Urinalysis with microscopy cost in Boston, MA
In Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, 15 hospitals list a cash price for urinalysis with microscope exam, manual: from $5.50 to $139.00, with a median of $12.00. The lowest listed price is at Southcoast Hospitals Group - Tobey Hospital Campus — $6.50 less than the median here. Across Massachusetts, the median is $14.50 at 22 hospitals.
- The median here, $12.00, is 45% below the US median of $22.00.
- That is 3.0× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($4.02).
- 11 of 15 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.
Cash prices at 15 facilities across 11 cities for code 81000, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Dec 15, 2025 and Apr 1, 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southcoast Hospitals Group - Tobey Hospital Campus lowest Wareham, MA · (508) 679-3131 HC Urinalysis- Nonauto- W/Scope File of Dec 15, 2025 · source file | $5.50 | $11.00 | $2.35–$9.90 | 50% |
| Boston Medical Center Boston, MA · (617) 638-8000 HC Chg Urinls Dip Stick/Tablet Reagnt Non-Auto Micrscpy File of Mar 13, 2026 · source file | $6.75 | $15.00 | $3.48–$512.54 | 55% |
| Tufts Medical Center Boston, MA · (617) 636-5000 HC Urinalysis Dipstick W Micro File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $9.10 | $13.00 | $3.41–$17.43 | 30% |
| Melrosewakefield Healthcare Melrose, MA · (781) 979-3000 HC Urinalysis Dipstick W Micro File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $9.10 | $13.00 | $4.55–$530.75 | 30% |
| Winchester Hospital Winchester, MA · (781) 729-9000 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $12.00 | $12.00 | — | — |
| Anna Jaques Hospital Newburyport, MA · (978) 463-1000 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $12.00 | $12.00 | — | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Plymouth Plymouth, MA · (508) 746-2000 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $12.00 | $12.00 | — | — |
| Exeter Hospital Exeter, NH · (603) 778-7311 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $12.00 | $12.00 | — | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton Milton, MA · (617) 696-4600 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $14.00 | $14.00 | — | — |
| Mount Auburn Hospital Cambridge, MA · (617) 492-3500 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $15.00 | $15.00 | — | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Needham Needham, MA · (781) 453-3002 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $19.00 | $19.00 | — | — |
| Cambridge Health Alliance Cambridge, MA · (617) 665-1000 HC Urinalysis File of Mar 20, 2026 · source file | $20.00 | $20.00 | $2.97–$21.84 | — |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA · (617) 667-7000 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $43.00 | $43.00 | — | — |
| Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington Burlington, MA · (781) 744-5100 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $58.00 | $58.00 | — | — |
| New England Baptist Hospital Boston, MA · (617) 754-5800 CHG URINLS DIP STICK/TABLET REAGNT NON-AUTO MICRSCPY File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $139.00 | $139.00 | — | — |
Outpatient: lowest $5.50, median $12.00, highest $139.00 — a 25.3× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 15 facilities here, median $14.00. 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 5 of 5 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 urinalysis with microscopy is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Urinalysis with microscopy explained.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 81000 ($22.00). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Hospital | Cash price | File |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Medical Center Brighton Boston, MAHC Chg Urinls Dip Stick/Tablet Reagnt Non-Auto Micrscpy | $1.81 | file |