Urinalysis (with microscopy)
This is a urine test in which the chemical strip reading is followed by someone spinning the sample down and examining the sediment under a microscope. The microscopic step is what finds red cells, white cells, bacteria, crystals and casts, which the strip can only hint at.
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What it is
Urinalysis has two halves. The chemical half dips a strip with reagent pads into the sample and reads the color changes for things like protein, glucose, blood, ketones and signs of infection. The microscopic half, which is what this code adds, spins a portion of the urine in a centrifuge and puts the sediment under a lens. That is where the actual particles are counted: red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, crystals, and casts, which are molds of the kidney's own tubules. The strip can say blood is present; only the microscope can say whether the red cells arrived in clumps, alone, or wrapped in a cast pointing back at the kidney itself.
Why it is done
- To confirm and characterize a urinary tract infection, by counting white cells and seeing bacteria rather than inferring them from a color change
- To work out where blood in the urine is coming from, since casts and the appearance of the red cells distinguish a kidney source from a lower one
- To look for crystals when kidney stones are suspected
- To follow kidney disease, where the sediment findings carry information the chemical strip does not
What to expect
A urine sample is collected, usually as a clean catch midstream so that whatever is on the skin does not end up in the cup. The strip result is available within minutes. The microscopic exam requires a centrifuge and a person at a microscope, so it adds time, and in an outpatient setting it may mean the sample travels to a laboratory rather than being read in the room. A positive finding often leads to a urine culture, which is a separate test taking a day or more.
Questions worth asking
- Was the microscopic exam ordered up front, or added automatically because the strip was abnormal? Reflex microscopy is a second charge nobody discussed.
- Is this being billed with microscopy when only the strip was needed? The two are different codes at different prices.
- If a urine culture followed, is it billed separately, and was it in network?
- Was the sample examined in the clinic or sent out? A send-out adds a handling or transport charge at some practices.
What Urinalysis (with microscopy) costs by state
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Texas — 103 hospitals, median $107.85
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in California — 91 hospitals, median $82.88
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Ohio — 68 hospitals, median $27.00
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Florida — 61 hospitals, median $173.99
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $75.60
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Virginia — 42 hospitals, median $89.50
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Tennessee — 37 hospitals, median $10.56
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Wisconsin — 35 hospitals, median $57.50
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Pennsylvania — 33 hospitals, median $33.00
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Washington — 33 hospitals, median $28.86
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $20.00
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $49.80
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Iowa — 26 hospitals, median $27.60
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $62.40
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Arizona — 24 hospitals, median $27.71
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in New Jersey — 23 hospitals, median $3.49
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in New York — 23 hospitals, median $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Kentucky — 22 hospitals, median $47.80
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $39.05
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Minnesota — 18 hospitals, median $72.91
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $33.02
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in West Virginia — 18 hospitals, median $34.50
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $40.35
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $61.32
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Oregon — 12 hospitals, median $34.50
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $33.15
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $290.80
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Colorado — 10 hospitals, median $222.81
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in South Carolina — 10 hospitals, median $65.50
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Mississippi — 9 hospitals, median $33.60
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $82.35
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $38.40
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $109.98
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $96.15
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $36.00
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $32.61
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $33.75
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $14.40
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $32.80
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $52.92
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $46.54
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $100.55
Urinalysis (with microscopy) prices at hospitals
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at SIERRA VISTA HOSPITAL, INC., San Luis Obispo — $3.15
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Bellevue Hospital Center, NY 10016 — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Lincoln Medical Center, Bronx — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Harlem Hospital Center, New York — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Woodhull Medical Center, Brooklyn — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Ocean University Medical Center, Brick — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Queens Hospital Center, Jamaica — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute (JRI), Edison — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune City — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Palisades Medical Center, North Bergen — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Southern Ocean Medical Center, Manahawkin — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Elmhurst Hospital Center, NY 11373 — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at South Brooklyn Health, Brooklyn — $3.17
- Urinalysis (with microscopy) at North Central Bronx, Bronx — $3.17
See every published price for Urinalysis (with microscopy): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.
Urinalysis (with microscopy) cost — see all prices →Sources
- MedlinePlus: Urinalysis (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
- Wikipedia (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)