Blood culture cost in Providence, RI
In Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, 7 hospitals list a cash price for blood culture for bacteria: from $38.47 to $102.00, with a median of $82.80. The lowest listed price is at Brown University Health Morton Hospital — $44.33 less than the median here. Across Rhode Island, the median is $82.80 at 5 hospitals.
Cash prices at 7 facilities across 6 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 — and —.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Providence-Warwick, RI-MA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown University Health Morton Hospital lowest Taunton, MA · (508) 828-7000 HC CULTURE BLOOD | $38.47 | $38.47 | — | — | — source file |
| Saint Anne's Hospital Fall River, MA · (508) 674-5600 HC CULTURE BLOOD | $49.94 | $49.94 | — | — | — source file |
| Rhode Island Hospital Providence, RI · (401) 444-4000 HC CULTURE BLOOD | $82.80 | $82.80 | — | — | — source file |
| Newport Hospital Newport, RI · (401) 846-6400 HC CULTURE BLOOD | $82.80 | $82.80 | — | — | — source file |
| Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital East Providence, RI · (401) 432-1000 HC CULTURE BLOOD | $82.80 | $82.80 | — | — | — source file |
| The Miriam Hospital Providence, RI · (401) 793-2500 HC CULTURE BLOOD | $82.80 | $82.80 | — | — | — source file |
| South County Health Wakefield, RI · (401) 782-8000 Culture, bacterial; blood, aerobic, with isolation and presumptive identification of isolates (includes anaerobic culture, if appropriate) | $102.00 | $170.00 | $15.99 | 40% | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $38.47, median $82.80, highest $102.00 — a 2.7× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 6 facilities here, median $82.80. 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 the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is not below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. 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.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87040 ($100.75). 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.
| Landmark Medical Center Woonsocket, RIHc Blood Culture For Bacteria | $10.00 | file |