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Glossary

Current as of Oct 19, 2026. No medical reviewer.

Terms used when this site talks about cash prices and collection logistics. A reference range is defined only to say that ranges vary by lab. This page does not say what a result means.

A

Add-on
An extra test or service attached to an order, with its own price when the seller states one. An add-on is not included in the base price unless the offer says it is.
All-in price
Test price plus a stated draw fee if the draw is not included, plus a stated physician or order fee, plus a prorated membership only when the seller publishes the divisor. See what an all-in price includes. Incomplete pieces stay Price check pending.
As-of date
The date on the sheet row, written as_of. Price pages use it as the date the price was checked and label it Current as of that date. On a page with no price, Current as of is the date the page was reviewed.

C

Cash offer
The product name, component list, stated fees, and date a seller publishes for a self-pay purchase. Comparing offers starts by matching those fields, not by ranking sellers.
Cash price
The self-pay amount a seller publishes for a named product. It is not an insurance allowed amount, a copay, or a hospital chargemaster figure. This site prints a cash price only when a verified sheet row supports it.
CLIA
Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments. CMS runs the CLIA program, and its CLIA page links to a free lookup of a laboratory's CLIA certification status. A CLIA certificate is not a cash price, and this site does not rank labs by certificate type.
Collection site
The place the seller names for a blood draw, a urine drop-off, or an imaging visit. A cash price does not include a map of sites unless the sheet recorded one.
Component
One line inside a panel, such as creatinine on a metabolic panel. Two panels are the same cash product only when the component lists match.
Contrast
A material some CT and MRI orders use so tissues show differently on the images. If the offer does not say whether contrast is included, the fee is unstated.
CPT
A procedure code some scan rows store so a future hospital-price file could be matched. A stored code is not a price. No hospital price file is loaded, so no national low, median, or high is stored.

D

Direct access
A laboratory request that does not start with the patient's own clinician. Whether a state allows it is Verify: pending unless this site cites a statute or regulator page.
Draw fee
A fee for collecting the sample, often a blood draw. On this site it is added into all-in only when the sheet says the draw is not already included and states the fee. An unstated draw fee is not invented.

E

Everyday price
The seller's ordinary published amount, as opposed to a sale. The sheet tags a row this way when that is how the seller page presented it.

F

Fasting
Not eating or drinking for a set time before a sample is taken. The order and the seller set whether a fast applies and for how long. This site does not state a fasting window.

I

Included draw
The sheet says the posted test price already covers collection. In that case all-in does not add a second draw fee.
Ionizing radiation
RadiologyInfo's pages say CT and mammography use x-rays, and that "MRI does not use radiation (x-rays)" and ultrasound "does not use radiation." This site does not turn that into advice about which exam to choose.

L

List price
The seller's stated non-sale amount. When a sheet row records both a sale amount and a list amount, the price sentence says so. This glossary does not print either amount.

M

Membership fee
A periodic charge for a bundle of access, tests, or both. It is not the price of one lab test unless the seller published a divisor and this site prorated it under the methodology. Version 1 of this site does not prorate a membership onto a single test.

O

Order fee
Another name sellers use for a physician order fee. This site treats the two names as the same fee type when the sheet classifies the row that way.

P

Panel
A group of tests sold as one order. The panel price is the price of the group. It is not the price of one marker inside the group.
Physician order
A request a licensed clinician places for a named test. Some cash checkouts arrange that order for the buyer and may charge an order fee.
Physician order fee
A fee for a clinician's order, charged once per order when the sheet states it. It is not a second copy of the test price. See what a physician-order fee is.
Price check pending
The cell this site shows when no verified, in-date sheet row supports a price or a fee. It is not an estimate.
Proration
Dividing a membership fee across tests only when the seller publishes how many tests that membership covers in a year. Without that published divisor, the membership stays a separate figure. Version 1 of this site does not prorate.
PSC
Patient service center. A collection site where a sample is taken. New York's laboratory rule uses this kind of site when it describes where specimens are collected. The draw network for a given seller is a separate fact and is often unstated on the price pages.

R

Reference range
The interval a lab prints beside a result. MedlinePlus says labs "often use different testing methods" and so often use different reference ranges, and that "You can't compare test results from different labs." This site does not interpret a number against a range. Ask your clinician.
Requisition
The order form the collection site uses to match a person to the tests on the order.

S

Sale price
A reduced amount the seller is publishing, which may end. A sale row on this site keeps the list amount in the sentence when the sheet recorded it. A sale is not labeled as a lasting price.
Self-pay
Paying the seller directly rather than billing an insurance plan. The prices on this site are self-pay prices.
Specimen
The sample the lab tests: blood, urine, or another type the order names.
Stale price
A verified price whose as-of date is older than the window in the methodology, measured against the build date. A stale price is hidden rather than shown as current.

T

Turnaround
The time a seller states between collection and a released result. Cited medical pages do not give one turnaround for every lab. This site uses the window on the offer when the sheet recorded it, and otherwise leaves it unstated.

V

Venipuncture
The blood-draw step: a needle enters a vein and fills the tube the order names.

Sources

  1. CMS: Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)Accessed
  2. MedlinePlus: How to understand your lab resultsAccessed
  3. RadiologyInfo: Body CTAccessed
  4. RadiologyInfo: MammographyAccessed
  5. RadiologyInfo: Body MRIAccessed
  6. RadiologyInfo: General ultrasoundAccessed
  7. 10 NYCRR 58-1.7 (patient service center, as used in the New York rule)Accessed
  8. IRS Publication 502 (2025), Medical and Dental ExpensesAccessed
  9. Lab & Scan methodologyAccessed