Lab tests CPT 87070 Inpatient — admitted to hospital

Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Santa Cruz, CA — inpatient

In Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, 3 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid) as an inpatient: from $391.05 to $659.07, with a median of $423.00. The lowest listed price is at Dominican Hospital — $31.95 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $133.00 at 193 hospitals.

Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 87070, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026.

Lowest$391.05Dominican Hospital

Median$423.00half of hospitals charge less

Highest$659.07in this market

Difference1.7×highest vs lowest

Where each hospital's price falls

Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA.

median

Lowest $391.05Highest $659.07

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
Dominican Hospital lowest Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 462-7700 CULT CATHETER TIP File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file	$391.05	$869.00	$695.20–$738.65	55%
Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · (831) 477-2200 HCHG CORE CULT NASAL+3 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file	$423.00	$423.00	—	—
Watsonville Community Hospital Watsonville, CA · (831) 724-4741 CULTURE BACTERIA OTH+1 more line at this price File of Sep 15, 2026 · source file	$659.07	$1,098.45	$8.62–$1,098.45	40%

Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.

Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More

List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More

Insurers pay The lowest and highest rates this hospital has agreed with insurance plans for the same item, from its price file. If the cash price is below what your plan pays and you have not met your deductible, paying cash can cost you less. More

Off list How much lower the cash price is than the list price.

No cash discount This line's cash price equals the hospital's full list price. Many hospitals still reduce bills for uninsured patients: ask the billing office for its self-pay discount in writing. More

Check the item The description in the hospital file looks like a supply or device (a catheter, a brace, an implant), not this procedure. The hospital may have filed it under the wrong code: ask before relying on this price.

Inpatient: lowest $391.05, median $423.00, highest $659.07 — a 1.7× difference within the same market.

As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $423.00 — 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 1 it is 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.