HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

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

Antibiotic sensitivity testing panel, per plate

CPT 87186the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test that grows bacteria with graded amounts of several antibiotics to find the lowest concentration that stops growth; billed once for each test plate or panel used.

Hospitals typically charge $57 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,359 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $60. Most fall between $23 and $116 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,359
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 3,359 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
$14$29$57$99$169

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($14 vs $169).

How the prices are spread

$10 – $14: 155 hospitals$10$14 – $19: 193 hospitals$19 – $26: 236 hospitals$19$26 – $36: 299 hospitals$36 – $49: 401 hospitals$36$49 – $67: 464 hospitals$67 – $93: 530 hospitals$67$93 – $127: 346 hospitals$127 – $175: 269 hospitals$127$175 – $241: 141 hospitals$175median $57price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,034 of 3,359 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$10$14155
$14$19193
$19$26236
$26$36299
$36$49401
$49$67464
$67$93530
$93$127346
$127$175269
$175$241141

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $57.

Alaska: median $91 across 19 hospitalsAK$91Maine: median $56 across 28 hospitalsME$56Vermont: median $92 across 14 hospitalsVT$92New Hampshire: median $53 across 25 hospitalsNH$53Washington: median $73 across 74 hospitalsWA$73Idaho: median $65 across 24 hospitalsID$65Montana: median $85 across 34 hospitalsMT$85North Dakota: median $55 across 33 hospitalsND$55Minnesota: median $53 across 105 hospitalsMN$53Illinois: median $83 across 141 hospitalsIL$83Wisconsin: median $62 across 107 hospitalsWI$62Michigan: median $47 across 99 hospitalsMI$47New York: median $26 across 115 hospitalsNY$26Massachusetts: median $61 across 54 hospitalsMA$61Oregon: median $60 across 50 hospitalsOR$60Nevada: median $55 across 20 hospitalsNV$55Wyoming: median $67 across 16 hospitalsWY$67South Dakota: median $140 across 41 hospitalsSD$140Iowa: median $59 across 89 hospitalsIA$59Indiana: median $53 across 92 hospitalsIN$53Ohio: median $58 across 141 hospitalsOH$58Pennsylvania: median $47 across 122 hospitalsPA$47New Jersey: median $10 across 57 hospitalsNJ$10Connecticut: median $53 across 23 hospitalsCT$53Rhode Island: median $69 across 10 hospitalsRI$69California: median $90 across 163 hospitalsCA$90Utah: median $82 across 41 hospitalsUT$82Colorado: median $80 across 71 hospitalsCO$80Nebraska: median $101 across 84 hospitalsNE$101Missouri: median $60 across 77 hospitalsMO$60Kentucky: median $76 across 69 hospitalsKY$76West Virginia: median $26 across 44 hospitalsWV$26Virginia: median $52 across 73 hospitalsVA$52Maryland: median $27 across 40 hospitalsMD$27Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $26 across 41 hospitalsAZ$26New Mexico: median $74 across 28 hospitalsNM$74Kansas: median $53 across 93 hospitalsKS$53Arkansas: median $24 across 39 hospitalsAR$24Tennessee: median $43 across 80 hospitalsTN$43North Carolina: median $49 across 85 hospitalsNC$49South Carolina: median $71 across 52 hospitalsSC$71Oklahoma: median $45 across 72 hospitalsOK$45Louisiana: median $24 across 49 hospitalsLA$24Mississippi: median $23 across 51 hospitalsMS$23Alabama: median $31 across 40 hospitalsAL$31Georgia: median $51 across 109 hospitalsGA$51Hawaii: median $68 across 21 hospitalsHI$68Texas: median $96 across 247 hospitalsTX$96Florida: median $49 across 150 hospitalsFL$49
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $57. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD41$140+145%$54 – $206
Nebraska NE84$101+76%$39 – $141
Texas TX247$96+67%$36 – $192
Vermont VT14$92+61%$57 – $185
Alaska AK19$91+60%$56 – $171
California CA163$90+57%$15 – $185
Montana MT34$85+48%$53 – $106
Illinois IL141$83+44%$41 – $142
Utah UT41$82+44%$70 – $117
Colorado CO71$80+40%$53 – $117
Kentucky KY69$76+32%$35 – $139
New Mexico NM28$74+30%$43 – $122
Washington WA74$73+28%$42 – $121
South Carolina SC52$71+24%$55 – $93
Rhode Island RI10$69+20%$23 – $69
Hawaii HI21$68+18%$44 – $143
Wyoming WY16$67+17%$18 – $134
Idaho ID24$65+14%$23 – $91
Wisconsin WI107$62+8%$35 – $78
Massachusetts MA54$61+6%$27 – $116
Missouri MO77$60+6%$37 – $110
Oregon OR50$60+5%$36 – $78
Iowa IA89$59+3%$39 – $90
Ohio OH141$58+1%$36 – $92
Maine ME28$56−2%$25 – $97
North Dakota ND33$55−4%$16 – $71
Nevada NV20$55−4%$9 – $122
Minnesota MN105$53−7%$17 – $74
Indiana IN92$53−8%$19 – $83
New Hampshire NH25$53−8%$32 – $130
Kansas KS93$53−8%$34 – $77
Connecticut CT23$53−8%$27 – $135
Virginia VA73$52−9%$39 – $93
Georgia GA109$51−12%$18 – $85
Florida FL150$49−14%$13 – $209
North Carolina NC85$49−15%$19 – $103
Pennsylvania PA122$47−17%$14 – $102
Michigan MI99$47−18%$30 – $67
Oklahoma OK72$45−21%$24 – $64
Tennessee TN80$43−25%$15 – $64
Alabama AL40$31−45%$15 – $100
Maryland MD40$27−53%$21 – $33
Arizona AZ41$26−55%$11 – $133
New York NY115$26−55%$15 – $74
West Virginia WV44$26−55%$11 – $83
Arkansas AR39$24−58%$13 – $55
Louisiana LA49$24−59%$11 – $59
Mississippi MS51$23−60%$12 – $57
New Jersey NJ57$10−83%$10 – $59
Delaware DE7not 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 $57.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,317$54$21 – $117
Children’s66$68$43 – $144
Critical access966$63$32 – $110
Ownership
For-profit469$71$26 – $195
Government631$57$23 – $106
Non-profit2,249$56$23 – $108
System affiliation
Part of a system2,722$58$23 – $118
Independent637$55$26 – $108

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$97
Median cash price$57
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

2,273 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $59 and the average of the middle 60% is $63; most fall between $26 and $117.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,273 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
$15$32$59$100$169

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($15 vs $169).

Of the 2,512 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,273 gave a usable cash price; 129 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 110 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,359 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (85%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,663 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,359
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here176
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 — excluded127
Hospitals that filed this code3,663

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 Sensitivity Mic.

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 testing panel, per plate (CPT 87186) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87186-antibiotic-sensitivity-testing-panel-per-plate