Rapid drug screen cost in Charlotte, NC
In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC, 13 hospitals list a cash price for rapid drug screen read by eye (cup, dipstick or card), per day: from $37.00 to $130.41, with a median of $101.00. The lowest listed price is at MUSC Lancaster Medical Center — $64.00 less than the median here. Across North Carolina, the median is $99.00 at 26 hospitals.
- The median here, $101.00, is 77% above the US median of $57.20.
- That is 8.0× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($12.60).
- Every hospital here lists a cash price below its full list price.
Cash prices at 13 facilities across 10 cities for code 80305, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Nov 11, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Nov 4, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUSC Lancaster Medical Center lowest Lancaster, SC · (803) 286-1481 HB DRUG TEST PRSMV DIRECT OPTICAL OBS PER DOS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $37.00 | $74.00 | — | 50% |
| MUSC Chester Regional Medical Center Chester, SC · (803) 581-3151 HB DRUG TEST PRSMV DIRECT OPTICAL OBS PER DOS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $44.50 | $89.00 | — | 50% |
| Piedmont Medical Center Fort Mill, SC · (803) 329-1234 DRGSCRN DIRECT OPT OBS File of Apr 15, 2026 · source file | $51.00 | $68.00 | $0.29–$77.73 | 25% |
| Piedmont Medical Center Rock Hill, SC · (803) 329-1234 DRGSCRN DIRECT OPT OBS File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $51.00 | $68.00 | $0.29–$77.73 | 25% |
| Piedmont Medical Center Rock Hill, SC · (803) 329-1234 DRGSCRN DIRCT OPT OBS File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $64.50 | $86.00 | $0.29–$86.00 | 25% |
| Piedmont Medical Center Fort Mill, SC · (803) 329-1234 DRGSCRN DIRCT OPT OBS File of Apr 15, 2026 · source file | $64.50 | $86.00 | $0.29–$86.00 | 25% |
| Carolinas Medical Center Charlotte, NC · (704) 355-2000 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS+1 more line at this price File of Oct 29, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$181.80 | 50% |
| Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast Concord, NC · (704) 783-3000 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Nov 4, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$191.90 | 50% |
| Atrium Health Lincoln Lincolnton, NC · (980) 212-2000 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Oct 29, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$191.90 | 50% |
| Atrium Health Anson Wadesboro, NC · (704) 694-5131 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$191.90 | 50% |
| Atrium Health Pineville Charlotte, NC · (704) 379-5000 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Oct 29, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$185.84 | 50% |
| Atrium Health Union Monroe, NC · (704) 283-3100 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Oct 29, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$191.90 | 50% |
| Atrium Health University City Charlotte, NC · (704) 548-6000 HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Oct 29, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$195.94 | 50% |
| Atrium Health Mercy, a facility of Carolinas Medical Center Charlotte, NC HC DRUG TEST PRSMV DIR OPT OBS File of Oct 29, 2026 · source file | $101.00 | $202.00 | $12.60–$185.84 | 50% |
| Duke Health Lake Norman Hospital Mooresville, NC · (704) 660-4000 Drug Test Prsmv Dir Opt Obs+2 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $130.41 | $483.00 | $26.29–$313.95 | 73% |
Outpatient: lowest $37.00, median $101.00, highest $130.41 — a 3.5× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 13 facilities here, median $101.00. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 11 of 11 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What rapid drug screen is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Rapid drug screen explained.