Creatinine test cost in Santa Cruz, CA
In Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, 3 hospitals list a cash price for creatinine blood test: from $4.50 to $487.62, with a median of $117.00. The lowest listed price is at Dominican Hospital — $112.50 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $47.79 at 211 hospitals.
Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 82565, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Sep 15, 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominican Hospital lowest Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 462-7700 RL-A-GFR CYS 3018316B File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $4.50 | $10.00 | $4.60–$48.80 | 55% |
| Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 462-7700 CREATININE BLOOD File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $41.40 | $92.00 | $5.12–$92.00 | 55% |
| Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 477-2200 HCHG CORE CREATININE File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $117.00 | $117.00 | — | — |
| Watsonville Community Hospital Watsonville, CA · (831) 724-4741 CREATININE BLOOD+1 more line at this price File of Sep 15, 2026 · source file | $487.62 | $812.70 | $5.12–$812.70 | 40% |
Outpatient: lowest $4.50, median $117.00, highest $487.62 — a 108.4× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $117.00. 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 2 of 2 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at 1 it is 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 it is
A creatinine test measures a waste product that healthy kidneys filter out. It is the main blood test of kidney function and is used to calculate the estimated filtration rate (eGFR).
What the price covers
The price usually covers running the test. The blood draw (36415) is often billed as a separate line.