Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Buffalo, NY
In Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY, 8 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $22.47 to $87.00, with a median of $24.50. The lowest listed price is at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center — $2.03 less than the median here. Across New York, the median is $38.38 at 101 hospitals.
Cash prices at 8 facilities across 4 cities for code 87070, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Sep 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center lowest Niagara Falls, NY · (716) 278-4000 CULTURE OTHR SPECIMN AEROBIC source file | $22.47 | $32.10 | $8.19–$11.74 | 30% |
| Mercy Hospital of Buffalo Buffalo, NY · (716) 826-7000 HC Culture, Nose+4 more lines at this price source file | $24.00 | $24.00 | $6.47–$24.00 | — |
| Sisters of Charity Hospital Buffalo, NY · (716) 862-1000 HC Culture, CSF+4 more lines at this price source file | $24.00 | $24.00 | $6.47–$24.00 | — |
| Mount St. Mary's Hospital Lewiston, NY · (716) 297-4800 HC Culture, CSF+4 more lines at this price source file | $24.00 | $24.00 | $6.47–$24.00 | — |
| Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY Unyt's Sterility Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $25.00 | $25.00 | — | — |
| Bertrand Chaffee Hospital Springville, NY · (716) 592-2871 LEGIONELLA 87070 File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $25.50 | $30.00 | $5.74–$150.00 | 15% |
| Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center Niagara Falls, NY · (716) 278-4000 BACTERIAL CULTURE; ANY OTHER SOURCE EXCEPT URINE; BLOOD OR STOOL; AEROBIC source file | $33.41 | $47.73 | $8.19–$11.74 | 30% |
| Erie County Medical Center Buffalo, NY · (716) 898-3936 BILL PRESUMPTIVE ID+6 more lines at this price File of Aug 25, 2026 · source file | $36.69 | $89.80 | $6.47–$80.82 | 59% |
| Bertrand Chaffee Hospital Springville, NY · (716) 592-2871 CULTURE OTHR SPECIMN AEROBIC+2 more lines at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $51.00 | $60.00 | $5.74–$150.00 | 15% |
| Kaleida Health Buffalo, NY · (716) 859-8620 Wound Culture Nonsurgical+21 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $87.00 | $87.00 | — | — |
| Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY Blood Cult Cgmp File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $168.48 | $168.48 | — | — |
| Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY Culture Legionella+21 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $185.77 | $185.77 | — | — |
Outpatient: lowest $22.47, median $24.50, highest $87.00 — a 3.9× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 7 facilities here, median $25.00. 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 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 bacterial culture grows bacteria from a sample such as a wound, throat swab, eye or fluid to find which germ causes an infection. It takes one to three days.
What the price covers
The price usually covers running the test; collecting the sample may be billed separately.
3 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87070 ($91.03). 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mount St. Mary's Hospital Lewiston, NYHC Culture, Body Fluid | $8.15 | file |
| Mercy Hospital of Buffalo Buffalo, NYHC Culture, Body Fluid | $8.15 | file |
| Sisters of Charity Hospital Buffalo, NYHC Culture, Body Fluid | $8.15 | file |