Northern Louisiana Medical Center

401 East Vaughn Avenue, Ruston, LA 71270 · (318) 254-2100

Charges well above the national norm

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, Northern Louisiana Medical Center billed $6.04 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 32 prices How we grade

Charge-to-payment: 6.0x; volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced: 32; inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in LA: #35; lower markup ranks higher
CMS quality stars: 2/5; 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 6.8/35

Better than 19% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 13.6/25

Better than 54% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 15.4/30

Better than 51% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 6.2/10

Better than 62% 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	82	$18,186	$2,259	-6%
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit	79	$6,882	$1,937	-41%
Heart Failure (severe) MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay	63	$45,036	$8,301	+4%
Level 4 Urology and Related Services APC 5374 · Hospital outpatient visit	49	$14,982	$2,898	-27%
Sepsis (severe) MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay	45	$67,393	$12,240	+3%
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit	39	$7,897	$1,582	-33%
Level 3 Vascular Procedures APC 5183 · Hospital outpatient visit	35	$15,893	$2,650	-17%
Level 5 Urology and Related Services APC 5375 · Hospital outpatient visit	35	$20,980	$4,302	-24%
Pneumonia (severe) MS-DRG 193 · Inpatient stay	31	$58,602	$9,041	+26%
Fluid and Electrolyte Disorder (without major complications) MS-DRG 641 · Inpatient stay	31	$34,031	$5,198	+11%

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
Heart Catheter Procedure (without major complications) MS-DRG 322 · Inpatient stay	$138,592	$12,369	+36%
Respiratory Failure MS-DRG 189 · Inpatient stay	$64,027	$8,141	+32%
Pneumonia (severe) MS-DRG 193 · Inpatient stay	$58,602	$9,041	+26%
Sepsis (without major complications) MS-DRG 872 · Inpatient stay	$45,767	$6,743	+17%
Irregular Heartbeat (severe) MS-DRG 308 · Inpatient stay	$54,623	$7,953	+15%
Level 2 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage APC 5072 · Hospital outpatient visit	$11,251	$1,348	+12%
Fluid and Electrolyte Disorder (without major complications) MS-DRG 641 · Inpatient stay	$34,031	$5,198	+11%
Level 1 Endovascular Procedures APC 5191 · Hospital outpatient visit	$27,506	$2,714	+9%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure	Charged	Actually paid	vs national
Level 1 Laparoscopy and Related Services APC 5361 · Hospital outpatient visit	$19,387	$4,797	-45%
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit	$6,882	$1,937	-41%
Level 1 Nerve Procedures APC 5431 · Hospital outpatient visit	$6,822	$1,605	-40%
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit	$7,897	$1,582	-33%
Level 2 Musculoskeletal Procedures APC 5112 · Hospital outpatient visit	$7,891	$1,337	-30%
Level 4 Urology and Related Services APC 5374 · Hospital outpatient visit	$14,982	$2,898	-27%
Level 1 Abdominal/peritoneal/biliary and Related Procedures APC 5341 · Hospital outpatient visit	$17,433	$2,876	-25%
Level 5 Urology and Related Services APC 5375 · Hospital outpatient visit	$20,980	$4,302	-24%

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 Ruston

B
Ochsner University Hospital And Clinics
2.4x · Lafayette, LA
A
West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital
2.5x · Sulphur, LA
A
Franklin Medical Center
2.7x · Winnsboro, LA
A
Ochsner American Legion Hospital
2.8x · Jennings, LA
A
Surgical Specialty Center Of Baton Rouge
2.9x · Baton Rouge, LA
A
Claiborne Memorial Medical Center
3.0x · Homer, LA

Compare with Ochsner University Hospital...

The record

CMS provider number: 190086
Type: Acute Care Hospitals
Ownership: Proprietary
Emergency department: Yes
Setting: Micropolitan area core: primary flow within an urban cluster of 10,000 to 49,999

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