Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Fort Wayne, IN
In Fort Wayne, IN, 8 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $85.32 to $128.00, with a median of $108.12. The lowest listed price is at Lutheran Musculoskeletal Center – The Orthopedic Hospital — $22.80 less than the median here. Across Indiana, the median is $93.42 at 86 hospitals.
Cash prices at 8 facilities across 3 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 Apr 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 Fort Wayne, IN.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lutheran Musculoskeletal Center – The Orthopedic Hospital lowest Fort Wayne, IN B pertussis Nasopharnyx Culture (LC)+21 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $85.32 | $316.00 | $7.60–$316.00 | 73% |
| St. Joseph Health System Fort Wayne, IN · (260) 425-3000 87070 CULTURE BACTERIA OTH+21 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $92.64 | $386.00 | $7.60–$386.00 | 76% |
| Bluffton Regional Medical Center Bluffton, IN · (260) 824-3210 Upper Respiratory Culture (LC)+21 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $97.44 | $406.00 | $7.60–$365.40 | 76% |
| Dupont Hospital Fort Wayne, IN · (260) 416-3000 Upper Respiratory Culture (LC)+21 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $100.44 | $372.00 | $7.60–$334.80 | 73% |
| Lutheran Hospital of Indiana Fort Wayne, IN · (260) 435-7001 Upper Respiratory Culture (LC)+20 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $115.80 | $386.00 | $7.60–$347.40 | 70% |
| Parkview Whitley Hospital Columbia City, IN · (260) 248-9301 HC CULTURE GU - FEMALE+5 more lines at this price source file | $122.00 | $244.00 | — | 50% |
| Parkview Regional Medical Center Fort Wayne, IN · (260) 266-1195 HC CULTURE NOSE+5 more lines at this price source file | $128.00 | $256.00 | — | 50% |
| Parkview Whitley Hospital Columbia City, IN · (260) 248-9301 HC CULT ENVIRONMENTAL source file | $128.00 | $256.00 | — | 50% |
| Parkview Ortho Hospital Fort Wayne, IN HC CULTURE RESPIRATORY+5 more lines at this price source file | $128.00 | $256.00 | — | 50% |
| Parkview Ortho Hospital Fort Wayne, IN HC CULT ENVIRONMENTAL source file | $134.50 | $269.00 | — | 50% |
| Parkview Regional Medical Center Fort Wayne, IN · (260) 266-1195 HC CULT ENVIRONMENTAL source file | $134.50 | $269.00 | — | 50% |
Outpatient: lowest $85.32, median $108.12, highest $128.00 — a 1.5× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 8 facilities here, median $133.48. 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 5 of 5 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.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lutheran Hospital of Indiana Fort Wayne, INThroat Culture | $2.59 | file |