Blood culture cost in Knoxville, TN
In Knoxville, TN, 6 hospitals list a cash price for blood culture for bacteria: from $31.20 to $65.52, with a median of $34.32. The lowest listed price is at Parkwest Medical Center — $3.12 less than the median here. Across Tennessee, the median is $33.80 at 44 hospitals.
Cash prices at 6 facilities across 5 cities for code 87040, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Aug 5, 2026 and Aug 27, 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 Knoxville, TN.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkwest Medical Center lowest Knoxville, TN · (865) 970-1001 CULTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $31.20 | $104.00 | $4.64–$93.60 | 70% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
| Parkwest Medical Center lowest Knoxville, TN · (865) 970-1001 CUTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $31.20 | $104.00 | $4.64–$93.60 | 70% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
| Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center Knoxville, TN · (865) 541-1101 CULTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $34.32 | $104.00 | $4.64–$93.60 | 67% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
| Fort Loudoun Medical Center Lenoir City, TN · (865) 271-6000 CULTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $34.32 | $104.00 | $4.64–$93.60 | 67% | Aug 27, 2026 source file |
| Roane County Medical Center Harriman, TN · (865) 316-1000 CULTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $34.32 | $104.00 | $4.64–$93.60 | 67% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
| Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge Oak Ridge, TN · (865) 835-1000 CULTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $34.32 | $104.00 | $4.64–$93.60 | 67% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
| Parkwest Medical Center Louisville, TN CUTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $65.52 | $104.00 | $9.26–$83.20 | 37% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
| Parkwest Medical Center Louisville, TN CULTURE BACTERIAL BLD W/ISO & ID | $65.52 | $104.00 | $9.26–$83.20 | 37% | Aug 5, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $31.20, median $34.32, highest $65.52 — a 2.1× difference within the same market.
Cash or insurance?
At 6 of 6 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 it is
A blood culture checks for bacteria or yeast in the blood. It is ordered for fever with signs of a serious infection, such as sepsis.
What the price covers
The price is usually for one culture set. The blood draw (36415) is often billed as a separate line.