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

Human herpesvirus 6 test measuring amount of virus

CPT 87533the billing code this page is about

A genetic test that measures how much human herpesvirus 6 genetic material is present in the sample.

Hospitals typically charge $224 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,414 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $237. Most fall between $84 and $447 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,414
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 1,414 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$108$224$395$606

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($51 vs $606).

How the prices are spread

$42 – $56: 109 hospitals$42$56 – $76: 84 hospitals$76 – $103: 98 hospitals$76$103 – $139: 110 hospitals$139 – $187: 162 hospitals$139$187 – $253: 163 hospitals$253 – $341: 166 hospitals$253$341 – $460: 198 hospitals$460 – $621: 133 hospitals$460$621 – $838: 70 hospitals$621median $224price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,293 of 1,414 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$42$56109
$56$7684
$76$10398
$103$139110
$139$187162
$187$253163
$253$341166
$341$460198
$460$621133
$621$83870

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $224.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $165 across 11 hospitalsNH$165Washington: median $165 across 31 hospitalsWA$165Idaho: median $234 across 12 hospitalsID$234Montana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $231 across 34 hospitalsMN$231Illinois: median $358 across 58 hospitalsIL$358Wisconsin: median $353 across 61 hospitalsWI$353Michigan: median $113 across 18 hospitalsMI$113New York: median $115 across 57 hospitalsNY$115Massachusetts: median $259 across 25 hospitalsMA$259Oregon: median $262 across 18 hospitalsOR$262Nevada: median $132 across 11 hospitalsNV$132Wyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $70 across 26 hospitalsIA$70Indiana: median $115 across 45 hospitalsIN$115Ohio: median $229 across 84 hospitalsOH$229Pennsylvania: median $174 across 76 hospitalsPA$174New Jersey: median $46 across 41 hospitalsNJ$46Connecticut: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $255 across 62 hospitalsCA$255Utah: median $794 across 28 hospitalsUT$794Colorado: median $306 across 27 hospitalsCO$306Nebraska: median $368 across 17 hospitalsNE$368Missouri: median $275 across 23 hospitalsMO$275Kentucky: median $262 across 21 hospitalsKY$262West Virginia: median $200 across 14 hospitalsWV$200Virginia: median $110 across 41 hospitalsVA$110Maryland: median $392 across 28 hospitalsMD$392Delaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $252 across 26 hospitalsAZ$252New Mexico: median $151 across 11 hospitalsNM$151Kansas: median $436 across 20 hospitalsKS$436Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $66 across 29 hospitalsTN$66North Carolina: median $375 across 56 hospitalsNC$375South Carolina: median $337 across 35 hospitalsSC$337Oklahoma: median $185 across 28 hospitalsOK$185Louisiana: median $69 across 22 hospitalsLA$69Mississippi: median $41 across 10 hospitalsMS$41Alabama: median $230 across 12 hospitalsAL$230Georgia: median $214 across 44 hospitalsGA$214Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $297 across 122 hospitalsTX$297Florida: median $188 across 62 hospitalsFL$188
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $224. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT28$794+255%$783 – $934
Kansas KS20$436+95%$164 – $988
Maryland MD28$392+75%$285 – $501
North Carolina NC56$375+67%$88 – $659
Nebraska NE17$368+65%$124 – $517
Illinois IL58$358+60%$73 – $539
Wisconsin WI61$353+58%$231 – $446
South Carolina SC35$337+51%$89 – $553
Colorado CO27$306+37%$171 – $426
Texas TX122$297+33%$145 – $380
Missouri MO23$275+23%$210 – $1,275
Kentucky KY21$262+17%$44 – $535
Oregon OR18$262+17%$188 – $392
Massachusetts MA25$259+16%$103 – $471
California CA62$255+14%$150 – $356
Arizona AZ26$252+13%$60 – $408
Idaho ID12$234+5%$234 – $550
Minnesota MN34$231+3%$187 – $257
Alabama AL12$230+3%$46 – $522
Ohio OH84$229+3%$126 – $697
Georgia GA44$214−4%$129 – $440
West Virginia WV14$200−11%$200 – $358
Florida FL62$188−16%$82 – $342
Oklahoma OK28$185−17%$143 – $236
Pennsylvania PA76$174−22%$48 – $458
New Hampshire NH11$165−26%$157 – $253
Washington WA31$165−26%$85 – $372
New Mexico NM11$151−32%$130 – $209
Nevada NV11$132−41%$53 – $190
New York NY57$115−49%$42 – $233
Indiana IN45$115−49%$67 – $242
Michigan MI18$113−50%$58 – $147
Virginia VA41$110−51%$83 – $198
Iowa IA26$70−69%$67 – $334
Louisiana LA22$69−69%$55 – $119
Tennessee TN29$66−70%$45 – $332
New Jersey NJ41$46−79%$42 – $48
Mississippi MS10$41−82%$31 – $278
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not 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 $224.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,181$214$80 – $436
Children’s38$245$122 – $522
Critical access189$231$91 – $512
Ownership
For-profit150$277$95 – $600
Government171$200$84 – $377
Non-profit1,087$218$83 – $447
System affiliation
Part of a system1,257$214$83 – $440
Independent157$244$101 – $464

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$406
Median cash price$224
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

1,099 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $238 and the average of the middle 60% is $250; most fall between $103 and $453.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,099 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
$67$126$238$408$595

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($67 vs $595).

Of the 1,225 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,099 gave a usable cash price; 74 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 52 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,414 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (36%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,562 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,414
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here93
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 — excluded54
Hospitals that filed this code1,562

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 Hh6 Viactve Pcr.

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, “Human herpesvirus 6 test measuring amount of virus (CPT 87533) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87533-human-herpesvirus-6-test-measuring-amount-of-virus