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

Gardnerella test measuring amount of bacteria

CPT 87512the billing code this page is about

A genetic test that not only detects Gardnerella vaginalis but also reports how much of the bacteria's genetic material is present in the sample.

Hospitals typically charge $84 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 563 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $96. Most fall between $46 and $199 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
563
States
44
Filings dated
Nov 2023 – 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 563 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
$40$50$84$163$291

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($40 vs $291).

How the prices are spread

$25 – $34: 17 hospitals$25$34 – $46: 67 hospitals$46 – $61: 64 hospitals$46$61 – $83: 103 hospitals$83 – $112: 77 hospitals$83$112 – $151: 49 hospitals$151 – $205: 67 hospitals$151$205 – $276: 26 hospitals$276 – $373: 17 hospitals$276$373 – $504: 32 hospitals$373median $84price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (519 of 563 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$25$3417
$34$4667
$46$6164
$61$83103
$83$11277
$112$15149
$151$20567
$205$27626
$276$37317
$373$50432

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $84.

Alaska: 4 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $105 across 17 hospitalsIL$105Wisconsin: median $203 across 12 hospitalsWI$203Michigan: median $58 across 10 hospitalsMI$58New York: median $50 across 32 hospitalsNY$50Massachusetts: median $121 across 10 hospitalsMA$121Oregon: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $105 across 12 hospitalsIA$105Indiana: median $119 across 21 hospitalsIN$119Ohio: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $85 across 63 hospitalsPA$85New Jersey: median $46 across 35 hospitalsNJ$46Connecticut: 5 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 $504 across 36 hospitalsCA$504Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $104 across 30 hospitalsMO$104Kentucky: median $156 across 12 hospitalsKY$156West Virginia: median $43 across 10 hospitalsWV$43Virginia: median $101 across 21 hospitalsVA$101Maryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $547 across 10 hospitalsAZ$547New Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: median $96 across 15 hospitalsAR$96Tennessee: median $73 across 11 hospitalsTN$73North Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNCSouth Carolina: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $74 across 27 hospitalsOK$74Louisiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $71 across 36 hospitalsGA$71Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $65 across 30 hospitalsTX$65Florida: median $39 across 29 hospitalsFL$39
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $84. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ10$547+551%$78 – $547
California CA36$504+500%$6 – $504
Wisconsin WI12$203+141%$203 – $203
Kentucky KY12$156+86%$40 – $156
Massachusetts MA10$121+44%$92 – $189
Indiana IN21$119+42%$80 – $135
Iowa IA12$105+25%$105 – $105
Illinois IL17$105+25%$55 – $307
Missouri MO30$104+24%$63 – $138
Virginia VA21$101+20%$97 – $202
Arkansas AR15$96+15%$31 – $96
Pennsylvania PA63$85+2%$40 – $290
Oklahoma OK27$74−12%$63 – $92
Tennessee TN11$73−13%$67 – $73
Georgia GA36$71−15%$53 – $82
Texas TX30$65−22%$65 – $132
Michigan MI10$58−31%$40 – $203
New York NY32$50−40%$42 – $141
New Jersey NJ35$46−45%$42 – $76
West Virginia WV10$43−49%$43 – $111
Florida FL29$39−53%$9 – $84
Washington WA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $84.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care463$79$42 – $188
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access89$111$63 – $203
Ownership
For-profit62$69$55 – $155
Government61$73$42 – $125
Non-profit440$96$46 – $203
System affiliation
Part of a system478$84$43 – $203
Independent85$84$53 – $156

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$182
Median cash price$84
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

366 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $101 and the average of the middle 60% is $117; most fall between $54 and $233.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 366 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
$39$63$101$203$483

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($39 vs $483).

Of the 386 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 366 gave a usable cash price; 17 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 3 a list price only.

How complete is this

563 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (14%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 592 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted563
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here22
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 — excluded6
Hospitals that filed this code592

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 GARDNER VAG DNA QUANT.

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, “Gardnerella test measuring amount of bacteria (CPT 87512) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87512-gardnerella-test-measuring-amount-of-bacteria