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Procedure price report · Pathology

Tissue dissection and prep for non-microscope testing

CPT 88387the billing code this page is about

Examination by eye, dissection, and preparation of tissue so it can be sent for studies that do not use a microscope, such as molecular testing; billed for each tissue preparation.

Hospitals typically charge $54 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 473 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $60. Most fall between $18 and $141 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
473
States
43
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 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 473 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
$11$23$54$106$336

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 31× what the cheapest tenth charges ($11 vs $336).

How the prices are spread

$10 – $15: 51 hospitals$10$15 – $21: 46 hospitals$21 – $31: 44 hospitals$21$31 – $45: 44 hospitals$45 – $66: 68 hospitals$45$66 – $96: 60 hospitals$96 – $140: 45 hospitals$96$140 – $204: 17 hospitals$204 – $298: 15 hospitals$204$298 – $434: 43 hospitals$298median $54price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (433 of 473 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$10$1551
$15$2146
$21$3144
$31$4544
$45$6668
$66$9660
$96$14045
$140$20417
$204$29815
$298$43443

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $54.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $46 across 15 hospitalsWA$46Idaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $50 across 36 hospitalsIL$50Wisconsin: median $117 across 24 hospitalsWI$117Michigan: median $26 across 12 hospitalsMI$26New York: median $49 across 18 hospitalsNY$49Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceORNevada: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $18 across 15 hospitalsIA$18Indiana: median $37 across 28 hospitalsIN$37Ohio: median $29 across 15 hospitalsOH$29Pennsylvania: median $55 across 28 hospitalsPA$55New Jersey: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $185 across 51 hospitalsCA$185Utah: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $79 across 13 hospitalsMO$79Kentucky: median $257 across 11 hospitalsKY$257West Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: median $28 across 22 hospitalsVA$28Maryland: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $141 across 13 hospitalsAZ$141New Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $12 across 18 hospitalsOK$12Louisiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceALGeorgia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $90 across 58 hospitalsTX$90Florida: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $54. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kentucky KY11$257+376%$54 – $257
California CA51$185+243%$31 – $336
Arizona AZ13$141+161%$27 – $141
Wisconsin WI24$117+116%$10 – $434
Texas TX58$90+67%$42 – $236
Missouri MO13$79+46%$42 – $137
Pennsylvania PA28$55+1%$17 – $90
Illinois IL36$50−7%$28 – $106
New York NY18$49−9%$16 – $72
Washington WA15$46−14%$16 – $86
Indiana IN28$37−31%$23 – $66
Ohio OH15$29−46%$15 – $29
Virginia VA22$28−48%$11 – $75
Michigan MI12$26−53%$10 – $434
Iowa IA15$18−66%$18 – $51
Oklahoma OK18$12−78%$12 – $37
Maryland MD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not 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 $54.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care409$50$18 – $137
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access53$66$27 – $434
Ownership
For-profit56$84$12 – $185
Government35$48$18 – $79
Non-profit381$54$18 – $141
System affiliation
Part of a system435$54$18 – $141
Independent38$46$16 – $217

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$100
Median cash price$54
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

344 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $50 and the average of the middle 60% is $57; most fall between $16 and $141.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 344 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
$11$18$50$101$368

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 34× what the cheapest tenth charges ($11 vs $368).

Of the 375 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 344 gave a usable cash price; 9 carried a plausibility flag, 6 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 16 a list price only.

How complete is this

473 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (12%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 525 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted473
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here11
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded7
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded34
Hospitals that filed this code525

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 5, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 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 MACROSCOPIC XM DSJ&PREP TISS.

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 dissection and prep for non-microscope testing (CPT 88387) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88387-tissue-dissection-and-prep-for-non-microscope-testing