Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Talladega, AL
In Talladega-Sylacauga, AL, 2 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $13.00 to $729.00, with a median of $371.00. The lowest listed price is at Coosa Valley Medical Center — $358.00 less than the median here. Across Alabama, the median is $76.99 at 45 hospitals.
Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 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 Apr 1, 2026 and Apr 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 Talladega-Sylacauga, AL.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coosa Valley Medical Center lowest Sylacauga, AL ...Test Culture Body Fluid+2 more lines at this price source file | $13.00 | $56.00 | $9.00–$56.00 | 77% |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL ...Test Culture Bronchial Wash+13 more lines at this price source file | $14.00 | $60.00 | $9.00–$60.00 | 77% |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL Culture Bordetella+1 more line at this price source file | $15.00 | $64.00 | $9.00–$64.00 | 77% |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL Culture Genital+1 more line at this price source file | $18.00 | $74.00 | $9.00–$74.00 | 76% |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL Culture Aerobic Xx source file | $56.00 | $234.00 | $9.00–$234.00 | 76% |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL Culture Tissue Xx source file | $73.00 | $303.00 | $9.00–$303.00 | 76% |
| Baptist Health Citizens Hospital Talladega, AL · (256) 761-4542 Hb Csf Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $729.00 | $729.00 | — | — |
Outpatient: lowest $13.00, median $371.00, highest $729.00 — a 56.1× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $729.00. 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.
6 rows held back from this comparison
They are 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, ALCulture Blood | $9.00 | file |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, ALCulture Routine Aerobic | $9.00 | file |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, ALCulture Throat | $9.00 | file |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, ALPos Bc Anaer0 | $9.00 | file |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL...Test Culture Blood | $9.00 | file |
| Coosa Valley Medical Center Sylacauga, AL...Test Culture Upper Respiratory | $9.00 | file |