HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

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

Definitive virus identification in culture, each isolate

CPT 87253the billing code this page is about

Extra laboratory studies on a virus already growing in tissue culture to name the exact virus; billed once for each isolate studied.

Hospitals typically charge $80 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,595 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $83. Most fall between $36 and $157 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,595
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 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 1,595 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
$23$41$80$138$250

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($23 vs $250).

How the prices are spread

$20 – $27: 135 hospitals$20$27 – $37: 129 hospitals$37 – $51: 191 hospitals$37$51 – $69: 183 hospitals$69 – $94: 215 hospitals$69$94 – $128: 210 hospitals$128 – $175: 181 hospitals$128$175 – $238: 102 hospitals$238 – $325: 69 hospitals$238$325 – $443: 29 hospitals$325median $80price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,444 of 1,595 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$20$27135
$27$37129
$37$51191
$51$69183
$69$94215
$94$128210
$128$175181
$175$238102
$238$32569
$325$44329

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $80.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $32 across 12 hospitalsME$32Vermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $89 across 35 hospitalsWA$89Idaho: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $38 across 14 hospitalsND$38Minnesota: median $128 across 33 hospitalsMN$128Illinois: median $88 across 76 hospitalsIL$88Wisconsin: median $105 across 56 hospitalsWI$105Michigan: median $49 across 31 hospitalsMI$49New York: median $44 across 58 hospitalsNY$44Massachusetts: median $88 across 21 hospitalsMA$88Oregon: median $46 across 17 hospitalsOR$46Nevada: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $127 across 14 hospitalsSD$127Iowa: median $63 across 29 hospitalsIA$63Indiana: median $45 across 64 hospitalsIN$45Ohio: median $90 across 77 hospitalsOH$90Pennsylvania: median $58 across 47 hospitalsPA$58New Jersey: median $22 across 37 hospitalsNJ$22Connecticut: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $68 across 70 hospitalsCA$68Utah: median $25 across 33 hospitalsUT$25Colorado: median $55 across 43 hospitalsCO$55Nebraska: median $63 across 36 hospitalsNE$63Missouri: median $79 across 46 hospitalsMO$79Kentucky: median $61 across 32 hospitalsKY$61West Virginia: median $178 across 10 hospitalsWV$178Virginia: median $120 across 41 hospitalsVA$120Maryland: median $66 across 29 hospitalsMD$66Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $63 across 28 hospitalsAZ$63New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $192 across 24 hospitalsKS$192Arkansas: median $67 across 12 hospitalsAR$67Tennessee: median $39 across 42 hospitalsTN$39North Carolina: median $105 across 63 hospitalsNC$105South Carolina: median $145 across 34 hospitalsSC$145Oklahoma: median $111 across 31 hospitalsOK$111Louisiana: median $61 across 23 hospitalsLA$61Mississippi: median $31 across 19 hospitalsMS$31Alabama: median $79 across 12 hospitalsAL$79Georgia: median $104 across 53 hospitalsGA$104Hawaii: median $101 across 17 hospitalsHI$101Texas: median $113 across 133 hospitalsTX$113Florida: median $116 across 84 hospitalsFL$116
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $80. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kansas KS24$192+141%$41 – $468
West Virginia WV10$178+123%$59 – $269
South Carolina SC34$145+82%$81 – $175
Minnesota MN33$128+61%$40 – $142
South Dakota SD14$127+59%$74 – $176
Virginia VA41$120+51%$48 – $156
Florida FL84$116+45%$41 – $254
Texas TX133$113+41%$44 – $235
Oklahoma OK31$111+39%$55 – $172
North Carolina NC63$105+32%$46 – $249
Wisconsin WI56$105+31%$57 – $148
Georgia GA53$104+30%$72 – $233
Hawaii HI17$101+27%$47 – $178
Ohio OH77$90+13%$54 – $136
Washington WA35$89+11%$41 – $122
Illinois IL76$88+11%$39 – $225
Massachusetts MA21$88+10%$50 – $182
Alabama AL12$79−1%$50 – $156
Missouri MO46$79−1%$63 – $122
California CA70$68−14%$13 – $74
Arkansas AR12$67−16%$41 – $118
Maryland MD29$66−17%$45 – $81
Nebraska NE36$63−21%$42 – $100
Iowa IA29$63−21%$39 – $102
Arizona AZ28$63−21%$29 – $204
Louisiana LA23$61−23%$37 – $104
Kentucky KY32$61−24%$36 – $443
Pennsylvania PA47$58−27%$20 – $265
Colorado CO43$55−31%$30 – $751
Michigan MI31$49−39%$28 – $99
Oregon OR17$46−43%$28 – $87
Indiana IN64$45−44%$34 – $98
New York NY58$44−45%$20 – $103
Tennessee TN42$39−51%$34 – $111
North Dakota ND14$38−52%$34 – $105
Maine ME12$32−59%$26 – $87
Mississippi MS19$31−61%$25 – $58
Utah UT33$25−68%$21 – $84
New Jersey NJ37$22−72%$20 – $84
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not 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 $80.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,256$78$34 – $167
Children’s34$66$38 – $139
Critical access298$83$39 – $144
Ownership
For-profit218$104$42 – $282
Government210$75$34 – $138
Non-profit1,160$74$35 – $144
System affiliation
Part of a system1,382$82$36 – $162
Independent213$71$36 – $131

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$128
Median cash price$80
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

1,112 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $84 and the average of the middle 60% is $85; most fall between $37 and $153.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,112 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$42$84$136$233

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($25 vs $233).

Of the 1,245 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,112 gave a usable cash price; 74 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 59 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,595 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (40%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,741 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,595
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here89
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded56
Hospitals that filed this code1,741

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 VIRUS INOCULATE TISSUE ADDL.

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, “Definitive virus identification in culture, each isolate (CPT 87253) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87253-definitive-virus-identification-in-culture-each-isolate