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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Immunoassay for one substance, single-step method

CPT 83518the billing code this page is about

An antibody-based lab test that detects or roughly measures a single non-infectious substance in one step, such as a dipstick or cartridge; billed once per substance tested.

Hospitals typically charge $87 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 615 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $127. Most fall between $17 and $437 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
615
States
47
Filings dated
Dec 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 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 615 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
$11$22$87$347$576

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 54× what the cheapest tenth charges ($11 vs $576).

How the prices are spread

$9 – $15: 78 hospitals$9$15 – $23: 52 hospitals$23 – $37: 68 hospitals$23$37 – $59: 58 hospitals$59 – $93: 25 hospitals$59$93 – $146: 69 hospitals$146 – $231: 43 hospitals$146$231 – $366: 52 hospitals$366 – $578: 79 hospitals$366$578 – $914: 32 hospitals$578median $87price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (556 of 615 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$9$1578
$15$2352
$23$3768
$37$5958
$59$9325
$93$14669
$146$23143
$231$36652
$366$57879
$578$91432

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $87.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $25 across 13 hospitalsWA$25Idaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $476 across 31 hospitalsMN$476Illinois: median $500 across 37 hospitalsIL$500Wisconsin: median $59 across 43 hospitalsWI$59Michigan: median $13 across 17 hospitalsMI$13New York: median $16 across 29 hospitalsNY$16Massachusetts: median $35 across 11 hospitalsMA$35Oregon: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $91 across 27 hospitalsIA$91Indiana: median $127 across 31 hospitalsIN$127Ohio: median $359 across 12 hospitalsOH$359Pennsylvania: median $8 across 21 hospitalsPA$8New Jersey: median $11 across 27 hospitalsNJ$11Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $35 across 40 hospitalsCA$35Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $323 across 17 hospitalsMO$323Kentucky: median $2,608 across 10 hospitalsKY$2,608West Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $159 across 18 hospitalsVA$159Maryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $177 across 10 hospitalsKS$177Arkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $45 across 15 hospitalsTN$45North Carolina: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: median $23 across 12 hospitalsSC$23Oklahoma: median $18 across 17 hospitalsOK$18Louisiana: median $126 across 14 hospitalsLA$126Mississippi: median $357 across 11 hospitalsMS$357Alabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $113 across 22 hospitalsGA$113Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $136 across 48 hospitalsTX$136Florida: median $383 across 14 hospitalsFL$383
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $87. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kentucky KY10$2,608+2897%$18 – $2,608
Illinois IL37$500+475%$14 – $576
Minnesota MN31$476+447%$52 – $669
Florida FL14$383+340%$52 – $383
Ohio OH12$359+312%$34 – $2,789
Mississippi MS11$357+310%$10 – $500
Missouri MO17$323+271%$120 – $343
Kansas KS10$177+103%$72 – $1,078
Virginia VA18$159+83%$8 – $224
Texas TX48$136+56%$135 – $159
Indiana IN31$127+46%$13 – $271
Louisiana LA14$126+44%$11 – $219
Georgia GA22$113+30%$113 – $124
Iowa IA27$91+5%$34 – $848
Wisconsin WI43$59−33%$28 – $570
Tennessee TN15$45−48%$13 – $347
California CA40$35−59%$35 – $55
Massachusetts MA11$35−60%$30 – $42
Washington WA13$25−71%$16 – $295
South Carolina SC12$23−73%$21 – $497
Oklahoma OK17$18−80%$18 – $323
New York NY29$16−82%$10 – $211
Michigan MI17$13−85%$5 – $355
New Jersey NJ27$11−88%$10 – $11
Pennsylvania PA21$8−91%$6 – $74
North Carolina NC8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $87.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care509$104$16 – $466
Children’s3fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access102$69$24 – $284
Ownership
For-profit58$112$18 – $355
Government85$159$16 – $497
Non-profit471$58$16 – $448
System affiliation
Part of a system536$103$17 – $457
Independent79$50$18 – $435

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$205
Median cash price$87
Cash as a share of list, median hospital56%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 44%. 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

413 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $126 and the average of the middle 60% is $163; most fall between $34 and $483.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 413 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$35$126$400$570

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 33× what the cheapest tenth charges ($18 vs $570).

Of the 465 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 413 gave a usable cash price; 31 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 21 a list price only.

How complete is this

615 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (16%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 653 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted615
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here18
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded19
Hospitals that filed this code653

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 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 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 IMMUNOASSAY DIPSTICK.

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, “Immunoassay for one substance, single-step method (CPT 83518) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-83518-immunoassay-for-one-substance-single-step-method