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

Antibiotic sensitivity test by agar method, each drug

CPT 87181the billing code this page is about

Tests a bacterial isolate against one antimicrobial drug using an agar dilution or gradient strip method; billed once for each drug tested.

Hospitals typically charge $31 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,514 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $35. Most fall between $13 and $71 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,514
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 2,514 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
$8$17$31$58$105

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $105).

How the prices are spread

$5 – $7: 109 hospitals$5$7 – $11: 158 hospitals$11 – $15: 174 hospitals$11$15 – $21: 282 hospitals$21 – $30: 367 hospitals$21$30 – $43: 338 hospitals$43 – $60: 374 hospitals$43$60 – $86: 219 hospitals$86 – $122: 158 hospitals$86$122 – $172: 96 hospitals$122median $31price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,275 of 2,514 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$5$7109
$7$11158
$11$15174
$15$21282
$21$30367
$30$43338
$43$60374
$60$86219
$86$122158
$122$17296

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $31.

Alaska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $34 across 19 hospitalsME$34Vermont: median $51 across 10 hospitalsVT$51New Hampshire: median $32 across 17 hospitalsNH$32Washington: median $38 across 55 hospitalsWA$38Idaho: median $60 across 17 hospitalsID$60Montana: median $43 across 17 hospitalsMT$43North Dakota: median $30 across 28 hospitalsND$30Minnesota: median $31 across 79 hospitalsMN$31Illinois: median $39 across 109 hospitalsIL$39Wisconsin: median $41 across 103 hospitalsWI$41Michigan: median $20 across 77 hospitalsMI$20New York: median $22 across 80 hospitalsNY$22Massachusetts: median $29 across 43 hospitalsMA$29Oregon: median $28 across 39 hospitalsOR$28Nevada: median $35 across 15 hospitalsNV$35Wyoming: median $48 across 10 hospitalsWY$48South Dakota: median $38 across 15 hospitalsSD$38Iowa: median $39 across 52 hospitalsIA$39Indiana: median $20 across 77 hospitalsIN$20Ohio: median $26 across 115 hospitalsOH$26Pennsylvania: median $29 across 99 hospitalsPA$29New Jersey: median $5 across 51 hospitalsNJ$5Connecticut: median $16 across 23 hospitalsCT$16Rhode Island: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $50 across 141 hospitalsCA$50Utah: median $89 across 35 hospitalsUT$89Colorado: median $46 across 53 hospitalsCO$46Nebraska: median $38 across 43 hospitalsNE$38Missouri: median $31 across 69 hospitalsMO$31Kentucky: median $17 across 44 hospitalsKY$17West Virginia: median $20 across 26 hospitalsWV$20Virginia: median $30 across 56 hospitalsVA$30Maryland: median $27 across 37 hospitalsMD$27Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $36 across 25 hospitalsAZ$36New Mexico: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $39 across 49 hospitalsKS$39Arkansas: median $13 across 32 hospitalsAR$13Tennessee: median $15 across 56 hospitalsTN$15North Carolina: median $35 across 69 hospitalsNC$35South Carolina: median $47 across 44 hospitalsSC$47Oklahoma: median $21 across 54 hospitalsOK$21Louisiana: median $13 across 38 hospitalsLA$13Mississippi: median $15 across 33 hospitalsMS$15Alabama: median $20 across 25 hospitalsAL$20Georgia: median $25 across 77 hospitalsGA$25Hawaii: median $23 across 19 hospitalsHI$23Texas: median $55 across 177 hospitalsTX$55Florida: median $25 across 130 hospitalsFL$25
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $31. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT35$89+185%$33 – $105
Idaho ID17$60+92%$25 – $159
Texas TX177$55+75%$23 – $172
Vermont VT10$51+63%$26 – $80
California CA141$50+62%$18 – $105
Wyoming WY10$48+54%$28 – $160
South Carolina SC44$47+52%$37 – $80
Colorado CO53$46+47%$26 – $88
Montana MT17$43+37%$28 – $66
Wisconsin WI103$41+33%$20 – $53
Kansas KS49$39+25%$26 – $68
Iowa IA52$39+24%$18 – $55
Illinois IL109$39+24%$20 – $73
South Dakota SD15$38+23%$27 – $88
Washington WA55$38+23%$21 – $86
Nebraska NE43$38+20%$23 – $77
Arizona AZ25$36+15%$7 – $57
Nevada NV15$35+12%$10 – $64
North Carolina NC69$35+12%$19 – $57
Maine ME19$34+9%$13 – $92
New Hampshire NH17$32+1%$18 – $44
Missouri MO69$310%$17 – $62
Minnesota MN79$31−1%$17 – $48
Virginia VA56$30−4%$19 – $48
North Dakota ND28$30−4%$9 – $42
Massachusetts MA43$29−6%$14 – $62
Pennsylvania PA99$29−8%$5 – $76
Oregon OR39$28−11%$15 – $79
Maryland MD37$27−13%$20 – $33
Ohio OH115$26−17%$13 – $53
Florida FL130$25−19%$12 – $163
Georgia GA77$25−20%$9 – $72
Hawaii HI19$23−25%$12 – $34
New York NY80$22−29%$8 – $47
Oklahoma OK54$21−34%$9 – $45
Alabama AL25$20−35%$8 – $100
Indiana IN77$20−36%$11 – $42
Michigan MI77$20−36%$10 – $27
West Virginia WV26$20−36%$3 – $67
Kentucky KY44$17−44%$11 – $67
Connecticut CT23$16−49%$11 – $40
Tennessee TN56$15−51%$8 – $25
Mississippi MS33$15−53%$6 – $26
Louisiana LA38$13−58%$6 – $44
Arkansas AR32$13−58%$12 – $35
New Jersey NJ51$5−82%$5 – $16
New Mexico NM9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK8not 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 $31.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,915$29$12 – $71
Children’s52$41$20 – $97
Critical access537$38$19 – $69
Ownership
For-profit342$36$14 – $161
Government355$31$13 – $70
Non-profit1,807$31$14 – $65
System affiliation
Part of a system2,166$31$13 – $69
Independent348$35$14 – $76

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$55
Median cash price$31
Cash as a share of list, median hospital61%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 39%. 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

1,789 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $34 and the average of the middle 60% is $37; most fall between $16 and $70.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,789 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$18$34$58$104

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($9 vs $104).

Of the 1,968 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,789 gave a usable cash price; 100 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 79 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,514 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (64%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,731 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,514
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here129
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 — excluded88
Hospitals that filed this code2,731

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 Anaerobic Sus Agent, Sana.

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, “Antibiotic sensitivity test by agar method, each drug (CPT 87181) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87181-antibiotic-sensitivity-test-by-agar-method-each-drug