Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Platteville, WI — inpatient
In Platteville, WI, 2 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid) as an inpatient: from $12.00 to $42.23, with a median of $27.12. The lowest listed price is at Southwest Health Center — $15.12 less than the median here. Across Wisconsin, the median is $77.35 at 97 hospitals.
Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 87070, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 27, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Mar 27, 2026 and Jun 27, 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 Platteville, WI.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Health Center lowest Platteville, WI · (608) 348-2331 LCHG CULTURE ROUTINE File of Mar 27, 2026 · source file | $12.00 | $16.00 | $4.80–$16.00 | 25% |
| Memorial Hospital of Boscobel Boscobel, WI · (608) 375-4112 CULTURE, BACTERIAL; TISSUE+5 more lines at this price File of Jun 27, 2026 · source file | $42.23 | $82.00 | $34.69–$78.72 | 49% |
| Southwest Health Center Platteville, WI · (608) 348-2331 LCHG CULTURE THROAT+2 more lines at this price File of Mar 27, 2026 · source file | $99.00 | $132.00 | $39.60–$132.00 | 25% |
| Southwest Health Center Platteville, WI · (608) 348-2331 LCHG CULTURE RESPIRATORY File of Mar 27, 2026 · source file | $103.50 | $138.00 | $41.40–$138.00 | 25% |
Inpatient: lowest $12.00, median $27.12, highest $42.23 — a 3.5× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $37.62 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 2 of 2 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.