Milton S Hershey Medical Center

500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033 · (717) 531-8521

Charges far above the national norm

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, Milton S Hershey Medical Center billed $5.54 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.

See all 190 prices How we grade

Charge-to-payment: 5.5x; volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced: 190; inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in PA: #89; 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 14.5/35

Better than 41% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 4.1/25

Better than 17% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 7.3/30

Better than 25% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 2.4/10

Better than 24% 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 2 Urology and Related Services APC 5372 · Hospital outpatient visit	520	$4,770	$582	+52%
Comprehensive Observation Services APC 8011 · Hospital outpatient visit	446	$17,421	$2,554	-10%
Level 2 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage APC 5072 · Hospital outpatient visit	403	$14,821	$1,418	+47%
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit	394	$16,523	$1,763	+41%
Sepsis (severe) MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay	263	$100,785	$22,924	+54%
Level 3 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage APC 5073 · Hospital outpatient visit	216	$31,495	$2,516	+78%
Level 3 Urology and Related Services APC 5373 · Hospital outpatient visit	201	$17,132	$1,871	+33%
Heart Failure (severe) MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay	198	$59,804	$14,594	+38%
Level 5 Musculoskeletal Procedures APC 5115 · Hospital outpatient visit	192	$125,332	$12,203	+101%
Level 4 Urology and Related Services APC 5374 · Hospital outpatient visit	167	$33,316	$3,281	+61%

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
Level 4 Neurostimulator and Related Procedures APC 5464 · Hospital outpatient visit	$223,933	$20,540	+178%
Level 5 Airway Endoscopy APC 5155 · Hospital outpatient visit	$105,434	$6,442	+174%
Level 5 Neurostimulator and Related Procedures APC 5465 · Hospital outpatient visit	$305,133	$28,333	+171%
Level 2 Neurostimulator and Related Procedures APC 5462 · Hospital outpatient visit	$64,292	$6,248	+145%
Level 6 Musculoskeletal Procedures APC 5116 · Hospital outpatient visit	$195,927	$17,062	+136%
Level 2 Intraocular Procedures APC 5492 · Hospital outpatient visit	$47,818	$3,827	+131%
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit	$26,631	$2,133	+127%
Level 2 Icd and Similar Procedures APC 5232 · Hospital outpatient visit	$311,026	$30,873	+109%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure	Charged	Actually paid	vs national
Craniotomy and Endovascular Intracranial Procedures with Major Complications MS-DRG 025 · Inpatient stay	$140,235	$45,122	-27%
Major Chest Procedures with Complications MS-DRG 164 · Inpatient stay	$80,543	$25,486	-26%
Major Small and Large Bowel Procedures without Complications/mcc MS-DRG 331 · Inpatient stay	$55,615	$19,978	-25%
Pancreas, Liver and Shunt Procedures with Complications MS-DRG 406 · Inpatient stay	$112,373	$31,048	-21%
Major Chest Procedures without Complications/mcc MS-DRG 165 · Inpatient stay	$68,038	$18,899	-18%
Lymphoma and Non-acute Leukemia with Major Complications MS-DRG 840 · Inpatient stay	$120,611	$33,979	-16%
Craniotomy and Endovascular Intracranial Procedures without Complications/mcc MS-DRG 027 · Inpatient stay	$102,951	$25,027	-15%
ECMO or Tracheostomy with Mechanical Ventilation >96 Hours or Principal Diagnosis Except MS-DRG 003 · Inpatient stay	$744,676	$205,798	-15%

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.

Lower markups near Hershey

A
Independence Health System Clarion Hospital
1.9x · Clarion, PA
A
Warren General Hospital
2.1x · Warren, PA
A
Heritage Valley Sewickley
2.3x · Sewickley, PA
A
Penn Highlands Huntingdon
2.4x · Huntingdon, PA
A
Washington Hospital, The
2.6x · Washington, PA
A
Heritage Valley Beaver
2.6x · Beaver, PA

Compare with Independence Health System C...

The record

CMS provider number: 390256
Type: Acute Care Hospitals
Ownership: Voluntary non-profit - Private
Emergency department: Yes
Setting: Metropolitan area core: primary flow within an urbanized area of 50,000 and greater

Source: CMS Medicare Inpatient and Outpatient utilisation files and Hospital General Information. See the files.