73/100
#537 nationally
Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center
402 East Second Street, Duluth, MN 55805 · (218) 786-3574
Charges moderately above what care is paid for
For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center billed $3.53 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
- 3.5x
- volume-weighted across all its priced work
- Procedures priced
- 176
- inpatient and outpatient combined
- Rank in MN
- #27
- 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.
Better than 66% of U.S. hospitals.
Better than 76% of U.S. hospitals.
Better than 78% of U.S. hospitals.
Better than 79% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sepsis (severe)
MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay |
443 | $45,779 | $15,316 | -30% |
|
Level 1 Endovascular Procedures
APC 5191 · Hospital outpatient visit |
382 | $18,531 | $3,079 | -27% |
|
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures
APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit |
330 | $8,732 | $1,788 | -26% |
|
Comprehensive Observation Services
APC 8011 · Hospital outpatient visit |
304 | $12,905 | $2,554 | -34% |
|
Level 3 Electrophysiologic Procedures
APC 5213 · Hospital outpatient visit |
237 | $91,352 | $22,473 | -31% |
|
Level 3 Vascular Procedures
APC 5183 · Hospital outpatient visit |
235 | $12,597 | $2,991 | -34% |
|
Heart Failure (severe)
MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay |
192 | $34,061 | $10,008 | -22% |
|
Level 2 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage
APC 5072 · Hospital outpatient visit |
181 | $8,999 | $1,525 | -11% |
|
Level 3 Endovascular Procedures
APC 5193 · Hospital outpatient visit |
169 | $54,299 | $10,427 | -20% |
|
Respiratory Failure
MS-DRG 189 · Inpatient stay |
145 | $33,966 | $9,696 | -30% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Degenerative Nervous System Disorders with Major Complications
MS-DRG 056 · Inpatient stay |
$129,196 | $28,979 | +50% |
|
Level 3 Intraocular Procedures
APC 5493 · Hospital outpatient visit |
$30,313 | $4,958 | +25% |
|
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures
APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit |
$14,168 | $2,211 | +21% |
|
Level 2 Intraocular Procedures
APC 5492 · Hospital outpatient visit |
$24,897 | $3,789 | +20% |
|
Respiratory Neoplasms with Major Complications
MS-DRG 180 · Inpatient stay |
$88,310 | $20,302 | +19% |
|
Urinary Tract Infection (severe)
MS-DRG 689 · Inpatient stay |
$40,456 | $11,705 | about average |
|
Level 1 Abdominal/peritoneal/biliary and Related Procedures
APC 5341 · Hospital outpatient visit |
$22,887 | $3,282 | about average |
|
Level 3 Airway Endoscopy
APC 5153 · Hospital outpatient visit |
$11,042 | $1,610 | -3% |
Where it charges least relative to everyone else
| Procedure | Charged | Actually paid | vs national |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Circulatory System Operating Room Procedures
MS-DRG 264 · Inpatient stay |
$50,325 | $25,413 | -63% |
|
Pancreas, Liver and Shunt Procedures with Major Complications
MS-DRG 405 · Inpatient stay |
$102,293 | $53,080 | -61% |
|
Chemotherapy without Acute Leukemia as Secondary Diagnosis with Complications
MS-DRG 847 · Inpatient stay |
$21,056 | $10,164 | -61% |
|
Amputation of Lower Limb for Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders with
MS-DRG 617 · Inpatient stay |
$32,819 | $14,855 | -56% |
|
Gastrointestinal Obstruction with Major Complications
MS-DRG 388 · Inpatient stay |
$26,064 | $10,855 | -55% |
|
Kidney or Urinary Disorder (with complications)
MS-DRG 699 · Inpatient stay |
$17,558 | $7,750 | -53% |
|
Craniotomy and Endovascular Intracranial Procedures with Major Complications
MS-DRG 025 · Inpatient stay |
$89,835 | $35,072 | -53% |
|
Lower Extremity and Humerus Procedures Except Hip, Foot and Femur with Major Complications
MS-DRG 492 · Inpatient stay |
$70,180 | $25,543 | -53% |
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.