What Do Area Hospitals Bill for Procedures?

While St. Alexius Medical Center on average bills Medicare $59,179 for a major joint replacement, nearby Northwest Community Hospital bills on average $49,182 for the same procedure, according to a federal database released Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

Overall, Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights bills Medicare on average less than the U.S. average, while St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates bills one to two times more than the U.S. average for treatments, according to a database compiled by New York Times, which is searchable by ZIP code or state. 

For the first time people can see in detail how much the vast majority of American hospitals charged for the top 100 most common procedures billed to Medicare. The database covers claims filed within fiscal year 2011 and includes 163,065 individual charges recorded at 3,337 hospitals in 306 metropolitan areas, Huffington Post reported. 

Illinois hospitals on average charged about the same as the national average for procedures such as major lower joint replacement, pneumonia, breathing problem with ventilator, chest pain and heart failure, according to the database compiled by Washington Post, which is searchable by state. 

The University of Chicago Medical Center and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital had some of the highest prices for treatments among Chicago-area hospitals in 2011, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. 

Here’s a look at how much area hospitals charged for common treatments: 

Treatment

Hospital Name       

Number of Cases

Avg. Amount Billed Medicare

Avg. Amount Paid by Medicare

Major Joint Replacement

St. Alexius Medical Center 

91

$52,662

$12,802

Northwest Community Hospital

451

$49,182

$13,652

Diabetes

St. Alexius Medical Center

26

$25,319

$6,858

Northwest Community Hospital 

37

$19,617

$5,802

Kidney and urinary tract infection

St. Alexius Medical Center

88

$14,750

$4,543

Northwest Community Hospital 

244

$18,578

$4,519