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

Legionnaires' disease bacteria test, amplified method

CPT 87541the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that detects genetic material of the Legionella pneumophila bacterium by copying it many times so it can be identified in the sample.

Hospitals typically charge $108 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,353 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $116. Most fall between $45 and $257 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,353
States
50
Filings dated
Jun 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 1,353 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
$33$56$108$196$418

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($33 vs $418).

How the prices are spread

$28 – $38: 142 hospitals$28$38 – $50: 104 hospitals$50 – $67: 119 hospitals$50$67 – $89: 140 hospitals$89 – $119: 171 hospitals$89$119 – $158: 178 hospitals$158 – $210: 123 hospitals$158$210 – $280: 54 hospitals$280 – $373: 95 hospitals$280$373 – $496: 97 hospitals$373median $108price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,223 of 1,353 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$28$38142
$38$50104
$50$67119
$67$89140
$89$119171
$119$158178
$158$210123
$210$28054
$280$37395
$373$49697

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $108.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital 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 $139 across 23 hospitalsWA$139Idaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $78 across 29 hospitalsMN$78Illinois: median $110 across 67 hospitalsIL$110Wisconsin: median $143 across 52 hospitalsWI$143Michigan: median $80 across 32 hospitalsMI$80New York: median $42 across 37 hospitalsNY$42Massachusetts: median $109 across 28 hospitalsMA$109Oregon: median $127 across 22 hospitalsOR$127Nevada: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $67 across 21 hospitalsIA$67Indiana: median $74 across 50 hospitalsIN$74Ohio: median $124 across 69 hospitalsOH$124Pennsylvania: median $142 across 66 hospitalsPA$142New Jersey: median $40 across 45 hospitalsNJ$40Connecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $129 across 51 hospitalsCA$129Utah: median $452 across 29 hospitalsUT$452Colorado: median $243 across 28 hospitalsCO$243Nebraska: median $128 across 15 hospitalsNE$128Missouri: median $161 across 32 hospitalsMO$161Kentucky: median $117 across 32 hospitalsKY$117West Virginia: median $33 across 17 hospitalsWV$33Virginia: median $138 across 52 hospitalsVA$138Maryland: median $286 across 24 hospitalsMD$286Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $79 across 19 hospitalsAZ$79New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $333 across 10 hospitalsKS$333Arkansas: median $128 across 15 hospitalsAR$128Tennessee: median $33 across 38 hospitalsTN$33North Carolina: median $65 across 56 hospitalsNC$65South Carolina: median $199 across 15 hospitalsSC$199Oklahoma: median $111 across 30 hospitalsOK$111Louisiana: median $81 across 25 hospitalsLA$81Mississippi: median $47 across 17 hospitalsMS$47Alabama: median $61 across 18 hospitalsAL$61Georgia: median $50 across 59 hospitalsGA$50Hawaii: median $112 across 11 hospitalsHI$112Texas: median $152 across 104 hospitalsTX$152Florida: median $88 across 64 hospitalsFL$88
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $108. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT29$452+320%$373 – $532
Kansas KS10$333+209%$82 – $335
Maryland MD24$286+165%$215 – $384
Colorado CO28$243+126%$147 – $511
South Carolina SC15$199+85%$69 – $199
Missouri MO32$161+50%$71 – $335
Texas TX104$152+41%$37 – $297
Wisconsin WI52$143+33%$111 – $174
Pennsylvania PA66$142+32%$40 – $290
Washington WA23$139+29%$76 – $319
Virginia VA52$138+28%$99 – $195
California CA51$129+20%$38 – $426
Arkansas AR15$128+19%$17 – $133
Nebraska NE15$128+18%$73 – $332
Oregon OR22$127+18%$64 – $312
Ohio OH69$124+15%$70 – $329
Kentucky KY32$117+9%$78 – $386
Hawaii HI11$112+4%$112 – $220
Oklahoma OK30$111+3%$100 – $155
Illinois IL67$110+2%$56 – $178
Massachusetts MA28$109+1%$66 – $171
Florida FL64$88−18%$35 – $221
Louisiana LA25$81−25%$29 – $129
Michigan MI32$80−26%$43 – $109
Arizona AZ19$79−27%$36 – $496
Minnesota MN29$78−27%$56 – $79
Indiana IN50$74−31%$49 – $173
Iowa IA21$67−38%$67 – $150
North Carolina NC56$65−40%$59 – $309
Alabama AL18$61−43%$40 – $150
Georgia GA59$50−53%$30 – $137
Mississippi MS17$47−56%$28 – $77
New York NY37$42−61%$35 – $119
New Jersey NJ45$40−63%$35 – $310
Tennessee TN38$33−69%$32 – $160
West Virginia WV17$33−70%$33 – $35
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $108.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,134$106$42 – $257
Children’s33$184$82 – $335
Critical access183$105$53 – $218
Ownership
For-profit157$123$47 – $496
Government172$63$35 – $158
Non-profit1,021$111$48 – $257
System affiliation
Part of a system1,208$108$45 – $286
Independent145$105$43 – $215

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$200
Median cash price$108
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

985 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $115 and the average of the middle 60% is $123; most fall between $59 and $240.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 985 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
$35$65$115$199$392

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($35 vs $392).

Of the 1,096 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 985 gave a usable cash price; 65 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 46 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,353 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (34%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,497 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,353
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here89
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded54
Hospitals that filed this code1,497

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 LEGION PNEUMO DNA AMP PROB.

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, “Legionnaires' disease bacteria test, amplified method (CPT 87541) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87541-legionnaires-disease-bacteria-test-amplified-method