Cost analysis for CPT 88313 — Special stained specimen slides to examine tissue including interpretation and report
Average Medicare Payment
$19.67
2023 data
Total Payments (2023)
$50.2M
Services (2023)
1.4M
Price Change (2014–2023)
+17.2%
| Year | Avg Payment | Total Payments | Services | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $16.78 | $49.7M | 1.7M | — |
| 2015 | $17.12 | $49.1M | 1.7M | +2.0% |
| 2016 | $17.23 | $45.6M | 1.6M | +0.6% |
| 2017 | $17.68 | $46.0M | 1.5M | +2.6% |
| 2018 | $18.32 | $45.5M | 1.5M | +3.6% |
| 2019 | $18.57 | $47.4M | 1.5M | +1.4% |
| 2020 | $19.49 | $42.3M | 1.3M | +5.0% |
| 2021 | $19.77 | $51.4M | 1.5M | +1.4% |
| 2022 | $19.49 | $48.9M | 1.4M | -1.4% |
| 2023 | $19.67 | $50.2M | 1.4M | +0.9% |
The most expensive state pays 6.4x more than the cheapest for this procedure. MD averages $58.02 vs VT at $9.10.
| State | Avg Payment | Total Payments | Services | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD | $58.02 | $4.1M | 69.9K | 138 |
| NJ | $52.96 | $5.7M | 107.1K | 182 |
| CT | $47.34 | $1.1M | 24.2K | 104 |
| FL | $42.20 | $5.5M | 129.6K | 472 |
| NY | $40.60 | $5.7M | 139.9K | 469 |
| CA | $40.49 | $6.6M | 163.6K | 669 |
| AZ | $39.70 | $1.7M | 43.1K | 169 |
| GA | $39.23 | $2.1M | 54.6K | 210 |
| TX | $35.14 | $3.7M | 105.7K | 551 |
| LA | $35.11 | $579.6K | 16.5K | 94 |
| SC | $34.58 | $847.3K | 24.5K | 127 |
| NM | $33.09 | $105.3K | 3.2K | 29 |
| TN | $32.45 | $1.5M | 47.2K | 203 |
| CO | $29.65 | $355.5K | 12.0K | 94 |
| IL | $29.43 | $1.1M | 36.3K | 282 |
| PA | $28.93 | $1.7M | 59.3K | 309 |
| NV | $28.08 | $93.7K | 3.3K | 30 |
| PR | $27.12 | $3.1K | 113 | 3 |
| DE | $26.86 | $146.0K | 5.4K | 28 |
| IN | $24.58 | $339.0K | 13.8K | 107 |
| MA | $23.64 | $772.5K | 32.7K | 274 |
| OK | $23.25 | $272.5K | 11.7K | 58 |
| UT | $23.11 | $135.5K | 5.9K | 54 |
| VA | $22.83 | $726.7K | 31.8K | 139 |
| WA | $22.76 | $301.5K | 13.2K | 140 |
| OR | $21.98 | $78.1K | 3.6K | 63 |
| AL | $21.90 | $216.5K | 9.9K | 86 |
| OH | $21.89 | $598.8K | 27.4K | 234 |
| AR | $21.56 | $1.9M | 87.4K | 105 |
| DC | $21.13 | $213.6K | 10.1K | 23 |
| WV | $21.03 | $59.3K | 2.8K | 30 |
| NC | $20.98 | $378.9K | 18.1K | 185 |
| KS | $20.21 | $162.5K | 8.0K | 59 |
| HI | $18.56 | $21.5K | 1.2K | 16 |
| MN | $17.53 | $261.5K | 14.9K | 143 |
| WI | $16.61 | $198.5K | 12.0K | 139 |
| MO | $16.50 | $299.3K | 18.1K | 144 |
| IA | $16.06 | $91.6K | 5.7K | 89 |
| NH | $15.22 | $39.9K | 2.6K | 39 |
| ID | $14.63 | $22.4K | 1.5K | 16 |
| NE | $13.57 | $60.5K | 4.5K | 45 |
| KY | $13.57 | $73.7K | 5.4K | 79 |
| RI | $13.53 | $12.8K | 949 | 20 |
| MT | $12.52 | $20.1K | 1.6K | 21 |
| ME | $12.39 | $25.6K | 2.1K | 25 |
| AK | $12.23 | $8.0K | 656 | 8 |
| MS | $12.19 | $52.6K | 4.3K | 45 |
| MI | $12.13 | $143.2K | 11.8K | 155 |
| WY | $11.07 | $3.3K | 298 | 3 |
| ND | $10.82 | $15.8K | 1.5K | 21 |
| SD | $10.08 | $16.8K | 1.7K | 11 |
| Provider | Specialty | State | Payments | Services | Avg/Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annapath, Inc | Clinical Laboratory | MD | $1.4M | 20.1K | $67.73 |
| Acupath Laboratories, Inc. | Clinical Laboratory | NY | $1.2M | 18.2K | $68.02 |
| Advanced Pathology Solutions, Pllc | Clinical Laboratory | AR | $975.7K | 49.0K | $19.90 |
| Texas Digestive Disease Consultants, Pllc | Clinical Laboratory | TX | $613.1K | 9.8K | $62.74 |
| Cap Diagnostics Llc | Clinical Laboratory | CA | $584.3K | 9.0K | $65.25 |
| Bioreference Health, Llc | Clinical Laboratory | NJ | $574.8K | 8.6K | $66.61 |
| Inform Diagnostics, Inc | Clinical Laboratory | TX | $556.4K | 12.5K | $44.38 |
| Hadia Ata | Pathology | NJ | $537.6K | 7.4K | $72.78 |
| Theranostix Inc | Clinical Laboratory | MD | $484.7K | 7.0K | $69.36 |
| Stacey Longo | Pathology | NJ | $472.2K | 8.2K | $57.69 |
| Mohammad Qureshi | Pathology | NJ | $448.3K | 6.8K | $65.93 |
| Mark Tran | Dermatology | CA | $436.7K | 5.7K | $77.07 |
| Jasminka Balderacchi | Pathology | NY | $401.9K | 5.6K | $72.14 |
| Ellie Lekov | Pathology | CA | $394.8K | 6.2K | $63.97 |
| Joshua Cantor | Pathology | PA | $388.4K | 5.7K | $67.78 |
| Catherine Lee | Dermatology | CA | $379.8K | 5.0K | $76.18 |
| Pathology Solutions Llc | Clinical Laboratory | NJ | $379.5K | 6.0K | $63.52 |
| Robert Aportela | Pathology | FL | $377.9K | 5.9K | $63.85 |
| Karabi Sinha | Pathology | NJ | $360.9K | 4.9K | $73.10 |
| Dianon Systems, Inc | Clinical Laboratory | CT | $358.6K | 6.4K | $56.15 |
The data suggests significant pricing inconsistencies for CPT 88313. With a 6.4x price gap between the most and least expensive states, geography plays an outsized role in what Medicare pays for this procedure.
Costs have risen 17.2% since 2014, outpacing inflation and raising questions about whether reimbursement rates reflect actual costs.
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.