Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Providence, RI
In Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, 12 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $19.95 to $88.80, with a median of $39.59. The lowest listed price is at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and 2 other hospitals — $19.64 less than the median here. Across Rhode Island, the median is $68.80 at 8 hospitals.
Cash prices at 12 facilities across 8 cities for code 87070, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Providence-Warwick, RI-MA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island lowest Providence, RI · (401) 274-1100 HC Bacterial Culture-Othr Src source file | $19.95 | $57.00 | $3.97–$58.01 | 65% |
| Kent County Memorial Hospital lowest Warwick, RI · (401) 737-7010 HC Bacterial Culture-Othr Src source file | $19.95 | $57.00 | $3.97–$50.16 | 65% |
| Butler Hospital lowest Providence, RI · (401) 455-6270 HC Bacterial Culture-Othr Src source file | $19.95 | $57.00 | $5.27–$49.59 | 65% |
| Brown University Health Morton Hospital Taunton, MA · (508) 828-7000 HC CULTURE WOUND+5 more lines at this price source file | $33.71 | $33.71 | — | — |
| Southcoast Hospitals Group - St. Luke's Hospital St. New Bedford, MA HC Culture Spec- Bacteria- Not Urine-Stool-Blood source file | $37.50 | $75.00 | $8.62–$57.08 | 50% |
| Southcoast Hospitals Group Fall River, MA · (508) 679-3131 HC Culture Spec- Bacteria- Not Urine-Stool-Blood source file | $37.50 | $75.00 | $8.62–$57.08 | 50% |
| Saint Anne's Hospital Fall River, MA · (508) 674-5600 HC CULTURE CSF+5 more lines at this price source file | $41.68 | $41.68 | — | — |
| Rhode Island Hospital Providence, RI · (401) 444-4000 HC CULTURE CSF+5 more lines at this price source file | $68.80 | $68.80 | — | — |
| The Miriam Hospital Providence, RI · (401) 793-2500 HC CULTURE THROAT+5 more lines at this price source file | $68.80 | $68.80 | — | — |
| Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital East Providence, RI · (401) 432-1000 HC CULTURE CSF+5 more lines at this price source file | $68.80 | $68.80 | — | — |
| Newport Hospital Newport, RI · (401) 846-6400 HC CULTURE CSF+5 more lines at this price source file | $68.80 | $68.80 | — | — |
| South County Health Wakefield, RI · (401) 782-8000 Culture, bacterial; any other source except urine, blood or stool, aerobic, with isolation and presumptive identification of isolates source file | $88.80 | $148.00 | $40.34 | 40% |
Outpatient: lowest $19.95, median $39.59, highest $88.80 — a 4.5× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 6 facilities here, median $68.80. 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 6 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landmark Medical Center Woonsocket, RIHc Culture Spec, Bacteria, Not Urine,Stool,Blood | $8.00 | file |