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

Beta-lactamase enzyme test, each enzyme

CPT 87185the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test that checks whether bacteria produce an enzyme that destroys certain antibiotics; billed once for each enzyme tested.

Hospitals typically charge $30 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,618 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $30. Most fall between $13 and $55 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,618
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 2,618 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$16$30$47$82

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $82).

How the prices are spread

$5 – $7: 91 hospitals$5$7 – $10: 130 hospitals$10 – $14: 205 hospitals$10$14 – $19: 297 hospitals$19 – $26: 342 hospitals$19$26 – $36: 415 hospitals$36 – $50: 414 hospitals$36$50 – $69: 223 hospitals$69 – $96: 156 hospitals$69$96 – $132: 85 hospitals$96median $30price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,358 of 2,618 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$5$791
$7$10130
$10$14205
$14$19297
$19$26342
$26$36415
$36$50414
$50$69223
$69$96156
$96$13285

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $30.

Alaska: median $69 across 14 hospitalsAK$69Maine: median $12 across 23 hospitalsME$12Vermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $26 across 19 hospitalsNH$26Washington: median $30 across 59 hospitalsWA$30Idaho: median $28 across 12 hospitalsID$28Montana: median $33 across 12 hospitalsMT$33North Dakota: median $30 across 26 hospitalsND$30Minnesota: median $33 across 95 hospitalsMN$33Illinois: median $39 across 115 hospitalsIL$39Wisconsin: median $34 across 95 hospitalsWI$34Michigan: median $20 across 74 hospitalsMI$20New York: median $18 across 84 hospitalsNY$18Massachusetts: median $27 across 37 hospitalsMA$27Oregon: median $26 across 46 hospitalsOR$26Nevada: median $25 across 12 hospitalsNV$25Wyoming: median $40 across 11 hospitalsWY$40South Dakota: median $71 across 21 hospitalsSD$71Iowa: median $29 across 59 hospitalsIA$29Indiana: median $30 across 78 hospitalsIN$30Ohio: median $21 across 122 hospitalsOH$21Pennsylvania: median $20 across 114 hospitalsPA$20New Jersey: median $5 across 50 hospitalsNJ$5Connecticut: median $22 across 22 hospitalsCT$22Rhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $40 across 135 hospitalsCA$40Utah: median $275 across 37 hospitalsUT$275Colorado: median $45 across 59 hospitalsCO$45Nebraska: median $43 across 53 hospitalsNE$43Missouri: median $25 across 67 hospitalsMO$25Kentucky: median $15 across 41 hospitalsKY$15West Virginia: median $14 across 28 hospitalsWV$14Virginia: median $42 across 61 hospitalsVA$42Maryland: median $13 across 34 hospitalsMD$13Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $17 across 33 hospitalsAZ$17New Mexico: median $30 across 16 hospitalsNM$30Kansas: median $32 across 54 hospitalsKS$32Arkansas: median $10 across 31 hospitalsAR$10Tennessee: median $18 across 66 hospitalsTN$18North Carolina: median $35 across 72 hospitalsNC$35South Carolina: median $35 across 44 hospitalsSC$35Oklahoma: median $18 across 62 hospitalsOK$18Louisiana: median $14 across 40 hospitalsLA$14Mississippi: median $18 across 37 hospitalsMS$18Alabama: median $26 across 22 hospitalsAL$26Georgia: median $31 across 86 hospitalsGA$31Hawaii: median $23 across 16 hospitalsHI$23Texas: median $45 across 190 hospitalsTX$45Florida: median $27 across 118 hospitalsFL$27
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $30. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT37$275+833%$33 – $324
South Dakota SD21$71+141%$29 – $112
Alaska AK14$69+134%$33 – $99
Colorado CO59$45+54%$26 – $115
Texas TX190$45+54%$20 – $78
Nebraska NE53$43+46%$21 – $76
Virginia VA61$42+44%$18 – $81
California CA135$40+37%$22 – $72
Wyoming WY11$40+34%$35 – $70
Illinois IL115$39+32%$21 – $65
North Carolina NC72$35+19%$16 – $57
South Carolina SC44$35+17%$28 – $41
Wisconsin WI95$34+14%$20 – $48
Minnesota MN95$33+13%$16 – $53
Montana MT12$33+11%$21 – $54
Kansas KS54$32+8%$16 – $47
Georgia GA86$31+6%$10 – $44
Washington WA59$30+3%$13 – $61
New Mexico NM16$30+2%$23 – $41
Indiana IN78$30+2%$11 – $79
North Dakota ND26$300%$9 – $38
Iowa IA59$29−3%$14 – $41
Idaho ID12$28−6%$16 – $40
Massachusetts MA37$27−8%$14 – $54
Florida FL118$27−9%$11 – $79
Alabama AL22$26−11%$8 – $74
New Hampshire NH19$26−11%$19 – $228
Oregon OR46$26−14%$18 – $33
Missouri MO67$25−14%$14 – $43
Nevada NV12$25−15%$10 – $56
Hawaii HI16$23−21%$12 – $27
Connecticut CT22$22−25%$11 – $40
Ohio OH122$21−27%$12 – $35
Michigan MI74$20−32%$12 – $31
Pennsylvania PA114$20−32%$7 – $56
Oklahoma OK62$18−39%$13 – $49
Mississippi MS37$18−39%$11 – $37
New York NY84$18−39%$8 – $35
Tennessee TN66$18−41%$10 – $44
Arizona AZ33$17−42%$13 – $46
Kentucky KY41$15−49%$9 – $30
Louisiana LA40$14−51%$7 – $31
West Virginia WV28$14−52%$11 – $34
Maryland MD34$13−55%$10 – $16
Maine ME23$12−59%$9 – $32
Arkansas AR31$10−65%$5 – $35
New Jersey NJ50$5−81%$5 – $43
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not 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 $30.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,955$27$12 – $56
Children’s51$37$19 – $49
Critical access603$33$17 – $55
Ownership
For-profit357$34$14 – $118
Government385$31$15 – $57
Non-profit1,867$29$13 – $48
System affiliation
Part of a system2,252$30$13 – $53
Independent366$28$15 – $61

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$48
Median cash price$30
Cash as a share of list, median hospital63%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 37%. 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

1,821 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $30 and the average of the middle 60% is $31; most fall between $14 and $53.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,821 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
$10$17$30$47$76

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($10 vs $76).

Of the 2,009 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,821 gave a usable cash price; 105 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 82 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,618 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (66%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,843 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,618
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here141
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded82
Hospitals that filed this code2,843

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 Beta Lactamase.

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, “Beta-lactamase enzyme test, each enzyme (CPT 87185) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87185-beta-lactamase-enzyme-test-each-enzyme