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Procedure price report · Pathology

Tissue exam under microscope, low complexity

CPT 88304the billing code this page is about

Visual and microscopic study of a removed tissue specimen of low complexity, such as a gallbladder, appendix, or skin cyst. Billed once per specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $145 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,247 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $149. Most fall between $72 and $258 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,247
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 3,247 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
$48$82$145$232$386

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($48 vs $386).

How the prices are spread

$32 – $43: 111 hospitals$32$43 – $58: 166 hospitals$58 – $78: 313 hospitals$58$78 – $104: 376 hospitals$104 – $140: 427 hospitals$104$140 – $187: 523 hospitals$187 – $251: 479 hospitals$187$251 – $336: 281 hospitals$336 – $451: 166 hospitals$336$451 – $604: 81 hospitals$451median $145price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,923 of 3,247 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$32$43111
$43$58166
$58$78313
$78$104376
$104$140427
$140$187523
$187$251479
$251$336281
$336$451166
$451$60481

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$53
Median cash price$145
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.7×

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 $145.

Alaska: median $195 across 14 hospitalsAK$195Maine: median $119 across 28 hospitalsME$119Vermont: median $163 across 13 hospitalsVT$163New Hampshire: median $180 across 25 hospitalsNH$180Washington: median $146 across 70 hospitalsWA$146Idaho: median $152 across 24 hospitalsID$152Montana: median $147 across 25 hospitalsMT$147North Dakota: median $125 across 34 hospitalsND$125Minnesota: median $131 across 108 hospitalsMN$131Illinois: median $196 across 140 hospitalsIL$196Wisconsin: median $175 across 105 hospitalsWI$175Michigan: median $86 across 101 hospitalsMI$86New York: median $108 across 121 hospitalsNY$108Massachusetts: median $186 across 50 hospitalsMA$186Oregon: median $150 across 49 hospitalsOR$150Nevada: median $65 across 17 hospitalsNV$65Wyoming: median $94 across 14 hospitalsWY$94South Dakota: median $155 across 32 hospitalsSD$155Iowa: median $122 across 87 hospitalsIA$122Indiana: median $146 across 95 hospitalsIN$146Ohio: median $211 across 141 hospitalsOH$211Pennsylvania: median $116 across 118 hospitalsPA$116New Jersey: median $72 across 56 hospitalsNJ$72Connecticut: median $142 across 22 hospitalsCT$142Rhode Island: median $58 across 10 hospitalsRI$58California: median $149 across 155 hospitalsCA$149Utah: median $192 across 40 hospitalsUT$192Colorado: median $201 across 68 hospitalsCO$201Nebraska: median $142 across 79 hospitalsNE$142Missouri: median $130 across 74 hospitalsMO$130Kentucky: median $129 across 64 hospitalsKY$129West Virginia: median $38 across 39 hospitalsWV$38Virginia: median $155 across 73 hospitalsVA$155Maryland: median $98 across 40 hospitalsMD$98Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $191 across 36 hospitalsAZ$191New Mexico: median $99 across 27 hospitalsNM$99Kansas: median $144 across 82 hospitalsKS$144Arkansas: median $92 across 37 hospitalsAR$92Tennessee: median $63 across 78 hospitalsTN$63North Carolina: median $173 across 91 hospitalsNC$173South Carolina: median $224 across 52 hospitalsSC$224Oklahoma: median $115 across 65 hospitalsOK$115Louisiana: median $88 across 55 hospitalsLA$88Mississippi: median $57 across 53 hospitalsMS$57Alabama: median $99 across 40 hospitalsAL$99Georgia: median $149 across 102 hospitalsGA$149Hawaii: median $246 across 18 hospitalsHI$246Texas: median $217 across 231 hospitalsTX$217Florida: median $362 across 142 hospitalsFL$362
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $145. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL142$362+149%$54 – $1,221
Hawaii HI18$246+70%$129 – $288
South Carolina SC52$224+54%$151 – $281
Texas TX231$217+50%$97 – $416
Ohio OH141$211+46%$124 – $271
Colorado CO68$201+39%$92 – $342
Illinois IL140$196+35%$98 – $338
Alaska AK14$195+34%$110 – $249
Utah UT40$192+32%$132 – $225
Arizona AZ36$191+32%$61 – $484
Massachusetts MA50$186+28%$97 – $282
New Hampshire NH25$180+24%$59 – $293
Wisconsin WI105$175+21%$73 – $227
North Carolina NC91$173+19%$96 – $229
Vermont VT13$163+12%$55 – $471
Virginia VA73$155+7%$82 – $269
South Dakota SD32$155+7%$104 – $229
Idaho ID24$152+5%$87 – $237
Oregon OR49$150+3%$101 – $177
California CA155$149+3%$69 – $214
Georgia GA102$149+2%$60 – $303
Montana MT25$147+1%$82 – $210
Indiana IN95$1460%$82 – $266
Washington WA70$1460%$94 – $209
Kansas KS82$144−1%$88 – $195
Nebraska NE79$142−2%$80 – $204
Connecticut CT22$142−2%$83 – $382
Minnesota MN108$131−10%$56 – $205
Missouri MO74$130−11%$83 – $258
Kentucky KY64$129−11%$84 – $221
North Dakota ND34$125−14%$102 – $163
Iowa IA87$122−16%$84 – $188
Maine ME28$119−18%$81 – $211
Pennsylvania PA118$116−20%$60 – $236
Oklahoma OK65$115−21%$55 – $217
New York NY121$108−26%$63 – $247
New Mexico NM27$99−31%$60 – $167
Alabama AL40$99−32%$56 – $227
Maryland MD40$98−32%$84 – $128
Wyoming WY14$94−35%$61 – $227
Arkansas AR37$92−37%$59 – $148
Louisiana LA55$88−39%$39 – $133
Michigan MI101$86−40%$42 – $158
New Jersey NJ56$72−50%$61 – $113
Nevada NV17$65−55%$36 – $271
Tennessee TN78$63−56%$32 – $146
Rhode Island RI10$58−60%$39 – $149
Mississippi MS53$57−61%$33 – $104
West Virginia WV39$38−74%$36 – $143
Delaware DE7not 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 $145.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,306$144$68 – $269
Children’s60$219$125 – $353
Critical access871$144$75 – $224
Ownership
For-profit468$183$80 – $702
Government567$133$63 – $219
Non-profit2,202$143$72 – $240
System affiliation
Part of a system2,647$149$73 – $262
Independent600$130$65 – $232

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$239
Median cash price$145
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

2,214 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $149 and the average of the middle 60% is $154; most fall between $73 and $255.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,214 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
$49$89$149$234$364

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($49 vs $364).

Of the 2,443 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,214 gave a usable cash price; 127 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 102 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,247 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (82%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,541 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,247
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here171
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 — excluded122
Hospitals that filed this code3,541

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 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 Pathology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Level III Surg Pathology Gross&Microscopic Exam|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, “Tissue exam under microscope, low complexity (CPT 88304) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88304-tissue-exam-under-microscope-low-complexity