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

Virus culture with identification by non-antibody method

CPT 87255the billing code this page is about

Laboratory growth of virus in culture with identification by a method other than antibody staining or cell-damage observation, such as detecting virus-specific enzyme activity.

Hospitals typically charge $94 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,118 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $99. Most fall between $39 and $190 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,118
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 2,118 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
$28$44$94$163$284

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($28 vs $284).

How the prices are spread

$16 – $22: 52 hospitals$16$22 – $31: 106 hospitals$31 – $42: 220 hospitals$31$42 – $59: 251 hospitals$59 – $81: 194 hospitals$59$81 – $112: 280 hospitals$112 – $155: 309 hospitals$112$155 – $214: 260 hospitals$214 – $295: 146 hospitals$214$295 – $408: 91 hospitals$295median $94price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,909 of 2,118 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$16$2252
$22$31106
$31$42220
$42$59251
$59$81194
$81$112280
$112$155309
$155$214260
$214$295146
$295$40891

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $94.

Alaska: median $88 across 15 hospitalsAK$88Maine: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $137 across 18 hospitalsNH$137Washington: median $166 across 53 hospitalsWA$166Idaho: median $37 across 12 hospitalsID$37Montana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $190 across 11 hospitalsMN$190Illinois: median $145 across 94 hospitalsIL$145Wisconsin: median $138 across 36 hospitalsWI$138Michigan: median $47 across 31 hospitalsMI$47New York: median $78 across 80 hospitalsNY$78Massachusetts: median $161 across 43 hospitalsMA$161Oregon: median $118 across 28 hospitalsOR$118Nevada: median $105 across 15 hospitalsNV$105Wyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $265 across 11 hospitalsSD$265Iowa: median $67 across 27 hospitalsIA$67Indiana: median $105 across 73 hospitalsIN$105Ohio: median $100 across 113 hospitalsOH$100Pennsylvania: median $142 across 98 hospitalsPA$142New Jersey: median $39 across 54 hospitalsNJ$39Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $30 across 97 hospitalsCA$30Utah: median $44 across 37 hospitalsUT$44Colorado: median $68 across 48 hospitalsCO$68Nebraska: median $72 across 19 hospitalsNE$72Missouri: median $83 across 38 hospitalsMO$83Kentucky: median $103 across 50 hospitalsKY$103West Virginia: median $30 across 31 hospitalsWV$30Virginia: median $116 across 68 hospitalsVA$116Maryland: median $172 across 37 hospitalsMD$172Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $109 across 36 hospitalsAZ$109New Mexico: median $109 across 10 hospitalsNM$109Kansas: median $110 across 51 hospitalsKS$110Arkansas: median $59 across 29 hospitalsAR$59Tennessee: median $52 across 59 hospitalsTN$52North Carolina: median $107 across 60 hospitalsNC$107South Carolina: median $160 across 42 hospitalsSC$160Oklahoma: median $79 across 50 hospitalsOK$79Louisiana: median $60 across 42 hospitalsLA$60Mississippi: median $52 across 43 hospitalsMS$52Alabama: median $56 across 27 hospitalsAL$56Georgia: median $107 across 85 hospitalsGA$107Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $104 across 182 hospitalsTX$104Florida: median $45 across 110 hospitalsFL$45
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $94. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD11$265+182%$57 – $306
Minnesota MN11$190+103%$53 – $306
Maryland MD37$172+84%$120 – $196
Washington WA53$166+76%$81 – $227
Massachusetts MA43$161+71%$85 – $302
South Carolina SC42$160+70%$55 – $168
Illinois IL94$145+54%$59 – $222
Pennsylvania PA98$142+51%$39 – $398
Wisconsin WI36$138+47%$76 – $157
New Hampshire NH18$137+46%$102 – $263
Oregon OR28$118+25%$41 – $143
Virginia VA68$116+24%$24 – $244
Kansas KS51$110+17%$59 – $167
New Mexico NM10$109+16%$79 – $181
Arizona AZ36$109+16%$39 – $374
North Carolina NC60$107+14%$41 – $184
Georgia GA85$107+13%$61 – $149
Indiana IN73$105+12%$40 – $165
Nevada NV15$105+12%$33 – $160
Texas TX182$104+11%$43 – $222
Kentucky KY50$103+10%$52 – $397
Ohio OH113$100+7%$55 – $172
Alaska AK15$88−6%$47 – $180
Missouri MO38$83−11%$46 – $128
Oklahoma OK50$79−16%$46 – $126
New York NY80$78−17%$36 – $161
Nebraska NE19$72−23%$35 – $160
Colorado CO48$68−27%$38 – $194
Iowa IA27$67−29%$67 – $116
Louisiana LA42$60−36%$22 – $109
Arkansas AR29$59−37%$29 – $114
Alabama AL27$56−40%$33 – $208
Tennessee TN59$52−44%$31 – $226
Mississippi MS43$52−45%$26 – $88
Michigan MI31$47−50%$33 – $90
Florida FL110$45−52%$21 – $122
Utah UT37$44−54%$37 – $169
New Jersey NJ54$39−59%$34 – $88
Idaho ID12$37−61%$31 – $84
West Virginia WV31$30−68%$8 – $125
California CA97$30−69%$12 – $160
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not 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 $94.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,619$92$37 – $194
Children’s21$60$15 – $269
Critical access469$105$50 – $170
Ownership
For-profit332$94$33 – $244
Government368$86$39 – $147
Non-profit1,409$97$39 – $194
System affiliation
Part of a system1,723$95$38 – $194
Independent395$90$43 – $161

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$155
Median cash price$94
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

1,458 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $100 and the average of the middle 60% is $105; most fall between $43 and $194.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,458 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
$29$46$100$170$276

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($29 vs $276).

Of the 1,649 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,458 gave a usable cash price; 117 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 74 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,118 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (54%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,355 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,118
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here151
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded84
Hospitals that filed this code2,355

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 Herpes Simplex Virus Culture.

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, “Virus culture with identification by non-antibody method (CPT 87255) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87255-virus-culture-with-identification-by-non-antibody-method