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

MRSA test by DNA amplification

CPT 87641the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that looks for the genetic material of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a drug-resistant staph bacterium, in a specimen such as a nasal swab. Covers one test on one specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $124 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,745 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $129. Most fall between $62 and $223 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,745
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 2,745 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$70$124$200$314

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($40 vs $314).

How the prices are spread

$32 – $41: 170 hospitals$32$41 – $53: 147 hospitals$53 – $69: 214 hospitals$53$69 – $89: 230 hospitals$89 – $115: 387 hospitals$89$115 – $149: 381 hospitals$149 – $193: 349 hospitals$149$193 – $250: 274 hospitals$250 – $323: 187 hospitals$250$323 – $418: 133 hospitals$323median $124price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,472 of 2,745 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$32$41170
$41$53147
$53$69214
$69$89230
$89$115387
$115$149381
$149$193349
$193$250274
$250$323187
$323$418133

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $124.

Alaska: median $120 across 12 hospitalsAK$120Maine: median $62 across 18 hospitalsME$62Vermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $136 across 24 hospitalsNH$136Washington: median $159 across 62 hospitalsWA$159Idaho: median $156 across 20 hospitalsID$156Montana: median $106 across 28 hospitalsMT$106North Dakota: median $166 across 32 hospitalsND$166Minnesota: median $96 across 88 hospitalsMN$96Illinois: median $178 across 123 hospitalsIL$178Wisconsin: median $143 across 102 hospitalsWI$143Michigan: median $79 across 85 hospitalsMI$79New York: median $86 across 97 hospitalsNY$86Massachusetts: median $140 across 43 hospitalsMA$140Oregon: median $133 across 48 hospitalsOR$133Nevada: median $113 across 15 hospitalsNV$113Wyoming: median $100 across 14 hospitalsWY$100South Dakota: median $193 across 38 hospitalsSD$193Iowa: median $109 across 74 hospitalsIA$109Indiana: median $103 across 91 hospitalsIN$103Ohio: median $129 across 128 hospitalsOH$129Pennsylvania: median $120 across 111 hospitalsPA$120New Jersey: median $39 across 49 hospitalsNJ$39Connecticut: median $122 across 23 hospitalsCT$122Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $222 across 116 hospitalsCA$222Utah: median $258 across 38 hospitalsUT$258Colorado: median $190 across 61 hospitalsCO$190Nebraska: median $145 across 45 hospitalsNE$145Missouri: median $101 across 64 hospitalsMO$101Kentucky: median $91 across 53 hospitalsKY$91West Virginia: median $123 across 35 hospitalsWV$123Virginia: median $128 across 50 hospitalsVA$128Maryland: median $294 across 35 hospitalsMD$294Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $123 across 28 hospitalsAZ$123New Mexico: median $116 across 24 hospitalsNM$116Kansas: median $111 across 53 hospitalsKS$111Arkansas: median $41 across 34 hospitalsAR$41Tennessee: median $64 across 70 hospitalsTN$64North Carolina: median $128 across 67 hospitalsNC$128South Carolina: median $132 across 44 hospitalsSC$132Oklahoma: median $77 across 57 hospitalsOK$77Louisiana: median $68 across 46 hospitalsLA$68Mississippi: median $50 across 38 hospitalsMS$50Alabama: median $68 across 25 hospitalsAL$68Georgia: median $94 across 82 hospitalsGA$94Hawaii: median $200 across 16 hospitalsHI$200Texas: median $168 across 197 hospitalsTX$168Florida: median $148 across 120 hospitalsFL$148
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $124. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD35$294+138%$194 – $374
Utah UT38$258+109%$125 – $304
California CA116$222+79%$127 – $385
Hawaii HI16$200+62%$155 – $278
South Dakota SD38$193+56%$103 – $272
Colorado CO61$190+53%$114 – $236
Illinois IL123$178+44%$85 – $250
Texas TX197$168+36%$73 – $276
North Dakota ND32$166+35%$63 – $243
Washington WA62$159+28%$123 – $240
Idaho ID20$156+26%$107 – $188
Florida FL120$148+20%$50 – $344
Nebraska NE45$145+18%$90 – $262
Wisconsin WI102$143+16%$98 – $217
Massachusetts MA43$140+13%$82 – $246
New Hampshire NH24$136+10%$101 – $182
Oregon OR48$133+7%$106 – $196
South Carolina SC44$132+7%$82 – $241
Ohio OH128$129+4%$96 – $250
Virginia VA50$128+4%$86 – $234
North Carolina NC67$128+4%$56 – $203
Arizona AZ28$1230%$75 – $363
West Virginia WV35$123−1%$65 – $178
Connecticut CT23$122−2%$85 – $292
Alaska AK12$120−3%$94 – $242
Pennsylvania PA111$120−3%$40 – $371
New Mexico NM24$116−6%$81 – $167
Nevada NV15$113−9%$37 – $209
Kansas KS53$111−10%$50 – $175
Iowa IA74$109−12%$67 – $181
Montana MT28$106−14%$82 – $240
Indiana IN91$103−17%$62 – $142
Missouri MO64$101−18%$70 – $129
Wyoming WY14$100−19%$67 – $188
Minnesota MN88$96−23%$67 – $137
Georgia GA82$94−24%$43 – $161
Kentucky KY53$91−26%$55 – $124
New York NY97$86−30%$42 – $161
Michigan MI85$79−36%$46 – $164
Oklahoma OK57$77−38%$38 – $131
Louisiana LA46$68−45%$26 – $111
Alabama AL25$68−45%$29 – $175
Tennessee TN70$64−48%$46 – $119
Maine ME18$62−50%$29 – $93
Mississippi MS38$50−60%$33 – $78
Arkansas AR34$41−67%$38 – $124
New Jersey NJ49$39−69%$35 – $165
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not 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 $124.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,964$121$56 – $233
Children’s52$200$77 – $289
Critical access720$127$75 – $209
Ownership
For-profit335$129$64 – $363
Government449$121$60 – $205
Non-profit1,952$124$62 – $222
System affiliation
Part of a system2,314$125$60 – $233
Independent431$118$70 – $192

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$200
Median cash price$124
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

1,910 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $125 and the average of the middle 60% is $134; most fall between $64 and $232.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,910 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
$43$76$125$205$306

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($43 vs $306).

Of the 2,087 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,910 gave a usable cash price; 94 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 83 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,745 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (69%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,967 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,745
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here122
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 — excluded99
Hospitals that filed this code2,967

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 July 20, 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 Mrsa Pneumonia Screen.

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, “MRSA test by DNA amplification (CPT 87641) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87641-mrsa-test-by-dna-amplification