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

Herpes simplex virus test measuring amount of virus

CPT 87530the billing code this page is about

A genetic test that measures how much herpes simplex virus genetic material is present in the sample.

Hospitals typically charge $150 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,082 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $157. Most fall between $67 and $298 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,082
States
48
Filings dated
Aug 2024 – 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 1,082 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
$47$77$150$263$430

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($47 vs $430).

How the prices are spread

$41 – $53: 91 hospitals$41$53 – $69: 79 hospitals$69 – $89: 124 hospitals$69$89 – $116: 87 hospitals$116 – $151: 106 hospitals$116$151 – $196: 141 hospitals$196 – $255: 119 hospitals$196$255 – $331: 106 hospitals$331 – $431: 67 hospitals$331$431 – $560: 54 hospitals$431median $150price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (974 of 1,082 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$41$5391
$53$6979
$69$89124
$89$11687
$116$151106
$151$196141
$196$255119
$255$331106
$331$43167
$431$56054

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $150.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $189 across 31 hospitalsWA$189Idaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $162 across 46 hospitalsIL$162Wisconsin: median $179 across 10 hospitalsWI$179Michigan: median $59 across 16 hospitalsMI$59New York: median $112 across 55 hospitalsNY$112Massachusetts: median $172 across 30 hospitalsMA$172Oregon: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $67 across 20 hospitalsIA$67Indiana: median $92 across 52 hospitalsIN$92Ohio: median $265 across 43 hospitalsOH$265Pennsylvania: median $103 across 65 hospitalsPA$103New Jersey: median $47 across 37 hospitalsNJ$47Connecticut: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $157 across 60 hospitalsCA$157Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $65 across 15 hospitalsCO$65Nebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $186 across 20 hospitalsMO$186Kentucky: median $168 across 18 hospitalsKY$168West Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $167 across 33 hospitalsVA$167Maryland: median $423 across 24 hospitalsMD$423Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $420 across 15 hospitalsAZ$420New Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $241 across 16 hospitalsKS$241Arkansas: median $85 across 28 hospitalsAR$85Tennessee: median $75 across 22 hospitalsTN$75North Carolina: median $125 across 43 hospitalsNC$125South Carolina: median $263 across 31 hospitalsSC$263Oklahoma: median $190 across 29 hospitalsOK$190Louisiana: median $99 across 15 hospitalsLA$99Mississippi: median $93 across 21 hospitalsMS$93Alabama: median $121 across 14 hospitalsAL$121Georgia: median $192 across 52 hospitalsGA$192Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $209 across 96 hospitalsTX$209Florida: median $78 across 51 hospitalsFL$78
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $150. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD24$423+182%$116 – $512
Arizona AZ15$420+180%$61 – $420
Ohio OH43$265+77%$174 – $325
South Carolina SC31$263+75%$214 – $298
Kansas KS16$241+61%$90 – $502
Texas TX96$209+40%$105 – $330
Georgia GA52$192+28%$85 – $282
Oklahoma OK29$190+27%$84 – $289
Washington WA31$189+26%$88 – $240
Missouri MO20$186+24%$83 – $216
Wisconsin WI10$179+19%$127 – $181
Massachusetts MA30$172+14%$114 – $518
Kentucky KY18$168+12%$101 – $424
Virginia VA33$167+11%$115 – $190
Illinois IL46$162+8%$67 – $281
California CA60$157+5%$60 – $251
North Carolina NC43$125−17%$104 – $330
Alabama AL14$121−19%$55 – $891
New York NY55$112−25%$43 – $195
Pennsylvania PA65$103−32%$49 – $437
Louisiana LA15$99−34%$40 – $129
Mississippi MS21$93−38%$62 – $120
Indiana IN52$92−39%$60 – $232
Arkansas AR28$85−44%$28 – $178
Florida FL51$78−48%$52 – $539
Tennessee TN22$75−50%$52 – $142
Iowa IA20$67−55%$67 – $162
Colorado CO15$65−57%$55 – $272
Michigan MI16$59−61%$53 – $66
New Jersey NJ37$47−69%$43 – $317
West Virginia WV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not 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 $150.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care926$150$67 – $297
Children’s24$178$86 – $411
Critical access129$147$71 – $298
Ownership
For-profit134$157$64 – $420
Government148$125$71 – $236
Non-profit797$162$67 – $299
System affiliation
Part of a system940$151$67 – $293
Independent142$150$65 – $316

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$282
Median cash price$150
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

761 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $171 and the average of the middle 60% is $172; most fall between $78 and $290.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 761 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
$58$87$171$266$435

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($58 vs $435).

Of the 853 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 761 gave a usable cash price; 54 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 38 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,082 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (27%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,181 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,082
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here56
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded40
Hospitals that filed this code1,181

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 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 Smp Virus 1&2 Qnt R-Time Pcr Plsma.

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, “Herpes simplex virus test measuring amount of virus (CPT 87530) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87530-herpes-simplex-virus-test-measuring-amount-of-virus