CostGrade
B

78/100

#406 nationally

Northwestern Medical Center Inc

133 Fairfield Street, Saint Albans, VT 05478 · (802) 524-5911

Charges moderately above what care is paid for

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, Northwestern Medical Center Inc billed $2.26 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
2.3x
volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced
39
inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in VT
#1
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 33.3/35

Better than 95% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 9.9/25

Better than 40% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 28.1/30

Better than 94% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 7.0/10

Better than 70% 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

262 $7,348 $866 -37%
Level 5 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5115 · Hospital outpatient visit

92 $41,290 $5,983 -34%
Level 2 Urology and Related Services

APC 5372 · Hospital outpatient visit

92 $429 $263 -86%
Sepsis (severe)

MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay

71 $24,831 $22,714 -62%
Heart Failure (severe)

MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay

59 $21,090 $15,361 -51%
Level 4 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5114 · Hospital outpatient visit

57 $23,796 $3,044 -40%
Level 3 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5113 · Hospital outpatient visit

41 $12,200 $1,249 -40%
Respiratory Failure

MS-DRG 189 · Inpatient stay

37 $22,210 $14,905 -54%
Pneumonia (severe)

MS-DRG 193 · Inpatient stay

37 $21,862 $15,154 -53%
Level 1 Laparoscopy and Related Services

APC 5361 · Hospital outpatient visit

34 $14,856 $2,975 -58%

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 Nerve Procedures

APC 5431 · Hospital outpatient visit

$15,671 $447 +38%
Level 5 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5115 · Hospital outpatient visit

$41,290 $5,983 -34%
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures

APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit

$7,348 $866 -37%
Level 3 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5113 · Hospital outpatient visit

$12,200 $1,249 -40%
Level 4 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5114 · Hospital outpatient visit

$23,796 $3,044 -40%
Digestive Disorder (without major complications)

MS-DRG 392 · Inpatient stay

$18,420 $9,003 -43%
Gastrointestinal Obstruction with Complications

MS-DRG 389 · Inpatient stay

$17,449 $9,132 -44%
Skin Infection (without major complications)

MS-DRG 603 · Inpatient stay

$16,090 $10,140 -47%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure Charged Actually paid vs national
Level 2 Urology and Related Services

APC 5372 · Hospital outpatient visit

$429 $263 -86%
Heart Attack (with complications)

MS-DRG 281 · Inpatient stay

$10,585 $10,455 -76%
Level 4 ENT Procedures

APC 5164 · Hospital outpatient visit

$4,744 $1,524 -75%
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures

APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit

$3,422 $866 -71%
Heart Attack (severe)

MS-DRG 280 · Inpatient stay

$17,922 $18,074 -71%
Level 3 Urology and Related Services

APC 5373 · Hospital outpatient visit

$4,056 $852 -69%
Level 2 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5112 · Hospital outpatient visit

$4,124 $814 -63%
Respiratory Infection (severe)

MS-DRG 177 · Inpatient stay

$20,390 $19,186 -63%

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.