Cost analysis for CPT 88173 — Evaluation of fine needle aspirate with interpretation and report
Average Medicare Payment
$60.22
2023 data
Total Payments (2023)
$21.8M
Services (2023)
325.9K
Price Change (2014–2023)
-1.7%
| Year | Avg Payment | Total Payments | Services | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $61.28 | $22.7M | 333.1K | — |
| 2015 | $61.74 | $23.7M | 340.3K | +0.8% |
| 2016 | $63.03 | $25.2M | 356.2K | +2.1% |
| 2017 | $62.79 | $24.8M | 352.3K | -0.4% |
| 2018 | $63.64 | $24.6M | 347.5K | +1.4% |
| 2019 | $63.11 | $24.6M | 352.6K | -0.8% |
| 2020 | $64.19 | $20.6M | 288.6K | +1.7% |
| 2021 | $62.51 | $21.8M | 310.7K | -2.6% |
| 2022 | $61.14 | $21.2M | 309.9K | -2.2% |
| 2023 | $60.22 | $21.8M | 325.9K | -1.5% |
The most expensive state pays 1.9x more than the cheapest for this procedure. NY averages $98.15 vs VT at $52.29.
| State | Avg Payment | Total Payments | Services | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY | $98.15 | $3.0M | 30.7K | 252 |
| CA | $90.27 | $3.4M | 37.8K | 354 |
| NV | $76.94 | $216.0K | 2.8K | 30 |
| CT | $73.98 | $324.8K | 4.4K | 59 |
| AK | $72.38 | $24.2K | 335 | 8 |
| PR | $72.32 | $20.2K | 279 | 8 |
| NJ | $69.18 | $563.4K | 8.1K | 107 |
| AZ | $68.84 | $466.7K | 6.8K | 86 |
| DE | $68.65 | $169.2K | 2.5K | 20 |
| AR | $67.79 | $193.3K | 2.9K | 32 |
| OR | $67.35 | $129.3K | 1.9K | 32 |
| TN | $66.70 | $592.9K | 8.9K | 123 |
| DC | $66.37 | $124.9K | 1.9K | 13 |
| FL | $64.48 | $1.3M | 20.4K | 281 |
| HI | $64.23 | $59.9K | 933 | 18 |
| MD | $63.41 | $486.0K | 7.7K | 81 |
| GA | $63.14 | $426.0K | 6.7K | 110 |
| VA | $62.64 | $436.8K | 7.0K | 98 |
| OK | $62.47 | $210.5K | 3.4K | 31 |
| WV | $61.33 | $82.8K | 1.4K | 28 |
| TX | $60.71 | $1.2M | 19.2K | 291 |
| WA | $60.50 | $384.9K | 6.4K | 97 |
| UT | $59.87 | $94.7K | 1.6K | 33 |
| MA | $59.10 | $666.2K | 11.3K | 162 |
| IN | $58.52 | $450.5K | 7.7K | 91 |
| NM | $57.65 | $59.8K | 1.0K | 24 |
| AL | $57.34 | $167.6K | 2.9K | 56 |
| MT | $57.32 | $68.0K | 1.2K | 19 |
| NC | $56.93 | $591.8K | 10.4K | 120 |
| MN | $56.24 | $337.7K | 6.0K | 96 |
| ID | $55.88 | $25.8K | 461 | 14 |
| CO | $55.81 | $274.1K | 4.9K | 79 |
| OH | $55.68 | $602.1K | 10.8K | 207 |
| SC | $55.60 | $384.7K | 6.9K | 72 |
| MS | $55.38 | $121.3K | 2.2K | 40 |
| NE | $55.26 | $140.8K | 2.5K | 30 |
| SD | $55.04 | $70.9K | 1.3K | 20 |
| IL | $54.98 | $812.8K | 14.8K | 211 |
| NH | $54.94 | $113.2K | 2.1K | 25 |
| LA | $54.56 | $215.1K | 3.9K | 61 |
| PA | $54.51 | $860.9K | 15.8K | 218 |
| IA | $54.48 | $186.7K | 3.4K | 56 |
| RI | $54.29 | $57.7K | 1.1K | 13 |
| MI | $54.17 | $471.3K | 8.7K | 144 |
| WI | $53.74 | $330.4K | 6.1K | 79 |
| MO | $53.27 | $289.4K | 5.4K | 88 |
| ME | $53.09 | $66.3K | 1.2K | 18 |
| KY | $53.05 | $247.5K | 4.7K | 69 |
| ND | $52.60 | $55.6K | 1.1K | 17 |
| KS | $52.57 | $157.6K | 3.0K | 40 |
| VT | $52.29 | $48.4K | 925 | 13 |
| Provider | Specialty | State | Payments | Services | Avg/Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veracyte, Inc. | Clinical Laboratory | CA | $1.3M | 10.8K | $124.41 |
| Cblpath, Inc | Clinical Laboratory | NY | $1.1M | 7.6K | $145.64 |
| Gerald Minkowitz | Pathology | NY | $459.0K | 3.1K | $145.71 |
| Ricardo Bardales | Pathology | CA | $98.8K | 762 | $129.62 |
| Acupath Laboratories, Inc. | Clinical Laboratory | NY | $94.6K | 643 | $147.14 |
| Biovantra Llc | Clinical Laboratory | FL | $82.5K | 675 | $122.21 |
| Northwell Health Laboratories | Clinical Laboratory | NY | $80.5K | 548 | $146.97 |
| Dianon Systems, Inc | Clinical Laboratory | CT | $75.7K | 838 | $90.32 |
| Laboratory Medicine Consultants Ltd | Clinical Laboratory | NV | $74.8K | 596 | $125.57 |
| Thousand Oaks Pathology Associates Inc | Clinical Laboratory | CA | $70.0K | 492 | $142.32 |
| Pathology Reference Laboratory, L.L.C. | Clinical Laboratory | TX | $65.7K | 553 | $118.87 |
| Ameripath Florida Llc | Clinical Laboratory | FL | $61.0K | 882 | $69.13 |
| Mai Gu | Pathology | CA | $59.2K | 441 | $134.16 |
| Dcl Pathology Llc | Clinical Laboratory | IN | $58.5K | 496 | $118.00 |
| Ameripath Florida Llc | Clinical Laboratory | FL | $58.1K | 764 | $75.99 |
| Health Network Laboratories, Llc | Clinical Laboratory | PA | $57.7K | 1.0K | $56.45 |
| Pca Of Columbia, Inc. | Clinical Laboratory | TN | $54.6K | 710 | $76.89 |
| David Kw Lieu | Clinical Laboratory | CA | $54.2K | 381 | $142.38 |
| Wei Sun | Pathology | NY | $52.6K | 404 | $130.24 |
| Sara Mustafa | Pathology | VA | $52.4K | 377 | $138.91 |
Based on the data, CPT 88173 shows a 1.9x variation in pricing across states — moderate variation by Medicare standards.
Costs have decreased 1.7% since 2014. Medicare's fee schedule attempts to standardize pricing, though some variation is expected due to geographic cost-of-living adjustments and practice expense differences.
This analysis is based on publicly available CMS data and does not account for patient complexity, comorbidities, or facility-specific factors that may justify pricing differences.
Note: All data is from publicly available Medicare records. OpenMedicare is an independent journalism project not affiliated with CMS.