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

Identifying a cultured organism by another method

CPT 87158the billing code this page is about

Typing of an organism already grown in culture using a method not covered by the more specific culture-typing codes.

Hospitals typically charge $49 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,019 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $56. Most fall between $13 and $126 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,019
States
50
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – 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 1,019 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
$9$17$49$113$196

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 22× what the cheapest tenth charges ($9 vs $196).

How the prices are spread

$8 – $11: 136 hospitals$8$11 – $16: 68 hospitals$16 – $24: 80 hospitals$16$24 – $34: 100 hospitals$34 – $50: 107 hospitals$34$50 – $73: 86 hospitals$73 – $106: 121 hospitals$73$106 – $154: 107 hospitals$154 – $223: 88 hospitals$154$223 – $324: 34 hospitals$223median $49price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (927 of 1,019 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$8$11136
$11$1668
$16$2480
$24$34100
$34$50107
$50$7386
$73$106121
$106$154107
$154$22388
$223$32434

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $49.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $27 across 25 hospitalsWA$27Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $106 across 16 hospitalsMN$106Illinois: median $62 across 44 hospitalsIL$62Wisconsin: median $50 across 32 hospitalsWI$50Michigan: median $11 across 16 hospitalsMI$11New York: median $16 across 52 hospitalsNY$16Massachusetts: median $58 across 13 hospitalsMA$58Oregon: median $75 across 12 hospitalsOR$75Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $39 across 17 hospitalsIA$39Indiana: median $20 across 27 hospitalsIN$20Ohio: median $68 across 54 hospitalsOH$68Pennsylvania: median $12 across 39 hospitalsPA$12New Jersey: median $9 across 36 hospitalsNJ$9Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $49 across 44 hospitalsCA$49Utah: median $114 across 34 hospitalsUT$114Colorado: median $111 across 25 hospitalsCO$111Nebraska: median $44 across 10 hospitalsNE$44Missouri: median $68 across 18 hospitalsMO$68Kentucky: median $122 across 25 hospitalsKY$122West Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $31 across 33 hospitalsVA$31Maryland: median $26 across 16 hospitalsMD$26Delaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $9 across 12 hospitalsAZ$9New Mexico: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: median $24 across 10 hospitalsAR$24Tennessee: median $46 across 29 hospitalsTN$46North Carolina: median $60 across 34 hospitalsNC$60South Carolina: median $183 across 29 hospitalsSC$183Oklahoma: median $17 across 22 hospitalsOK$17Louisiana: median $14 across 24 hospitalsLA$14Mississippi: median $11 across 11 hospitalsMS$11Alabama: median $12 across 10 hospitalsAL$12Georgia: median $60 across 34 hospitalsGA$60Hawaii: median $70 across 10 hospitalsHI$70Texas: median $74 across 98 hospitalsTX$74Florida: median $42 across 50 hospitalsFL$42
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $49. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Carolina SC29$183+272%$113 – $196
Kentucky KY25$122+148%$23 – $209
Utah UT34$114+130%$114 – $173
Colorado CO25$111+125%$72 – $408
Minnesota MN16$106+116%$54 – $113
Oregon OR12$75+53%$37 – $103
Texas TX98$74+50%$23 – $155
Hawaii HI10$70+42%$39 – $114
Missouri MO18$68+38%$56 – $111
Ohio OH54$68+38%$34 – $100
Illinois IL44$62+27%$20 – $86
Georgia GA34$60+22%$11 – $127
North Carolina NC34$60+21%$27 – $123
Massachusetts MA13$58+17%$15 – $116
Wisconsin WI32$50+2%$21 – $74
California CA44$490%$34 – $70
Tennessee TN29$46−6%$9 – $87
Nebraska NE10$44−10%$9 – $90
Florida FL50$42−15%$27 – $119
Iowa IA17$39−22%$39 – $56
Virginia VA33$31−37%$13 – $44
Washington WA25$27−46%$11 – $88
Maryland MD16$26−46%$21 – $31
Arkansas AR10$24−51%$17 – $44
Indiana IN27$20−60%$12 – $66
Oklahoma OK22$17−66%$14 – $76
New York NY52$16−67%$8 – $47
Louisiana LA24$14−72%$8 – $117
Alabama AL10$12−75%$4 – $228
Pennsylvania PA39$12−76%$6 – $173
Mississippi MS11$11−78%$10 – $35
Michigan MI16$11−78%$8 – $74
Arizona AZ12$9−82%$7 – $445
New Jersey NJ36$9−83%$8 – $9
Kansas KS8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $49.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care844$49$12 – $134
Children’s22$49$17 – $193
Critical access151$46$14 – $114
Ownership
For-profit158$74$23 – $228
Government119$51$11 – $114
Non-profit740$43$12 – $116
System affiliation
Part of a system909$47$12 – $124
Independent110$56$16 – $134

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$87
Median cash price$49
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

705 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $51 and the average of the middle 60% is $60; most fall between $15 and $124.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 705 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
$9$20$51$114$183

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 20× what the cheapest tenth charges ($9 vs $183).

Of the 779 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 705 gave a usable cash price; 36 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 38 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,019 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (26%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,111 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,019
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here62
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 — excluded30
Hospitals that filed this code1,111

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

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as CULTURE TYPING ADDED METHOD.

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 by another method (CPT 87158) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87158-identifying-a-cultured-organism-by-another-method