CostGrade
D

20/100

#2,164 nationally

Baylor St Lukes Medical Center

6720 Bertner Ave, Ste Mc1-266, Houston, TX 77030 · (832) 355-1000

Charges far above the national norm

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, Baylor St Lukes Medical Center billed $6.68 in list charges. That gap does not change a Medicare patient's bill — but it is where an uninsured or out-of-network bill starts.

Charge-to-payment
6.7x
volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced
151
inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in TX
#130
lower markup ranks higher
CMS quality stars
4/5
shown for context, not in the grade

How this grade was reached

Each component is scored against every other U.S. hospital in the same federal files, so the grade is a position in the country, not a pass mark we invented.

Inpatient charge markup 6.9/35

Better than 20% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 6.1/25

Better than 24% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 5.1/30

Better than 17% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 2.0/10

Better than 20% of U.S. hospitals.

What this hospital treats most

The ten procedures it billed Medicare for most often, with its charge beside the national middle.

Procedure Patients Charged Actually paid vs national
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures

APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit

806 $11,341 $2,145 -4%
Level 2 Intraocular Procedures

APC 5492 · Hospital outpatient visit

292 $24,520 $3,740 +19%
Level 1 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5191 · Hospital outpatient visit

259 $31,381 $2,981 +24%
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures

APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit

250 $14,272 $1,742 +21%
Level 3 Electrophysiologic Procedures

APC 5213 · Hospital outpatient visit

211 $185,510 $21,873 +40%
Sepsis (severe)

MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay

193 $133,936 $19,824 +105%
Comprehensive Observation Services

APC 8011 · Hospital outpatient visit

170 $30,219 $2,514 +56%
Level 2 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage

APC 5072 · Hospital outpatient visit

166 $20,233 $1,482 +101%
Heart Failure (severe)

MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay

130 $74,180 $13,137 +71%
Level 3 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5193 · Hospital outpatient visit

122 $80,226 $10,071 +19%

Where its charges run furthest above the national middle

Only procedures it performed at least eleven times, so a single unusual case cannot produce the headline.

Procedure Charged Actually paid vs national
Gastrointestinal Bleeding (with complications)

MS-DRG 378 · Inpatient stay

$116,926 $26,295 +183%
Level 2 Neurostimulator and Related Procedures

APC 5462 · Hospital outpatient visit

$73,141 $5,496 +179%
Level 5 Neurostimulator and Related Procedures

APC 5465 · Hospital outpatient visit

$311,432 $28,299 +176%
Level 4 Neurostimulator and Related Procedures

APC 5464 · Hospital outpatient visit

$217,932 $18,994 +170%
Cochlear Implant Procedure

APC 5166 · Hospital outpatient visit

$326,275 $31,001 +167%
Disorders of Pancreas Except Malignancy with Complications

MS-DRG 439 · Inpatient stay

$93,352 $10,448 +160%
Extensive Operating Room Procedures Unrelated to Principal Diagnosis with Major

MS-DRG 981 · Inpatient stay

$473,822 $75,289 +158%
Irregular Heartbeat (severe)

MS-DRG 308 · Inpatient stay

$121,354 $17,662 +156%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure Charged Actually paid vs national
Level 3 Extraocular, Repair, and Plastic Eye Procedures

APC 5503 · Hospital outpatient visit

$12,330 $2,167 -15%
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures

APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit

$11,341 $2,145 -4%
Postoperative or Post-traumatic Infections with Operating Room Procedures with

MS-DRG 857 · Inpatient stay

$93,394 $19,413 -4%
Extracranial Procedures with Complications

MS-DRG 038 · Inpatient stay

$66,788 $14,270 about average
Disorders of the Biliary Tract with Major Complications

MS-DRG 444 · Inpatient stay

$73,471 $15,576 about average
Level 4 Extraocular, Repair, and Plastic Eye Procedures

APC 5504 · Hospital outpatient visit

$24,369 $3,585 +4%
Level 5 Airway Endoscopy

APC 5155 · Hospital outpatient visit

$39,980 $6,183 +4%
Pancreas, Liver and Shunt Procedures with Complications

MS-DRG 406 · Inpatient stay

$148,435 $24,736 +5%

What this page cannot tell you

  • It is not your bill. These are averages across Medicare patients. What you pay depends on your insurance, your plan's negotiated rate and your own case.
  • It is not a quality rating. A hospital with a high markup may be excellent, and one with a low markup may not be. We checked: across every U.S. hospital, markup and the CMS quality star rating barely move together.
  • A charge is not a cost. Hospitals do not collect their list charges from insured patients. The number matters because it is the opening figure on an uninsured or out-of-network bill.
  • Ask for the real number. Every U.S. hospital must publish a machine-readable price file and give you a written good-faith estimate on request.