Lab tests CPT 87070 Inpatient — admitted to hospital

Bacterial culture (wound) cost in El Paso, TX — inpatient

In El Paso, TX, 3 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid) as an inpatient: from $20.16 to $86.20, with a median of $21.17. The lowest listed price is at University Medical Center Surgical Hospital — $1.01 less than the median here. Across Texas, the median is $69.48 at 296 hospitals.

Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 87070, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Aug 6, 2026 and Aug 6, 2026.

Lowest$20.16University Medical Center Surgical Hospital

Median$21.17half of hospitals charge less

Highest$86.20in this market

Difference4.3×highest vs lowest

Where each hospital's price falls

Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in El Paso, TX.

median

Lowest $20.16Highest $204.75

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
University Medical Center Surgical Hospital lowest Dieter El Paso, TX SH MICRO CULT THROAT+5 more lines at this price source file	$20.16	$100.80	$3.10–$1,464.39	80%
University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX MICRO CULT BODY FLD+5 more lines at this price source file	$21.17	$105.84	$3.10–$1,236.11	80%
University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 MICRO CULT BODY FLD+5 more lines at this price source file	$21.17	$105.84	$3.10–$1,236.11	80%
University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX SH MICRO MRSA SCREEN CULTURE source file	$28.76	$143.80	$3.10–$592.04	80%
University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 MICRO MRSA SCREEN CULTURE source file	$30.20	$150.99	$3.10–$97.20	80%
University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX MICRO MRSA SCREEN CULTURE source file	$30.20	$150.99	$3.10–$97.20	80%
University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX CULTURE OTHER SOURCE source file	$35.78	$178.92	$3.10–$752.22	80%
University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 CULTURE OTHER SOURCE source file	$35.78	$178.92	$3.10–$752.22	80%
PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of El Paso El Paso, TX Sputum Culture+1 more line at this price File of Aug 6, 2026 · source file	$86.20	$86.20	$60.34–$73.27	—
PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of El Paso El Paso, TX Aerobic culture+1 more line at this price File of Aug 6, 2026 · source file	$204.75	$204.75	$143.33–$174.04	—

Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.

Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More

List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More

Insurers pay The lowest and highest rates this hospital has agreed with insurance plans for the same item, from its price file. If the cash price is below what your plan pays and you have not met your deductible, paying cash can cost you less. More

Off list How much lower the cash price is than the list price.

No cash discount This line's cash price equals the hospital's full list price. Many hospitals still reduce bills for uninsured patients: ask the billing office for its self-pay discount in writing. More

Inpatient: lowest $20.16, median $21.17, highest $86.20 — a 4.3× difference within the same market.

As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 7 facilities here, median $127.00 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.

Cash or insurance?

At 2 of 3 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.

7 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
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXCULTURE BODY FLUID (ROUTINE)	$8.00	file
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXCULTURE C.S.F.	$8.00	file
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXCULTURE BODY SITE (ROUTINE)	$8.00	file
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXMRSA SCREEN	$8.00	file
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXCULTURE SPUTUM	$8.00	file
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXCULTURE THROAT	$8.00	file
El Paso Children's Hospital El Paso, TXCULTURE WOUND (ROUTINE	$8.00	file

File Link to the hospital's own price file.