HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

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

Respiratory virus panel, 3 to 5 viruses tested

CPT 87631the billing code this page is about

A single laboratory test on one respiratory specimen that looks for the genetic material of three to five different respiratory viruses at once.

Hospitals typically charge $278 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,018 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $283. Most fall between $157 and $478 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,018
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 2,018 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
$116$171$278$425$681

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($116 vs $681).

How the prices are spread

$90 – $113: 81 hospitals$90$113 – $142: 151 hospitals$142 – $179: 218 hospitals$142$179 – $224: 221 hospitals$224 – $282: 260 hospitals$224$282 – $354: 325 hospitals$354 – $445: 211 hospitals$354$445 – $560: 130 hospitals$560 – $703: 133 hospitals$560$703 – $884: 88 hospitals$703median $278price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,818 of 2,018 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$90$11381
$113$142151
$142$179218
$179$224221
$224$282260
$282$354325
$354$445211
$445$560130
$560$703133
$703$88488

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $278.

Alaska: median $278 across 11 hospitalsAK$278Maine: median $199 across 24 hospitalsME$199Vermont: median $352 across 10 hospitalsVT$352New Hampshire: median $272 across 18 hospitalsNH$272Washington: median $245 across 45 hospitalsWA$245Idaho: median $223 across 16 hospitalsID$223Montana: median $280 across 15 hospitalsMT$280North Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $292 across 70 hospitalsMN$292Illinois: median $311 across 74 hospitalsIL$311Wisconsin: median $388 across 91 hospitalsWI$388Michigan: median $220 across 60 hospitalsMI$220New York: median $264 across 81 hospitalsNY$264Massachusetts: median $443 across 43 hospitalsMA$443Oregon: median $278 across 43 hospitalsOR$278Nevada: median $428 across 11 hospitalsNV$428Wyoming: median $318 across 11 hospitalsWY$318South Dakota: median $356 across 19 hospitalsSD$356Iowa: median $255 across 61 hospitalsIA$255Indiana: median $229 across 61 hospitalsIN$229Ohio: median $332 across 99 hospitalsOH$332Pennsylvania: median $281 across 96 hospitalsPA$281New Jersey: median $164 across 51 hospitalsNJ$164Connecticut: median $445 across 10 hospitalsCT$445Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $314 across 118 hospitalsCA$314Utah: median $345 across 35 hospitalsUT$345Colorado: median $237 across 42 hospitalsCO$237Nebraska: median $319 across 47 hospitalsNE$319Missouri: median $284 across 54 hospitalsMO$284Kentucky: median $263 across 49 hospitalsKY$263West Virginia: median $173 across 28 hospitalsWV$173Virginia: median $495 across 27 hospitalsVA$495Maryland: median $144 across 25 hospitalsMD$144Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $240 across 27 hospitalsAZ$240New Mexico: median $358 across 16 hospitalsNM$358Kansas: median $234 across 38 hospitalsKS$234Arkansas: median $183 across 32 hospitalsAR$183Tennessee: median $125 across 37 hospitalsTN$125North Carolina: median $171 across 45 hospitalsNC$171South Carolina: median $443 across 24 hospitalsSC$443Oklahoma: median $228 across 36 hospitalsOK$228Louisiana: median $145 across 15 hospitalsLA$145Mississippi: median $120 across 23 hospitalsMS$120Alabama: median $172 across 15 hospitalsAL$172Georgia: median $169 across 56 hospitalsGA$169Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $234 across 129 hospitalsTX$234Florida: median $383 across 51 hospitalsFL$383
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $278. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Virginia VA27$495+78%$248 – $760
Connecticut CT10$445+60%$308 – $545
South Carolina SC24$443+59%$257 – $450
Massachusetts MA43$443+59%$302 – $652
Nevada NV11$428+54%$156 – $740
Wisconsin WI91$388+39%$220 – $585
Florida FL51$383+38%$157 – $2,061
New Mexico NM16$358+29%$214 – $551
South Dakota SD19$356+28%$348 – $460
Vermont VT10$352+26%$203 – $399
Utah UT35$345+24%$298 – $406
Ohio OH99$332+19%$226 – $638
Nebraska NE47$319+15%$263 – $398
Wyoming WY11$318+14%$269 – $450
California CA118$314+13%$215 – $801
Illinois IL74$311+12%$138 – $634
Minnesota MN70$292+5%$211 – $376
Missouri MO54$284+2%$144 – $317
Pennsylvania PA96$281+1%$164 – $776
Montana MT15$280+1%$143 – $429
Alaska AK11$2780%$173 – $431
Oregon OR43$2780%$183 – $430
New Hampshire NH18$272−2%$118 – $368
New York NY81$264−5%$143 – $485
Kentucky KY49$263−6%$183 – $477
Iowa IA61$255−8%$137 – $343
Washington WA45$245−12%$122 – $376
Arizona AZ27$240−14%$144 – $1,188
Colorado CO42$237−15%$114 – $389
Texas TX129$234−16%$180 – $365
Kansas KS38$234−16%$142 – $383
Indiana IN61$229−18%$141 – $315
Oklahoma OK36$228−18%$153 – $311
Idaho ID16$223−20%$171 – $363
Michigan MI60$220−21%$161 – $416
Maine ME24$199−28%$108 – $371
Arkansas AR32$183−34%$176 – $339
West Virginia WV28$173−38%$127 – $370
Alabama AL15$172−38%$78 – $318
North Carolina NC45$171−39%$109 – $863
Georgia GA56$169−39%$101 – $294
New Jersey NJ51$164−41%$143 – $235
Louisiana LA15$145−48%$95 – $295
Maryland MD25$144−48%$107 – $176
Tennessee TN37$125−55%$97 – $190
Mississippi MS23$120−57%$75 – $210
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not 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 $278.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,451$262$143 – $481
Children’s51$368$191 – $745
Critical access509$294$183 – $447
Ownership
For-profit195$263$138 – $587
Government300$243$143 – $393
Non-profit1,516$284$159 – $481
System affiliation
Part of a system1,738$278$155 – $479
Independent280$275$161 – $468

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$456
Median cash price$278
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

1,487 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $286 and the average of the middle 60% is $296; most fall between $163 and $499.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,487 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
$116$179$286$441$691

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($116 vs $691).

Of the 1,644 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,487 gave a usable cash price; 84 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 73 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,018 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (51%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,206 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,018
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here106
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded82
Hospitals that filed this code2,206

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 Iadna Respiratry Probe & Rev Trnscr 3-5 Targets.

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, “Respiratory virus panel, 3 to 5 viruses tested (CPT 87631) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87631-respiratory-virus-panel-3-to-5-viruses-tested