Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Worcester, MA — inpatient
In Worcester, MA, 5 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid) as an inpatient: from $31.00 to $136.00, with a median of $107.00. The lowest listed price is at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital — $76.00 less than the median here. Across Massachusetts, the median is $40.00 at 33 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 5 cities for code 87070, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Mar 26, 2026 and Apr 3, 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 Worcester, MA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital lowest Westborough, MA Upper Respiratory Culture+5 more lines at this price source file | $31.00 | $31.00 | $31.00 | — |
| Milford Regional Medical Center Milford, MA · (508) 473-1190 Culture Other Specimen Aerob source file | $91.00 | $91.00 | $91.00 | — |
| UMass Memorial Health - Harrington Hospital Southbridge, MA · (508) 765-9771 HC Culture Bacterial Except Urine/Blood/Stool File of Apr 3, 2026 · source file | $107.00 | $107.00 | — | — |
| UMass Memorial Medical Center Worcester, MA · (508) 334-1000 HC Culture Bacterial Except Urine/Blood/Stool File of Mar 26, 2026 · source file | $134.00 | $134.00 | — | — |
| HealthAlliance - Clinton Hospital Leominster, MA · (978) 466-2000 HC Culture Bacterial Except Urine/Blood/Stool File of Mar 26, 2026 · source file | $136.00 | $136.00 | — | — |
Inpatient: lowest $31.00, median $107.00, highest $136.00 — a 4.4× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 4 facilities here, median $120.50 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 0 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.