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

Definitive identification of mycobacteria, each isolate

CPT 87118the billing code this page is about

Additional laboratory testing on a mycobacterial culture to name the exact species grown; billed once for each organism identified.

Hospitals typically charge $77 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,900 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $83. Most fall between $32 and $157 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,900
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 1,900 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
$19$40$77$139$248

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($19 vs $248).

How the prices are spread

$15 – $20: 135 hospitals$15$20 – $28: 112 hospitals$28 – $39: 130 hospitals$28$39 – $54: 222 hospitals$54 – $74: 214 hospitals$54$74 – $102: 293 hospitals$102 – $142: 256 hospitals$102$142 – $196: 159 hospitals$196 – $271: 119 hospitals$196$271 – $375: 81 hospitals$271median $77price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,721 of 1,900 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$15$20135
$20$28112
$28$39130
$39$54222
$54$74214
$74$102293
$102$142256
$142$196159
$196$271119
$271$37581

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $77.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $34 across 10 hospitalsME$34Vermont: median $142 across 10 hospitalsVT$142New Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $78 across 42 hospitalsWA$78Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $77 across 18 hospitalsND$77Minnesota: median $92 across 59 hospitalsMN$92Illinois: median $75 across 88 hospitalsIL$75Wisconsin: median $96 across 83 hospitalsWI$96Michigan: median $28 across 41 hospitalsMI$28New York: median $38 across 78 hospitalsNY$38Massachusetts: median $61 across 34 hospitalsMA$61Oregon: median $75 across 31 hospitalsOR$75Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $142 across 13 hospitalsSD$142Iowa: median $50 across 39 hospitalsIA$50Indiana: median $49 across 52 hospitalsIN$49Ohio: median $96 across 84 hospitalsOH$96Pennsylvania: median $80 across 96 hospitalsPA$80New Jersey: median $17 across 53 hospitalsNJ$17Connecticut: median $59 across 14 hospitalsCT$59Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $100 across 97 hospitalsCA$100Utah: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $84 across 34 hospitalsCO$84Nebraska: median $25 across 22 hospitalsNE$25Missouri: median $68 across 53 hospitalsMO$68Kentucky: median $137 across 22 hospitalsKY$137West Virginia: median $140 across 26 hospitalsWV$140Virginia: median $79 across 57 hospitalsVA$79Maryland: median $186 across 31 hospitalsMD$186Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $115 across 26 hospitalsAZ$115New Mexico: median $46 across 10 hospitalsNM$46Kansas: median $114 across 36 hospitalsKS$114Arkansas: median $39 across 15 hospitalsAR$39Tennessee: median $42 across 41 hospitalsTN$42North Carolina: median $74 across 61 hospitalsNC$74South Carolina: median $109 across 38 hospitalsSC$109Oklahoma: median $55 across 39 hospitalsOK$55Louisiana: median $26 across 36 hospitalsLA$26Mississippi: median $27 across 19 hospitalsMS$27Alabama: median $40 across 22 hospitalsAL$40Georgia: median $80 across 55 hospitalsGA$80Hawaii: median $72 across 16 hospitalsHI$72Texas: median $161 across 137 hospitalsTX$161Florida: median $60 across 110 hospitalsFL$60
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $77. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD31$186+141%$136 – $237
Texas TX137$161+107%$52 – $319
South Dakota SD13$142+84%$85 – $197
Vermont VT10$142+83%$67 – $223
West Virginia WV26$140+81%$61 – $140
Kentucky KY22$137+77%$18 – $272
Arizona AZ26$115+49%$46 – $124
Kansas KS36$114+47%$32 – $304
South Carolina SC38$109+41%$51 – $147
California CA97$100+29%$61 – $134
Ohio OH84$96+24%$54 – $118
Wisconsin WI83$96+24%$76 – $129
Minnesota MN59$92+19%$67 – $142
Colorado CO34$84+9%$50 – $639
Pennsylvania PA96$80+3%$17 – $172
Georgia GA55$80+3%$22 – $101
Virginia VA57$79+2%$49 – $295
Washington WA42$78+1%$48 – $150
North Dakota ND18$77−1%$50 – $142
Illinois IL88$75−3%$46 – $165
Oregon OR31$75−3%$61 – $85
North Carolina NC61$74−5%$41 – $134
Hawaii HI16$72−7%$66 – $145
Missouri MO53$68−13%$42 – $151
Massachusetts MA34$61−21%$28 – $193
Florida FL110$60−22%$24 – $235
Connecticut CT14$59−24%$44 – $110
Oklahoma OK39$55−29%$31 – $105
Iowa IA39$50−35%$39 – $148
Indiana IN52$49−37%$22 – $117
New Mexico NM10$46−40%$41 – $69
Tennessee TN41$42−45%$19 – $91
Alabama AL22$40−48%$17 – $234
Arkansas AR15$39−50%$31 – $88
New York NY78$38−51%$18 – $78
Maine ME10$34−56%$19 – $45
Michigan MI41$28−64%$20 – $109
Mississippi MS19$27−65%$18 – $36
Louisiana LA36$26−66%$12 – $107
Nebraska NE22$25−68%$9 – $111
New Jersey NJ53$17−78%$15 – $37
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not 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 $77.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,520$77$28 – $161
Children’s29$70$42 – $176
Critical access345$77$40 – $142
Ownership
For-profit290$102$31 – $392
Government219$62$26 – $133
Non-profit1,385$76$34 – $147
System affiliation
Part of a system1,658$79$34 – $157
Independent242$67$29 – $161

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$129
Median cash price$77
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

1,314 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $81 and the average of the middle 60% is $85; most fall between $37 and $150.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,314 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
$23$42$81$134$226

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($23 vs $226).

Of the 1,452 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,314 gave a usable cash price; 83 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 55 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,900 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (48%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,069 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,900
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here108
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 — excluded60
Hospitals that filed this code2,069

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 4, 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 Afb Maldi.

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, “Definitive identification of mycobacteria, each isolate (CPT 87118) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87118-definitive-identification-of-mycobacteria-each-isolate