Blood Culture Test
A blood culture tries to grow bacteria from a blood sample, to find out whether an infection has reached the bloodstream and what organism is causing it. Unlike most blood tests it takes days rather than hours, because something has to be given time to grow.
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What it is
Blood is normally sterile. This test asks whether it still is. A sample is injected into bottles of nutrient broth and kept warm while an instrument watches for signs that something is multiplying. If growth appears, the organism is identified and then tested against antibiotics to see which ones will work. The whole point is the name of the culprit, not a number: knowing which bacterium is in the bloodstream is what lets a broad initial antibiotic be narrowed to a targeted one.
Why it is done
- To find the cause of a suspected bloodstream infection or sepsis, in someone with fever, chills, a racing heart, confusion or a falling blood pressure
- To guide antibiotic choice, by identifying the organism and testing what it responds to
- To check whether an infection has cleared, by repeating cultures after treatment has started
- To investigate infection of a heart valve, a prosthetic joint or an indwelling line, where the bloodstream is the route to the answer
What to expect
The skin is cleaned carefully first, which matters more here than in an ordinary draw: skin bacteria carried into the bottle produce false alarms. Blood is usually taken from two separate sites, and often a second set is drawn later, because bacteria enter the bloodstream in bursts and one sample can miss them. Automated systems typically incubate bottles for up to five days, though most common organisms declare themselves within about two. Treatment does not wait for the result; antibiotics are usually started on suspicion and adjusted once the culture speaks.
Questions worth asking
- How many sets of cultures were drawn? Each bottle or set is generally billed on its own, so two sites and two time points can mean four charges.
- Are organism identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing billed as additional codes once something grows?
- If a culture turned out to be a skin contaminant, was follow-up testing charged for chasing a false positive?
- For cultures drawn in an emergency department, is the lab work included in the visit level or itemized separately?
What Blood Culture Test costs by state
- Blood Culture Test cost in Texas — 110 hospitals, median $239.10
- Blood Culture Test cost in California — 91 hospitals, median $272.16
- Blood Culture Test cost in Ohio — 68 hospitals, median $122.20
- Blood Culture Test cost in Florida — 60 hospitals, median $433.13
- Blood Culture Test cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $195.00
- Blood Culture Test cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $115.00
- Blood Culture Test cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $34.32
- Blood Culture Test cost in Wisconsin — 35 hospitals, median $80.00
- Blood Culture Test cost in Pennsylvania — 33 hospitals, median $73.80
- Blood Culture Test cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $86.39
- Blood Culture Test cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $68.00
- Blood Culture Test cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $188.40
- Blood Culture Test cost in Iowa — 26 hospitals, median $112.20
- Blood Culture Test cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $171.99
- Blood Culture Test cost in Arizona — 24 hospitals, median $80.28
- Blood Culture Test cost in New Jersey — 23 hospitals, median $11.35
- Blood Culture Test cost in New York — 23 hospitals, median $10.32
- Blood Culture Test cost in Kentucky — 22 hospitals, median $128.24
- Blood Culture Test cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $144.65
- Blood Culture Test cost in Minnesota — 18 hospitals, median $67.49
- Blood Culture Test cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $109.85
- Blood Culture Test cost in West Virginia — 18 hospitals, median $136.00
- Blood Culture Test cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $150.05
- Blood Culture Test cost in Colorado — 14 hospitals, median $331.45
- Blood Culture Test cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $180.18
- Blood Culture Test cost in Oregon — 12 hospitals, median $120.00
- Blood Culture Test cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $100.75
- Blood Culture Test cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $184.60
- Blood Culture Test cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $80.04
- Blood Culture Test cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $236.50
- Blood Culture Test cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $158.35
- Blood Culture Test cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $98.40
- Blood Culture Test cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $214.50
- Blood Culture Test cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $371.46
- Blood Culture Test cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $66.40
- Blood Culture Test cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $81.14
- Blood Culture Test cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $91.20
- Blood Culture Test cost in Louisiana — 2 hospitals, median $120.12
- Blood Culture Test cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $64.80
- Blood Culture Test cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $117.60
- Blood Culture Test cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $183.12
- Blood Culture Test cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $215.10
Blood Culture Test prices at hospitals
- Blood Culture Test at Banner North Colorado Medical Center - Loveland Campus, Loveland — $8.65
- Blood Culture Test at Bellevue Hospital Center, NY 10016 — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Lincoln Medical Center, Bronx — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Harlem Hospital Center, New York — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Woodhull Medical Center, Brooklyn — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Ocean University Medical Center, Brick — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Queens Hospital Center, Jamaica — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute (JRI), Edison — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune City — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Palisades Medical Center, North Bergen — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Southern Ocean Medical Center, Manahawkin — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Elmhurst Hospital Center, NY 11373 — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at South Brooklyn Health, Brooklyn — $10.32
- Blood Culture Test at North Central Bronx, Bronx — $10.32
See every published price for Blood Culture Test: the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.
Blood Culture Test cost — see all prices →Sources
- MedlinePlus: Blood culture (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
- Wikipedia: Blood culture (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
- Wikipedia (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)