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Procedure price report · Pathology

Unlisted surgical pathology procedure

CPT 88399the billing code this page is about

Used when a surgical pathology service performed on a tissue specimen has no specific billing code of its own.

Hospitals typically charge $82 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 446 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $108. Most fall between $38 and $250 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
446
States
44
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 446 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
$24$49$82$218$668

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 28× what the cheapest tenth charges ($24 vs $668).

How the prices are spread

$13 – $21: 16 hospitals$13$21 – $33: 34 hospitals$33 – $51: 46 hospitals$33$51 – $81: 103 hospitals$81 – $128: 43 hospitals$81$128 – $202: 58 hospitals$202 – $319: 52 hospitals$202$319 – $504: 22 hospitals$504 – $796: 10 hospitals$504$796 – $1,257: 18 hospitals$796median $82price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (402 of 446 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$13$2116
$21$3334
$33$5146
$51$81103
$81$12843
$128$20258
$202$31952
$319$50422
$504$79610
$796$1,25718

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$53
Median cash price$82
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.55×

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 $82.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $109 across 12 hospitalsWA$109Idaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $67 across 24 hospitalsIL$67Wisconsin: median $399 across 17 hospitalsWI$399Michigan: median $83 across 13 hospitalsMI$83New York: median $63 across 22 hospitalsNY$63Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIAIndiana: median $82 across 19 hospitalsIN$82Ohio: median $218 across 27 hospitalsOH$218Pennsylvania: median $77 across 27 hospitalsPA$77New Jersey: median $59 across 14 hospitalsNJ$59Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $141 across 50 hospitalsCA$141Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $30 across 17 hospitalsMO$30Kentucky: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $57 across 17 hospitalsVA$57Maryland: median $668 across 17 hospitalsMD$668Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $80 across 28 hospitalsGA$80Hawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $98 across 28 hospitalsTX$98Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $82. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD17$668+711%$93 – $3,420
Wisconsin WI17$399+385%$399 – $1,824
Ohio OH27$218+165%$87 – $218
California CA50$141+71%$81 – $224
Washington WA12$109+32%$49 – $237
Texas TX28$98+19%$15 – $558
Michigan MI13$83+1%$72 – $1,153
Indiana IN19$820%$65 – $138
Georgia GA28$80−3%$76 – $440
Pennsylvania PA27$77−6%$39 – $151
Illinois IL24$67−19%$40 – $214
New York NY22$63−23%$62 – $132
New Jersey NJ14$59−28%$58 – $67
Virginia VA17$57−31%$10 – $260
Missouri MO17$30−64%$13 – $113
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not 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 $82.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care384$77$38 – $224
Children’s20$81$31 – $311
Critical access42$114$75 – $414
Ownership
For-profit52$76$31 – $299
Government49$81$54 – $312
Non-profit345$86$37 – $224
System affiliation
Part of a system377$81$35 – $247
Independent69$86$48 – $268

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$213
Median cash price$82
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

285 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $138 and the average of the middle 60% is $139; most fall between $42 and $333.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 285 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
$20$57$138$252$719

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 35× what the cheapest tenth charges ($20 vs $719).

Of the 344 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 285 gave a usable cash price; 39 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 20 a list price only.

How complete is this

446 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (11%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 512 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted446
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here42
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded4
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded20
Hospitals that filed this code512

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 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 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 UNLISTED SURGICAL PATH PX.

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, “Unlisted surgical pathology procedure (CPT 88399) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88399-unlisted-surgical-pathology-procedure