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Procedure price report · Other Laboratory

Bilirubin measured through the skin

CPT 88720the billing code this page is about

Test that estimates the total bilirubin level using a device placed against the skin, without drawing blood.

Hospitals typically charge $26 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,788 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $28. Most fall between $11 and $56 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,788
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 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 1,788 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
$7$13$26$48$80

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($7 vs $80).

How the prices are spread

$5 – $7: 104 hospitals$5$7 – $10: 119 hospitals$10 – $13: 169 hospitals$10$13 – $18: 190 hospitals$18 – $25: 210 hospitals$18$25 – $34: 259 hospitals$34 – $47: 191 hospitals$34$47 – $64: 180 hospitals$64 – $88: 133 hospitals$64$88 – $120: 56 hospitals$88median $26price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,611 of 1,788 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$5$7104
$7$10119
$10$13169
$13$18190
$18$25210
$25$34259
$34$47191
$47$64180
$64$88133
$88$12056

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $26.

Alaska: median $52 across 13 hospitalsAK$52Maine: median $15 across 17 hospitalsME$15Vermont: median $22 across 10 hospitalsVT$22New Hampshire: median $15 across 16 hospitalsNH$15Washington: median $22 across 49 hospitalsWA$22Idaho: median $22 across 15 hospitalsID$22Montana: median $17 across 10 hospitalsMT$17North Dakota: median $27 across 13 hospitalsND$27Minnesota: median $31 across 63 hospitalsMN$31Illinois: median $24 across 78 hospitalsIL$24Wisconsin: median $44 across 81 hospitalsWI$44Michigan: median $20 across 51 hospitalsMI$20New York: median $15 across 54 hospitalsNY$15Massachusetts: median $19 across 18 hospitalsMA$19Oregon: median $23 across 39 hospitalsOR$23Nevada: median $23 across 10 hospitalsNV$23Wyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $34 across 49 hospitalsIA$34Indiana: median $20 across 69 hospitalsIN$20Ohio: median $28 across 111 hospitalsOH$28Pennsylvania: median $15 across 47 hospitalsPA$15New Jersey: median $6 across 39 hospitalsNJ$6Connecticut: median $31 across 12 hospitalsCT$31Rhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $51 across 82 hospitalsCA$51Utah: median $42 across 28 hospitalsUT$42Colorado: median $21 across 24 hospitalsCO$21Nebraska: median $45 across 41 hospitalsNE$45Missouri: median $25 across 34 hospitalsMO$25Kentucky: median $33 across 32 hospitalsKY$33West Virginia: median $22 across 19 hospitalsWV$22Virginia: median $32 across 45 hospitalsVA$32Maryland: median $17 across 15 hospitalsMD$17Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $31 across 25 hospitalsAZ$31New Mexico: median $24 across 13 hospitalsNM$24Kansas: median $20 across 22 hospitalsKS$20Arkansas: median $17 across 17 hospitalsAR$17Tennessee: median $12 across 30 hospitalsTN$12North Carolina: median $22 across 57 hospitalsNC$22South Carolina: median $18 across 38 hospitalsSC$18Oklahoma: median $16 across 31 hospitalsOK$16Louisiana: median $9 across 29 hospitalsLA$9Mississippi: median $9 across 28 hospitalsMS$9Alabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $35 across 68 hospitalsGA$35Hawaii: median $8 across 11 hospitalsHI$8Texas: median $32 across 139 hospitalsTX$32Florida: median $28 across 67 hospitalsFL$28
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $26. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Alaska AK13$52+105%$22 – $90
California CA82$51+100%$12 – $85
Nebraska NE41$45+76%$22 – $75
Wisconsin WI81$44+74%$15 – $65
Utah UT28$42+64%$42 – $49
Georgia GA68$35+38%$19 – $59
Iowa IA49$34+32%$11 – $40
Kentucky KY32$33+28%$15 – $63
Texas TX139$32+24%$10 – $55
Virginia VA45$32+24%$22 – $61
Minnesota MN63$31+21%$24 – $73
Connecticut CT12$31+20%$20 – $43
Arizona AZ25$31+20%$8 – $202
Florida FL67$28+9%$14 – $101
Ohio OH111$28+8%$12 – $54
North Dakota ND13$27+7%$21 – $32
Missouri MO34$25−1%$13 – $43
New Mexico NM13$24−7%$15 – $40
Illinois IL78$24−7%$15 – $74
Oregon OR39$23−11%$17 – $32
Nevada NV10$23−11%$8 – $57
North Carolina NC57$22−13%$11 – $38
Idaho ID15$22−14%$15 – $39
Vermont VT10$22−14%$8 – $50
Washington WA49$22−14%$12 – $38
West Virginia WV19$22−16%$20 – $115
Colorado CO24$21−17%$10 – $80
Indiana IN69$20−21%$8 – $63
Kansas KS22$20−22%$13 – $33
Michigan MI51$20−23%$9 – $74
Massachusetts MA18$19−26%$13 – $52
South Carolina SC38$18−28%$8 – $40
Maryland MD15$17−33%$11 – $23
Arkansas AR17$17−34%$5 – $33
Montana MT10$17−34%$8 – $28
Oklahoma OK31$16−39%$12 – $48
New Hampshire NH16$15−40%$8 – $52
New York NY54$15−41%$5 – $32
Pennsylvania PA47$15−41%$4 – $25
Maine ME17$15−42%$10 – $35
Tennessee TN30$12−54%$6 – $23
Louisiana LA29$9−64%$5 – $17
Mississippi MS28$9−66%$6 – $23
Hawaii HI11$8−67%$5 – $36
New Jersey NJ39$6−78%$5 – $17
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $26.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,398$24$11 – $57
Children’s19fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access368$30$12 – $51
Ownership
For-profit220$42$11 – $126
Government264$24$11 – $48
Non-profit1,301$25$11 – $51
System affiliation
Part of a system1,532$26$11 – $57
Independent256$22$12 – $50

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$44
Median cash price$26
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

1,277 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $28 and the average of the middle 60% is $29; most fall between $12 and $56.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,277 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
$8$14$28$48$77

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $77).

Of the 1,388 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,277 gave a usable cash price; 67 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 44 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,788 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (45%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,934 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,788
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here99
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 — excluded47
Hospitals that filed this code1,934

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 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 Other Laboratory family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Bilirubin Total Transcutaneous.

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, “Bilirubin measured through the skin (CPT 88720) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88720-bilirubin-measured-through-the-skin