Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Myrtle Beach, SC
In Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC, 5 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $46.00 to $366.00, with a median of $123.54. The lowest listed price is at Conway Medical Center — $77.54 less than the median here. Across South Carolina, the median is $123.54 at 37 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 5 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 Sep 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 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conway Medical Center lowest Conway, SC · (843) 347-8037 Abscess Culture/GS+2 more lines at this price source file | $46.00 | $46.00 | $8.28–$33.44 | — |
| Conway Medical Center Conway, SC · (843) 347-8037 Throat Culture source file | $47.00 | $47.00 | $8.46–$34.17 | — |
| Conway Medical Center Conway, SC · (843) 347-8037 Genital Culture+8 more lines at this price source file | $63.00 | $63.00 | $11.34–$45.80 | — |
| McLeod Seacoast E Little River, SC · (843) 716-7000 HC THROAT CULTURE+15 more lines at this price source file | $123.54 | $174.00 | $8.62–$139.20 | 29% |
| McLeod Loris Hospital Loris, SC · (843) 716-7000 HC WOUND CULTURE W/GRAM STAIN+15 more lines at this price source file | $123.54 | $174.00 | $8.62–$139.20 | 29% |
| McLeod Health Carolina Forest Myrtle Beach, SC · (843) 716-7000 HC BONE MARROW CULTURE W/GRAM STAIN+15 more lines at this price source file | $123.54 | $174.00 | $8.62–$139.20 | 29% |
| Conway Medical Center Conway, SC · (843) 347-8037 BAL Culture+2 more lines at this price source file | $143.00 | $143.00 | $25.74–$103.96 | — |
| McLeod Health Carolina Forest Myrtle Beach, SC · (843) 716-7000 HC CULTURE OTHER SOURCE source file | $195.25 | $275.00 | $8.62–$220.00 | 29% |
| McLeod Seacoast E Little River, SC · (843) 716-7000 HC CULTURE OTHER SOURCE source file | $195.25 | $275.00 | $8.62–$220.00 | 29% |
| McLeod Loris Hospital Loris, SC · (843) 716-7000 HC CULTURE OTHER SOURCE source file | $195.25 | $275.00 | $8.62–$220.00 | 29% |
| Grand Strand Medical Center Little River, SC · (843) 692-1000 CULTURE BRONCH BRUSH+16 more lines at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $366.00 | $366.00 | $65.88–$347.70 | — |
| Grand Strand Medical Center Little River, SC · (843) 692-1000 CULTURE ABSCESS+2 more lines at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $455.00 | $455.00 | $81.90–$432.25 | — |
| Grand Strand Medical Center Little River, SC · (843) 692-1000 CULTURE WOUND+1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $475.00 | $475.00 | $85.50–$451.25 | — |
Outpatient: lowest $46.00, median $123.54, highest $366.00 — a 8.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 4 facilities here, median $123.54. 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 3 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 ($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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Strand Medical Center Little River, SCCULT ENVIRON EPIDEMI | $2.00 | file |