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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Hemoglobin measured through the skin

CPT 88738the billing code this page is about

Test that measures the amount of hemoglobin using a sensor on the skin, without drawing blood.

Hospitals typically charge $15 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 404 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $18. Most fall between $8 and $33 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
404
States
42
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 404 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
$6$9$15$32$49

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($6 vs $49).

How the prices are spread

$5 – $7: 40 hospitals$5$7 – $8: 30 hospitals$8 – $11: 43 hospitals$8$11 – $14: 60 hospitals$14 – $18: 46 hospitals$14$18 – $24: 20 hospitals$24 – $31: 32 hospitals$24$31 – $40: 66 hospitals$40 – $52: 15 hospitals$40$52 – $67: 18 hospitals$52median $15price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (370 of 404 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$5$740
$7$830
$8$1143
$11$1460
$14$1846
$18$2420
$24$3132
$31$4066
$40$5215
$52$6718

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $15.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNDMinnesota: median $17 across 10 hospitalsMN$17Illinois: median $13 across 10 hospitalsIL$13Wisconsin: median $17 across 20 hospitalsWI$17Michigan: median $7 across 12 hospitalsMI$7New York: median $12 across 31 hospitalsNY$12Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $13 across 18 hospitalsIA$13Indiana: median $11 across 33 hospitalsIN$11Ohio: median $17 across 17 hospitalsOH$17Pennsylvania: median $4 across 16 hospitalsPA$4New Jersey: median $6 across 23 hospitalsNJ$6Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $32 across 41 hospitalsCA$32Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $36 across 14 hospitalsAZ$36New Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $61 across 14 hospitalsNC$61South Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $9 across 13 hospitalsOK$9Louisiana: median $7 across 12 hospitalsLA$7Mississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceALGeorgia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $31 across 30 hospitalsTX$31Florida: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $15. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
North Carolina NC14$61+297%$36 – $67
Arizona AZ14$36+134%$12 – $36
California CA41$32+107%$25 – $32
Texas TX30$31+102%$13 – $49
Wisconsin WI20$17+13%$11 – $17
Ohio OH17$17+13%$8 – $36
Minnesota MN10$17+13%$13 – $18
Iowa IA18$13−17%$10 – $13
Illinois IL10$13−17%$7 – $21
New York NY31$12−20%$5 – $18
Indiana IN33$11−30%$8 – $16
Oklahoma OK13$9−41%$9 – $9
Louisiana LA12$7−53%$4 – $11
Michigan MI12$7−55%$5 – $18
New Jersey NJ23$6−64%$5 – $6
Pennsylvania PA16$4−73%$4 – $25
Georgia GA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not 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
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $15.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care348$15$8 – $32
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access48$17$11 – $28
Ownership
For-profit35$31$11 – $41
Government49$15$5 – $31
Non-profit320$15$8 – $32
System affiliation
Part of a system348$15$8 – $32
Independent56$16$8 – $33

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$33
Median cash price$15
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

258 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $22 and the average of the middle 60% is $22; most fall between $12 and $35.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 258 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
$9$13$22$32$50

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($9 vs $50).

Of the 272 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 258 gave a usable cash price; 10 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 4 a list price only.

How complete is this

404 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (10%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 430 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted404
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here22
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded3
Hospitals that filed this code430

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 23, 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 Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HGB QUANT 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, “Hemoglobin measured through the skin (CPT 88738) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88738-hemoglobin-measured-through-the-skin