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Procedure price report · Pathology

Cell smear exam including slide preparation

CPT 88161the billing code this page is about

Laboratory preparation of slides from a cell sample taken from a site other than the cervix or vagina, plus screening and interpretation; billed per specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $92 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,752 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $95. Most fall between $42 and $165 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,752
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 1,752 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
$30$49$92$150$247

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($30 vs $247).

How the prices are spread

$25 – $32: 126 hospitals$25$32 – $42: 140 hospitals$42 – $55: 157 hospitals$42$55 – $72: 191 hospitals$72 – $94: 199 hospitals$72$94 – $123: 245 hospitals$123 – $161: 243 hospitals$123$161 – $210: 134 hospitals$210 – $275: 76 hospitals$210$275 – $359: 67 hospitals$275median $92price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,578 of 1,752 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$25$32126
$32$42140
$42$55157
$55$72191
$72$94199
$94$123245
$123$161243
$161$210134
$210$27576
$275$35967

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$30
Median cash price$92
Cash as a multiple of Medicare3.1×

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 $92.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $51 across 16 hospitalsME$51Vermont: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $77 across 43 hospitalsWA$77Idaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $72 across 46 hospitalsMN$72Illinois: median $101 across 86 hospitalsIL$101Wisconsin: median $85 across 63 hospitalsWI$85Michigan: median $68 across 47 hospitalsMI$68New York: median $64 across 71 hospitalsNY$64Massachusetts: median $116 across 30 hospitalsMA$116Oregon: median $111 across 34 hospitalsOR$111Nevada: median $85 across 11 hospitalsNV$85Wyoming: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $70 across 25 hospitalsIA$70Indiana: median $52 across 57 hospitalsIN$52Ohio: median $139 across 95 hospitalsOH$139Pennsylvania: median $47 across 70 hospitalsPA$47New Jersey: median $37 across 28 hospitalsNJ$37Connecticut: median $89 across 11 hospitalsCT$89Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $146 across 121 hospitalsCA$146Utah: median $140 across 34 hospitalsUT$140Colorado: median $119 across 42 hospitalsCO$119Nebraska: median $58 across 22 hospitalsNE$58Missouri: median $111 across 35 hospitalsMO$111Kentucky: median $62 across 26 hospitalsKY$62West Virginia: median $42 across 16 hospitalsWV$42Virginia: median $60 across 43 hospitalsVA$60Maryland: median $190 across 31 hospitalsMD$190Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $62 across 27 hospitalsAZ$62New Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $112 across 31 hospitalsKS$112Arkansas: median $79 across 17 hospitalsAR$79Tennessee: median $47 across 49 hospitalsTN$47North Carolina: median $109 across 45 hospitalsNC$109South Carolina: median $111 across 17 hospitalsSC$111Oklahoma: median $59 across 41 hospitalsOK$59Louisiana: median $51 across 28 hospitalsLA$51Mississippi: median $39 across 29 hospitalsMS$39Alabama: median $48 across 25 hospitalsAL$48Georgia: median $88 across 41 hospitalsGA$88Hawaii: median $143 across 16 hospitalsHI$143Texas: median $114 across 124 hospitalsTX$114Florida: median $107 across 90 hospitalsFL$107
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $92. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD31$190+108%$147 – $228
California CA121$146+59%$57 – $152
Hawaii HI16$143+56%$119 – $184
Utah UT34$140+53%$100 – $165
Ohio OH95$139+52%$110 – $221
Colorado CO42$119+30%$57 – $329
Massachusetts MA30$116+27%$50 – $254
Texas TX124$114+24%$80 – $220
Kansas KS31$112+22%$52 – $181
Oregon OR34$111+22%$71 – $226
South Carolina SC17$111+21%$51 – $177
Missouri MO35$111+21%$80 – $122
North Carolina NC45$109+19%$61 – $171
Florida FL90$107+17%$35 – $348
Illinois IL86$101+11%$70 – $167
Connecticut CT11$89−3%$58 – $99
Georgia GA41$88−3%$52 – $308
Nevada NV11$85−7%$40 – $119
Wisconsin WI63$85−7%$67 – $146
Arkansas AR17$79−13%$67 – $100
Washington WA43$77−16%$52 – $117
Minnesota MN46$72−21%$44 – $130
Iowa IA25$70−23%$57 – $95
Michigan MI47$68−26%$34 – $124
New York NY71$64−30%$29 – $115
Arizona AZ27$62−32%$27 – $291
Kentucky KY26$62−32%$46 – $117
Virginia VA43$60−34%$53 – $109
Oklahoma OK41$59−35%$33 – $86
Nebraska NE22$58−36%$44 – $98
Indiana IN57$52−43%$39 – $127
Maine ME16$51−44%$38 – $69
Louisiana LA28$51−44%$16 – $98
Alabama AL25$48−48%$25 – $134
Tennessee TN49$47−49%$26 – $58
Pennsylvania PA70$47−49%$29 – $90
West Virginia WV16$42−54%$27 – $89
Mississippi MS29$39−58%$23 – $74
New Jersey NJ28$37−59%$27 – $102
South Dakota SD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not 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 $92.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,398$90$40 – $167
Children’s28$152$74 – $220
Critical access319$96$46 – $152
Ownership
For-profit256$98$36 – $291
Government236$84$36 – $143
Non-profit1,253$92$45 – $156
System affiliation
Part of a system1,483$93$43 – $165
Independent269$85$40 – $159

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$166
Median cash price$92
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

1,242 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $95 and the average of the middle 60% is $98; most fall between $48 and $161.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,242 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$55$95$146$229

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($33 vs $229).

Of the 1,383 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,242 gave a usable cash price; 81 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 60 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,752 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (44%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,918 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,752
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here107
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 — excluded59
Hospitals that filed this code1,918

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 Smrs Any Oth Src Prepj Scr&Interpj|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, “Cell smear exam including slide preparation (CPT 88161) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88161-cell-smear-exam-including-slide-preparation