Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Gulfport, MS
In Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, 4 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $33.60 to $89.68, with a median of $59.00. The lowest listed price is at Pascagoula Hospital and 1 other hospital — $25.40 less than the median here. Across Mississippi, the median is $53.04 at 53 hospitals.
Cash prices at 4 facilities across 4 cities for code 87070, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 2, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 24, 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 Gulfport-Biloxi, MS.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascagoula Hospital lowest Pascagoula, MS · (228) 809-5000 BACTERIAL CULTURE; ANY OTHER SOURCE EXCEPT URINE; BLOOD OR STOOL; AEROBIC File of Feb 24, 2026 · source file | $33.60 | $112.00 | $7.98–$16.38 | 70% |
| Ocean Springs Hospital lowest Ocean Springs, MS · (228) 575-7000 CULTURE OTHR SPECIMN AEROBIC File of Feb 24, 2026 · source file | $33.60 | $112.00 | $8.62–$9,277.00 | 70% |
| Singing River Gulfport Gulfport, MS · (228) 575-7000 BACTERIAL CULTURE; ANY OTHER SOURCE EXCEPT URINE; BLOOD OR STOOL; AEROBIC File of Feb 24, 2026 · source file | $84.40 | $422.00 | $8.62–$16.38 | 80% |
| Ochsner Medical Center – Hancock Bay St. Louis, MS · (228) 467-8600 HC CULTURE, ROUTINE AEROBIC+2 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $89.68 | $236.00 | $6.15 | 62% |
| Pascagoula Hospital Pascagoula, MS · (228) 809-5000 CULTURE OTHR SPECIMN AEROBIC File of Feb 24, 2026 · source file | $94.80 | $316.00 | $7.98–$16.38 | 70% |
| Singing River Gulfport Gulfport, MS · (228) 575-7000 CULTURE OTHR SPECIMN AEROBIC File of Feb 24, 2026 · source file | $184.40 | $922.00 | $8.62–$16.38 | 80% |
Outpatient: lowest $33.60, median $59.00, highest $89.68 — a 2.7× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $89.68. 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 1 of 4 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.
2 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87070 ($87.75). 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.
| Hospital | Cash price | File |
|---|---|---|
| Ochsner Medical Center – Hancock Bay St. Louis, MSHC RESP CULT, CYSTIC FIBROSIS | $8.36 | file |
| Ochsner Medical Center – Hancock Bay St. Louis, MSHC CULTURE, ENVIRONMENTAL | $8.36 | file |