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

Identifying a cultured organism with a direct DNA probe

CPT 87149the billing code this page is about

Typing of an organism already grown in culture using a direct genetic probe; billed once per culture or isolate for each organism probed.

Hospitals typically charge $86 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,966 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $90. Most fall between $35 and $172 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,966
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 1,966 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$39$86$150$231

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($22 vs $231).

How the prices are spread

$18 – $23: 150 hospitals$18$23 – $31: 105 hospitals$31 – $42: 190 hospitals$31$42 – $56: 137 hospitals$56 – $75: 195 hospitals$56$75 – $100: 252 hospitals$100 – $134: 283 hospitals$100$134 – $179: 182 hospitals$179 – $239: 193 hospitals$179$239 – $320: 86 hospitals$239median $86price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,773 of 1,966 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$18$23150
$23$31105
$31$42190
$42$56137
$56$75195
$75$100252
$100$134283
$134$179182
$179$239193
$239$32086

By state

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

Alaska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $60 across 12 hospitalsME$60Vermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $113 across 10 hospitalsNH$113Washington: median $121 across 48 hospitalsWA$121Idaho: median $154 across 10 hospitalsID$154Montana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $107 across 14 hospitalsND$107Minnesota: median $40 across 38 hospitalsMN$40Illinois: median $97 across 93 hospitalsIL$97Wisconsin: median $97 across 63 hospitalsWI$97Michigan: median $45 across 37 hospitalsMI$45New York: median $55 across 80 hospitalsNY$55Massachusetts: median $74 across 27 hospitalsMA$74Oregon: median $80 across 17 hospitalsOR$80Nevada: median $47 across 10 hospitalsNV$47Wyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $53 across 45 hospitalsIA$53Indiana: median $61 across 70 hospitalsIN$61Ohio: median $102 across 102 hospitalsOH$102Pennsylvania: median $98 across 92 hospitalsPA$98New Jersey: median $22 across 48 hospitalsNJ$22Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $84 across 129 hospitalsCA$84Utah: median $194 across 29 hospitalsUT$194Colorado: median $151 across 40 hospitalsCO$151Nebraska: median $109 across 42 hospitalsNE$109Missouri: median $125 across 39 hospitalsMO$125Kentucky: median $70 across 34 hospitalsKY$70West Virginia: median $54 across 20 hospitalsWV$54Virginia: median $78 across 60 hospitalsVA$78Maryland: median $61 across 28 hospitalsMD$61Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $41 across 30 hospitalsAZ$41New Mexico: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $72 across 30 hospitalsKS$72Arkansas: median $46 across 21 hospitalsAR$46Tennessee: median $35 across 32 hospitalsTN$35North Carolina: median $122 across 58 hospitalsNC$122South Carolina: median $114 across 39 hospitalsSC$114Oklahoma: median $50 across 36 hospitalsOK$50Louisiana: median $45 across 37 hospitalsLA$45Mississippi: median $43 across 21 hospitalsMS$43Alabama: median $47 across 16 hospitalsAL$47Georgia: median $106 across 70 hospitalsGA$106Hawaii: median $122 across 13 hospitalsHI$122Texas: median $129 across 170 hospitalsTX$129Florida: median $74 across 93 hospitalsFL$74
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 UT29$194+126%$159 – $228
Idaho ID10$154+79%$90 – $154
Colorado CO40$151+76%$92 – $211
Texas TX170$129+50%$53 – $187
Missouri MO39$125+46%$70 – $291
Hawaii HI13$122+42%$75 – $186
North Carolina NC58$122+42%$49 – $149
Washington WA48$121+41%$40 – $181
South Carolina SC39$114+33%$86 – $191
New Hampshire NH10$113+32%$88 – $196
Nebraska NE42$109+27%$43 – $199
North Dakota ND14$107+25%$63 – $146
Georgia GA70$106+23%$37 – $217
Ohio OH102$102+18%$66 – $168
Pennsylvania PA92$98+15%$23 – $198
Illinois IL93$97+13%$57 – $179
Wisconsin WI63$97+13%$64 – $131
California CA129$84−2%$24 – $213
Oregon OR17$80−7%$34 – $199
Virginia VA60$78−9%$68 – $204
Massachusetts MA27$74−14%$38 – $224
Florida FL93$74−14%$16 – $245
Kansas KS30$72−16%$37 – $151
Kentucky KY34$70−19%$34 – $231
Indiana IN70$61−29%$33 – $118
Maryland MD28$61−29%$50 – $80
Maine ME12$60−31%$28 – $145
New York NY80$55−36%$21 – $118
West Virginia WV20$54−37%$18 – $109
Iowa IA45$53−39%$36 – $109
Oklahoma OK36$50−41%$22 – $132
Alabama AL16$47−45%$21 – $211
Nevada NV10$47−46%$19 – $98
Arkansas AR21$46−46%$18 – $85
Michigan MI37$45−47%$26 – $104
Louisiana LA37$45−48%$14 – $100
Mississippi MS21$43−50%$21 – $90
Arizona AZ30$41−52%$25 – $127
Minnesota MN38$40−54%$26 – $121
Tennessee TN32$35−59%$30 – $56
New Jersey NJ48$22−74%$20 – $23
Alaska AK9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not 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 care1,540$84$31 – $173
Children’s32$75$37 – $181
Critical access387$94$40 – $161
Ownership
For-profit276$100$38 – $251
Government276$81$33 – $143
Non-profit1,407$86$35 – $171
System affiliation
Part of a system1,712$88$34 – $175
Independent254$80$37 – $151

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$141
Median cash price$86
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

1,398 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $92 and the average of the middle 60% is $95; most fall between $38 and $171.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,398 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
$25$46$92$150$226

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($25 vs $226).

Of the 1,565 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,398 gave a usable cash price; 101 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 66 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,966 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (50%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,161 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,966
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here122
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 — excluded73
Hospitals that filed this code2,161

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 Nucleic Acid Probe ID.

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, “Identifying a cultured organism with a direct DNA probe (CPT 87149) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87149-identifying-a-cultured-organism-with-a-direct-dna-probe