Bacterial culture (wound) cost in San Luis Obispo, CA
In San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA, 1 hospital lists a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $10.20 to $10.20, with a median of $10.20. Across California, the median is $133.00 at 193 hospitals.
Cash prices at 1 facility 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 Feb 28, 2026 and Feb 28, 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 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| French Hospital Medical Center lowest San Luis Obispo, CA · (805) 543-5353 CULT BODY FLUID | $10.20 | $26.00 | $7.02–$26.10 | 61% | Feb 28, 2026 source file |
| French Hospital Medical Center San Luis Obispo, CA · (805) 543-5353 RL-PS-BACT PRIMARY CULT | $37.24 | $95.00 | $8.62–$95.00 | 61% | Feb 28, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $10.20, median $10.20, highest $10.20.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $37.24. 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 the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. 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 ($92.00). 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.
| French Hospital Medical Center San Luis Obispo, CARL-A-MC HPYL 2006686A | $8.07 | file |