HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

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

Influenza virus RNA test, per type or subtype

CPT 87501the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that detects the genetic material of influenza virus using reverse transcription and amplification; the charge applies to each single influenza type or subtype tested.

Hospitals typically charge $174 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 439 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $216. Most fall between $63 and $584 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
439
States
43
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 439 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
$51$81$174$399$692

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($51 vs $692).

How the prices are spread

$49 – $65: 71 hospitals$49$65 – $86: 23 hospitals$86 – $114: 32 hospitals$86$114 – $151: 46 hospitals$151 – $200: 41 hospitals$151$200 – $265: 52 hospitals$265 – $350: 29 hospitals$265$350 – $464: 24 hospitals$464 – $615: 39 hospitals$464$615 – $814: 42 hospitals$615median $174price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (399 of 439 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$49$6571
$65$8623
$86$11432
$114$15146
$151$20041
$200$26552
$265$35029
$350$46424
$464$61539
$615$81442

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $174.

Alaska: 2 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: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: median $119 across 12 hospitalsWA$119Idaho: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $110 across 10 hospitalsIL$110Wisconsin: median $236 across 17 hospitalsWI$236Michigan: median $71 across 11 hospitalsMI$71New York: median $51 across 15 hospitalsNY$51Massachusetts: median $81 across 10 hospitalsMA$81Oregon: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $125 across 18 hospitalsIA$125Indiana: median $152 across 18 hospitalsIN$152Ohio: median $73 across 10 hospitalsOH$73Pennsylvania: median $77 across 30 hospitalsPA$77New Jersey: median $56 across 25 hospitalsNJ$56Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $610 across 25 hospitalsCA$610Utah: median $692 across 28 hospitalsUT$692Colorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNEMissouri: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $675 across 12 hospitalsAZ$675New Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceARTennessee: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $311 across 19 hospitalsNC$311South Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $122 across 13 hospitalsOK$122Louisiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $241 across 68 hospitalsTX$241Florida: median $218 across 24 hospitalsFL$218
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $174. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT28$692+298%$570 – $814
Arizona AZ12$675+289%$100 – $675
California CA25$610+251%$190 – $610
North Carolina NC19$311+79%$49 – $584
Texas TX68$241+39%$134 – $467
Wisconsin WI17$236+36%$236 – $311
Florida FL24$218+25%$100 – $792
Indiana IN18$152−13%$111 – $158
Iowa IA18$125−28%$125 – $176
Oklahoma OK13$122−30%$122 – $154
Washington WA12$119−31%$74 – $230
Illinois IL10$110−36%$63 – $176
Massachusetts MA10$81−53%$60 – $233
Pennsylvania PA30$77−56%$35 – $488
Ohio OH10$73−58%$64 – $442
Michigan MI11$71−59%$59 – $236
New Jersey NJ25$56−67%$51 – $56
New York NY15$51−70%$51 – $51
Kentucky KY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not 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 $174.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care369$158$60 – $584
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access58$236$120 – $442
Ownership
For-profit105$225$110 – $675
Government38$109$51 – $311
Non-profit293$158$60 – $584
System affiliation
Part of a system391$198$70 – $610
Independent48$120$61 – $219

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$368
Median cash price$174
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

272 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $233 and the average of the middle 60% is $279; most fall between $119 and $610.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 272 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
$81$125$233$485$692

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($81 vs $692).

Of the 305 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 272 gave a usable cash price; 10 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 23 a list price only.

How complete is this

439 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (11%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 480 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted439
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here18
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 — excluded22
Hospitals that filed this code480

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 Hc Infectious Agent Dna/Rna Influenza Ea Type.

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, “Influenza virus RNA test, per type or subtype (CPT 87501) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87501-influenza-virus-rna-test-per-type-or-subtype