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

Adenovirus antigen test by fluorescent staining

CPT 87260the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test that stains a specimen with fluorescent-labeled antibody to detect adenovirus antigen directly in the sample.

Hospitals typically charge $48 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,042 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $52. Most fall between $21 and $105 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,042
States
48
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 1,042 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
$16$25$48$83$157

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($16 vs $157).

How the prices are spread

$14 – $19: 117 hospitals$14$19 – $25: 97 hospitals$25 – $34: 109 hospitals$25$34 – $45: 120 hospitals$45 – $60: 125 hospitals$45$60 – $80: 158 hospitals$80 – $108: 62 hospitals$80$108 – $144: 77 hospitals$144 – $193: 59 hospitals$144$193 – $258: 23 hospitals$193median $48price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (947 of 1,042 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$14$19117
$19$2597
$25$34109
$34$45120
$45$60125
$60$80158
$80$10862
$108$14477
$144$19359
$193$25823

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $48.

Alaska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $46 across 34 hospitalsWA$46Idaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: median $26 across 11 hospitalsND$26Minnesota: median $47 across 13 hospitalsMN$47Illinois: median $42 across 34 hospitalsIL$42Wisconsin: median $50 across 10 hospitalsWI$50Michigan: median $16 across 18 hospitalsMI$16New York: median $32 across 42 hospitalsNY$32Massachusetts: median $53 across 11 hospitalsMA$53Oregon: median $59 across 16 hospitalsOR$59Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $51 across 20 hospitalsSD$51Iowa: median $35 across 16 hospitalsIA$35Indiana: median $48 across 47 hospitalsIN$48Ohio: median $65 across 49 hospitalsOH$65Pennsylvania: median $22 across 42 hospitalsPA$22New Jersey: median $16 across 30 hospitalsNJ$16Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $75 across 77 hospitalsCA$75Utah: median $46 across 26 hospitalsUT$46Colorado: median $69 across 15 hospitalsCO$69Nebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $48 across 25 hospitalsMO$48Kentucky: median $43 across 26 hospitalsKY$43West Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $39 across 13 hospitalsVA$39Maryland: median $60 across 17 hospitalsMD$60Delaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $98 across 17 hospitalsAZ$98New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $39 across 11 hospitalsKS$39Arkansas: median $68 across 13 hospitalsAR$68Tennessee: median $22 across 20 hospitalsTN$22North Carolina: median $56 across 22 hospitalsNC$56South Carolina: median $107 across 14 hospitalsSC$107Oklahoma: median $43 across 36 hospitalsOK$43Louisiana: median $31 across 24 hospitalsLA$31Mississippi: median $15 across 23 hospitalsMS$15Alabama: median $29 across 12 hospitalsAL$29Georgia: median $48 across 25 hospitalsGA$48Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $79 across 107 hospitalsTX$79Florida: median $51 across 71 hospitalsFL$51
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $48. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Carolina SC14$107+123%$31 – $123
Arizona AZ17$98+104%$17 – $258
Texas TX107$79+65%$26 – $163
California CA77$75+56%$24 – $113
Colorado CO15$69+43%$69 – $72
Arkansas AR13$68+42%$62 – $153
Ohio OH49$65+35%$20 – $90
Maryland MD17$60+25%$29 – $73
Oregon OR16$59+22%$18 – $83
North Carolina NC22$56+17%$16 – $112
Massachusetts MA11$53+11%$32 – $161
South Dakota SD20$51+7%$30 – $84
Florida FL71$51+5%$22 – $140
Wisconsin WI10$50+5%$32 – $75
Missouri MO25$480%$31 – $66
Georgia GA25$480%$40 – $94
Indiana IN47$480%$21 – $89
Minnesota MN13$47−3%$26 – $157
Washington WA34$46−4%$25 – $104
Utah UT26$46−4%$46 – $54
Kentucky KY26$43−10%$25 – $145
Oklahoma OK36$43−10%$32 – $71
Illinois IL34$42−12%$23 – $215
Kansas KS11$39−18%$35 – $63
Virginia VA13$39−20%$39 – $109
Iowa IA16$35−27%$35 – $39
New York NY42$32−33%$14 – $64
Louisiana LA24$31−34%$22 – $55
Alabama AL12$29−39%$20 – $46
North Dakota ND11$26−46%$24 – $90
Tennessee TN20$22−55%$11 – $32
Pennsylvania PA42$22−55%$12 – $121
Michigan MI18$16−67%$9 – $37
New Jersey NJ30$16−67%$14 – $17
Mississippi MS23$15−68%$11 – $32
Alaska AK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $48.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care849$48$20 – $105
Children’s19fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access170$46$25 – $89
Ownership
For-profit155$69$21 – $258
Government104$38$19 – $84
Non-profit779$48$22 – $91
System affiliation
Part of a system929$48$21 – $108
Independent113$42$22 – $93

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$79
Median cash price$48
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

716 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $51 and the average of the middle 60% is $54; most fall between $25 and $96.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 716 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
$18$28$51$82$150

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($18 vs $150).

Of the 809 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 716 gave a usable cash price; 57 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 36 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,042 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (26%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,165 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,042
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here82
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded39
Hospitals that filed this code1,165

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 ADENOVIRUS AG IF.

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, “Adenovirus antigen test by fluorescent staining (CPT 87260) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87260-adenovirus-antigen-test-by-fluorescent-staining