CostGrade
A

83/100

#276 nationally

North Shore Medical Center -

81 Highland Avenue, Salem, MA 01970 · (978) 741-1215

Charges close to what care is actually paid for

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, North Shore Medical Center - billed $2.85 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
2.8x
volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced
166
inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in MA
#36
lower markup ranks higher
CMS quality stars
5/5
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 26.7/35

Better than 76% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 23.4/25

Better than 94% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 24.3/30

Better than 81% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 9.1/10

Better than 91% 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
Comprehensive Observation Services

APC 8011 · Hospital outpatient visit

1,104 $12,444 $2,923 -36%
Sepsis (severe)

MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay

519 $49,749 $18,028 -24%
Heart Failure (severe)

MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay

422 $30,803 $11,855 -29%
Level 2 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage

APC 5072 · Hospital outpatient visit

311 $5,347 $1,727 -47%
Respiratory Infection (severe)

MS-DRG 177 · Inpatient stay

275 $40,393 $15,053 -27%
Level 5 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5115 · Hospital outpatient visit

269 $38,034 $13,975 -39%
Level 3 Vascular Procedures

APC 5183 · Hospital outpatient visit

201 $9,883 $3,423 -48%
Level 3 Urology and Related Services

APC 5373 · Hospital outpatient visit

191 $9,075 $2,187 -30%
Level 4 Urology and Related Services

APC 5374 · Hospital outpatient visit

162 $11,518 $3,744 -44%
Level 5 Urology and Related Services

APC 5375 · Hospital outpatient visit

159 $15,735 $5,557 -43%

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 1 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5191 · Hospital outpatient visit

$27,399 $3,465 +9%
Poisoning and Toxic Effects of Drugs with Major Complications

MS-DRG 917 · Inpatient stay

$67,601 $20,811 about average
Extracranial Procedures without Complications/mcc

MS-DRG 039 · Inpatient stay

$51,268 $10,802 -4%
Level 5 Gynecologic Procedures

APC 5415 · Hospital outpatient visit

$27,351 $5,342 -9%
Sepsis (without major complications)

MS-DRG 872 · Inpatient stay

$34,194 $9,694 -13%
Level 5 ENT Procedures

APC 5165 · Hospital outpatient visit

$29,779 $6,289 -13%
Digestive Disorder (severe)

MS-DRG 391 · Inpatient stay

$43,365 $16,034 -15%
Level 2 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5112 · Hospital outpatient visit

$9,434 $1,726 -16%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure Charged Actually paid vs national
Postoperative and Post-traumatic Infections with Major Complications

MS-DRG 862 · Inpatient stay

$23,460 $15,551 -68%
Skin Grafts and Wound Debridement for Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders Wit

MS-DRG 623 · Inpatient stay

$29,582 $15,594 -63%
Other Respiratory System Diagnoses with Major Complications

MS-DRG 205 · Inpatient stay

$28,433 $17,436 -63%
Major Chest Trauma with Major Complications

MS-DRG 183 · Inpatient stay

$27,295 $15,545 -61%
Level 3 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage

APC 5073 · Hospital outpatient visit

$6,904 $2,971 -61%
Level 3 Pacemaker and Similar Procedures

APC 5223 · Hospital outpatient visit

$20,578 $11,454 -60%
Level 3 Electrophysiologic Procedures

APC 5213 · Hospital outpatient visit

$53,609 $24,115 -60%
Degenerative Nervous System Disorders with Major Complications

MS-DRG 056 · Inpatient stay

$34,957 $18,458 -59%

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.