New Mexico NM21$123+43%$49 – $168
Iowa IA71$116+34%$64 – $190
Georgia GA101$114+33%$42 – $190
Hawaii HI17$112+31%$56 – $231
South Dakota SD27$112+30%$49 – $227
Texas TX222$112+30%$37 – $215
Wisconsin WI101$112+30%$70 – $196
Massachusetts MA50$111+29%$48 – $223
Virginia VA71$110+27%$17 – $239
Washington WA69$108+26%$64 – $135
Nevada NV18$107+25%$35 – $145
Illinois IL130$101+18%$32 – $235
Minnesota MN96$100+16%$49 – $135
Ohio OH136$99+15%$45 – $147
North Dakota ND32$98+14%$44 – $174
New Hampshire NH22$98+14%$49 – $152
Connecticut CT19$97+13%$44 – $181
Wyoming WY14$93+8%$47 – $190
Indiana IN95$93+8%$38 – $165
Colorado CO60$90+5%$53 – $137
Pennsylvania PA117$860%$28 – $211
Alabama AL45$85−1%$29 – $284
Arizona AZ38$84−2%$37 – $185
Maryland MD41$82−5%$63 – $98
Rhode Island RI10$80−6%$42 – $144
Oregon OR46$80−7%$47 – $121
North Carolina NC83$80−7%$36 – $175
Idaho ID21$76−12%$57 – $118
Oklahoma OK67$73−15%$44 – $142
Kentucky KY61$72−16%$43 – $233
Maine ME28$66−24%$26 – $314
New York NY104$65−24%$25 – $170
Arkansas AR37$52−39%$21 – $89
Missouri MO72$52−40%$16 – $190
West Virginia WV39$48−45%$44 – $123
Louisiana LA47$43−50%$19 – $87
California CA121$40−54%$15 – $54
Florida FL149$39−55%$19 – $151
Tennessee TN70$35−59%$17 – $84
Michigan MI76$31−64%$13 – $85
New Jersey NJ56$28−68%$24 – $108
Mississippi MS51$26−69%$19 – $90
Delaware DE7not 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 $86.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,164$76$30 – $170
Children’s52$53$28 – $141
Critical access831$112$47 – $215
Ownership
For-profit414$95$36 – $256
Government544$93$39 – $180
Non-profit2,089$81$33 – $172
System affiliation
Part of a system2,507$85$33 – $179
Independent550$87$40 – $190

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$132
Median cash price$86
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

2,080 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $86 and the average of the middle 60% is $90; most fall between $35 and $177.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,080 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
$22$41$86$157$254

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($22 vs $254).

Of the 2,299 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,080 gave a usable cash price; 115 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 104 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,057 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (77%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,336 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,057
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here154
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded123
Hospitals that filed this code3,336

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 July 20, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Coenzyme Q10.

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, “Chromatography with mass spectrometry for one substance (CPT 82542) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-82542-chromatography-with-mass-spectrometry-for-one-substance