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Procedure price report · Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology)

Stool culture for salmonella and shigella bacteria

CPT 87045the billing code this page is about

A stool specimen is cultured and examined specifically for salmonella and shigella bacteria.

Hospitals typically charge $73 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,159 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $77. Most fall between $29 and $150 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,159
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 3,159 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
$17$35$73$129$230

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($17 vs $230).

How the prices are spread

$11 – $16: 129 hospitals$11$16 – $23: 211 hospitals$23 – $33: 243 hospitals$23$33 – $48: 357 hospitals$48 – $69: 432 hospitals$48$69 – $100: 538 hospitals$100 – $145: 425 hospitals$100$145 – $210: 331 hospitals$210 – $304: 126 hospitals$210$304 – $440: 69 hospitals$304median $73price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,861 of 3,159 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$11$16129
$16$23211
$23$33243
$33$48357
$48$69432
$69$100538
$100$145425
$145$210331
$210$304126
$304$44069

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $73.

Alaska: median $137 across 18 hospitalsAK$137Maine: median $68 across 28 hospitalsME$68Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $67 across 23 hospitalsNH$67Washington: median $82 across 76 hospitalsWA$82Idaho: median $72 across 18 hospitalsID$72Montana: median $47 across 34 hospitalsMT$47North Dakota: median $66 across 32 hospitalsND$66Minnesota: median $64 across 76 hospitalsMN$64Illinois: median $95 across 141 hospitalsIL$95Wisconsin: median $73 across 93 hospitalsWI$73Michigan: median $47 across 77 hospitalsMI$47New York: median $35 across 101 hospitalsNY$35Massachusetts: median $76 across 51 hospitalsMA$76Oregon: median $51 across 42 hospitalsOR$51Nevada: median $67 across 19 hospitalsNV$67Wyoming: median $39 across 16 hospitalsWY$39South Dakota: median $119 across 40 hospitalsSD$119Iowa: median $62 across 75 hospitalsIA$62Indiana: median $52 across 95 hospitalsIN$52Ohio: median $59 across 135 hospitalsOH$59Pennsylvania: median $53 across 116 hospitalsPA$53New Jersey: median $11 across 54 hospitalsNJ$11Connecticut: median $36 across 16 hospitalsCT$36Rhode Island: median $83 across 10 hospitalsRI$83California: median $125 across 151 hospitalsCA$125Utah: median $153 across 42 hospitalsUT$153Colorado: median $81 across 66 hospitalsCO$81Nebraska: median $106 across 76 hospitalsNE$106Missouri: median $56 across 75 hospitalsMO$56Kentucky: median $80 across 68 hospitalsKY$80West Virginia: median $29 across 43 hospitalsWV$29Virginia: median $69 across 70 hospitalsVA$69Maryland: median $82 across 39 hospitalsMD$82Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $28 across 40 hospitalsAZ$28New Mexico: median $115 across 19 hospitalsNM$115Kansas: median $50 across 89 hospitalsKS$50Arkansas: median $36 across 27 hospitalsAR$36Tennessee: median $38 across 75 hospitalsTN$38North Carolina: median $80 across 85 hospitalsNC$80South Carolina: median $137 across 52 hospitalsSC$137Oklahoma: median $46 across 74 hospitalsOK$46Louisiana: median $36 across 50 hospitalsLA$36Mississippi: median $51 across 54 hospitalsMS$51Alabama: median $61 across 44 hospitalsAL$61Georgia: median $83 across 106 hospitalsGA$83Hawaii: median $59 across 21 hospitalsHI$59Texas: median $153 across 239 hospitalsTX$153Florida: median $163 across 154 hospitalsFL$163
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $73. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL154$163+123%$19 – $1,231
Utah UT42$153+110%$98 – $181
Texas TX239$153+110%$55 – $365
South Carolina SC52$137+88%$78 – $158
Alaska AK18$137+87%$78 – $270
California CA151$125+72%$52 – $234
South Dakota SD40$119+63%$54 – $150
New Mexico NM19$115+58%$57 – $148
Nebraska NE76$106+45%$49 – $131
Illinois IL141$95+30%$67 – $185
Georgia GA106$83+14%$30 – $163
Rhode Island RI10$83+14%$22 – $91
Maryland MD39$82+13%$63 – $98
Washington WA76$82+12%$49 – $139
Colorado CO66$81+11%$22 – $173
North Carolina NC85$80+10%$21 – $169
Kentucky KY68$80+9%$29 – $119
Massachusetts MA51$76+4%$33 – $110
Wisconsin WI93$73−1%$50 – $98
Idaho ID18$72−1%$33 – $117
Virginia VA70$69−6%$19 – $125
Maine ME28$68−6%$34 – $127
New Hampshire NH23$67−8%$49 – $154
Nevada NV19$67−9%$21 – $321
North Dakota ND32$66−10%$46 – $76
Minnesota MN76$64−12%$35 – $92
Iowa IA75$62−16%$32 – $94
Alabama AL44$61−16%$25 – $218
Ohio OH135$59−19%$32 – $97
Hawaii HI21$59−19%$47 – $94
Missouri MO75$56−23%$36 – $136
Pennsylvania PA116$53−28%$15 – $114
Indiana IN95$52−29%$25 – $92
Mississippi MS54$51−30%$22 – $90
Oregon OR42$51−30%$29 – $83
Kansas KS89$50−32%$34 – $95
Michigan MI77$47−36%$20 – $98
Montana MT34$47−36%$14 – $89
Oklahoma OK74$46−37%$24 – $109
Wyoming WY16$39−47%$21 – $112
Tennessee TN75$38−48%$17 – $139
Arkansas AR27$36−50%$15 – $82
Connecticut CT16$36−50%$29 – $57
Louisiana LA50$36−50%$21 – $95
New York NY101$35−52%$11 – $114
West Virginia WV43$29−60%$24 – $69
Arizona AZ40$28−62%$12 – $173
New Jersey NJ54$11−85%$10 – $53
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not 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 $73.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,183$76$26 – $169
Children’s63$86$50 – $190
Critical access903$70$36 – $118
Ownership
For-profit456$117$38 – $711
Government607$68$32 – $126
Non-profit2,086$69$28 – $135
System affiliation
Part of a system2,547$76$29 – $153
Independent612$66$32 – $130

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$116
Median cash price$73
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

2,119 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $76 and the average of the middle 60% is $80; most fall between $32 and $153.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,119 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$38$76$131$212

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($18 vs $212).

Of the 2,340 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,119 gave a usable cash price; 114 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 107 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,159 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (80%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,448 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,159
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here162
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded126
Hospitals that filed this code3,448

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 Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Culture-Stool.

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, “Stool culture for salmonella and shigella bacteria (CPT 87045) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87045-stool-culture-for-salmonella-and-shigella-bacteria