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Procedure price report · Pathology

Urine cancer probe test on cells, manual, per specimen

CPT 88120the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test that applies 3 to 5 fluorescent genetic probes to cells from a urinary tract sample and counts them by hand, often used to look for bladder cancer cells; billed for each specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $492 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,316 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $524. Most fall between $216 and $972 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,316
States
50
Filings dated
Jun 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 1,316 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
$163$254$492$885$1,529

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($163 vs $1,529).

How the prices are spread

$104 – $140: 39 hospitals$104$140 – $188: 87 hospitals$188 – $253: 133 hospitals$188$253 – $340: 137 hospitals$340 – $458: 171 hospitals$340$458 – $616: 164 hospitals$616 – $829: 173 hospitals$616$829 – $1,116: 142 hospitals$1,116 – $1,501: 72 hospitals$1,116$1,501 – $2,020: 74 hospitals$1,501median $492price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,192 of 1,316 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$104$14039
$140$18887
$188$253133
$253$340137
$340$458171
$458$616164
$616$829173
$829$1,116142
$1,116$1,50172
$1,501$2,02074

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$174
Median cash price$492
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.8×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $492.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $472 across 14 hospitalsME$472Vermont: 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 $441 across 21 hospitalsWA$441Idaho: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $1,207 across 16 hospitalsND$1,207Minnesota: median $526 across 67 hospitalsMN$526Illinois: median $653 across 77 hospitalsIL$653Wisconsin: median $612 across 47 hospitalsWI$612Michigan: median $298 across 48 hospitalsMI$298New York: median $348 across 63 hospitalsNY$348Massachusetts: median $759 across 30 hospitalsMA$759Oregon: median $840 across 14 hospitalsOR$840Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $180 across 26 hospitalsIA$180Indiana: median $240 across 51 hospitalsIN$240Ohio: median $573 across 86 hospitalsOH$573Pennsylvania: median $341 across 60 hospitalsPA$341New Jersey: median $218 across 43 hospitalsNJ$218Connecticut: median $567 across 11 hospitalsCT$567Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,529 across 37 hospitalsCA$1,529Utah: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $798 across 25 hospitalsCO$798Nebraska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $515 across 30 hospitalsMO$515Kentucky: median $254 across 16 hospitalsKY$254West Virginia: median $326 across 23 hospitalsWV$326Virginia: median $677 across 33 hospitalsVA$677Maryland: median $319 across 15 hospitalsMD$319Delaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,131 across 22 hospitalsAZ$1,131New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $687 across 21 hospitalsKS$687Arkansas: median $435 across 12 hospitalsAR$435Tennessee: median $451 across 15 hospitalsTN$451North Carolina: median $374 across 44 hospitalsNC$374South Carolina: median $284 across 18 hospitalsSC$284Oklahoma: median $349 across 24 hospitalsOK$349Louisiana: median $476 across 25 hospitalsLA$476Mississippi: median $164 across 16 hospitalsMS$164Alabama: median $228 across 16 hospitalsAL$228Georgia: median $416 across 50 hospitalsGA$416Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $633 across 68 hospitalsTX$633Florida: median $231 across 72 hospitalsFL$231
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $492. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA37$1,529+211%$303 – $1,529
North Dakota ND16$1,207+146%$742 – $1,712
Arizona AZ22$1,131+130%$389 – $2,784
Oregon OR14$840+71%$487 – $1,241
Colorado CO25$798+62%$369 – $2,202
Massachusetts MA30$759+54%$514 – $1,253
Kansas KS21$687+40%$277 – $875
Virginia VA33$677+38%$457 – $1,469
Illinois IL77$653+33%$310 – $1,009
Texas TX68$633+29%$203 – $748
Wisconsin WI47$612+24%$378 – $2,990
Ohio OH86$573+17%$380 – $768
Connecticut CT11$567+15%$470 – $622
Minnesota MN67$526+7%$326 – $1,175
Missouri MO30$515+5%$361 – $896
Louisiana LA25$476−3%$263 – $762
Maine ME14$472−4%$252 – $695
Tennessee TN15$451−8%$48 – $769
Washington WA21$441−10%$406 – $708
Arkansas AR12$435−12%$341 – $519
Georgia GA50$416−15%$147 – $969
North Carolina NC44$374−24%$287 – $984
Oklahoma OK24$349−29%$87 – $631
New York NY63$348−29%$203 – $647
Pennsylvania PA60$341−31%$150 – $1,245
West Virginia WV23$326−34%$200 – $912
Maryland MD15$319−35%$234 – $549
Michigan MI48$298−39%$130 – $962
South Carolina SC18$284−42%$231 – $954
Kentucky KY16$254−48%$254 – $644
Indiana IN51$240−51%$184 – $577
Florida FL72$231−53%$145 – $605
Alabama AL16$228−54%$152 – $787
New Jersey NJ43$218−56%$187 – $766
Iowa IA26$180−63%$180 – $918
Mississippi MS16$164−67%$155 – $226
Utah UT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not 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 $492.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,037$470$203 – $958
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access266$519$312 – $1,207
Ownership
For-profit139$561$174 – $1,086
Government182$412$203 – $814
Non-profit991$514$222 – $991
System affiliation
Part of a system1,140$495$213 – $984
Independent176$487$228 – $881

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$882
Median cash price$492
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

922 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $573 and the average of the middle 60% is $588; most fall between $272 and $1,045.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 922 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
$172$312$573$932$1,591

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($172 vs $1,591).

Of the 1,023 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 922 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 36 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,316 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (33%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,434 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,316
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here75
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 code1,434

Sections not shown for this setting

  • 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 Pathology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Cytp Insitu Hybrid Urine Spec 3-5 Probes Ea Mnl|PROFESSIONAL COMPONENT.

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, “Urine cancer probe test on cells, manual, per specimen (CPT 88120) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88120-urine-cancer-probe-test-on-cells-manual-per-specimen