CostGrade
B

72/100

#590 nationally

Saint Joseph Hospital

One Saint Joseph Drive, Lexington, KY 40504 · (859) 313-1000

Charges moderately above what care is paid for

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, Saint Joseph Hospital billed $3.71 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
3.7x
volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced
94
inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in KY
#13
lower markup ranks higher
CMS quality stars
3/5
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 19.9/35

Better than 57% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 21.5/25

Better than 86% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 23.3/30

Better than 78% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 7.4/10

Better than 75% 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

389 $70,136 $15,549 +7%
Level 3 Vascular Procedures

APC 5183 · Hospital outpatient visit

175 $10,078 $2,716 -47%
Level 5 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5115 · Hospital outpatient visit

165 $33,341 $11,266 -47%
Level 1 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5191 · Hospital outpatient visit

154 $15,807 $2,787 -37%
Level 3 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5193 · Hospital outpatient visit

125 $46,722 $9,458 -31%
Level 2 Upper GI Procedures

APC 5302 · Hospital outpatient visit

111 $9,740 $1,648 -17%
Heart Failure (severe)

MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay

101 $39,800 $9,124 -8%
Infection Needing Surgery (severe)

MS-DRG 853 · Inpatient stay

101 $150,579 $41,354 -15%
Level 4 Vascular Procedures

APC 5184 · Hospital outpatient visit

98 $18,107 $4,685 -50%
Level 2 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5192 · Hospital outpatient visit

97 $18,036 $4,950 -48%

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
Circulatory Disorders Except Heart Attack, with Cardiac Catheterization with Major

MS-DRG 286 · Inpatient stay

$102,985 $23,771 +17%
Complex GI Procedures

APC 5331 · Hospital outpatient visit

$34,057 $4,936 +14%
Level 4 Airway Endoscopy

APC 5154 · Hospital outpatient visit

$25,634 $3,243 +13%
Sepsis (severe)

MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay

$70,136 $15,549 +7%
Red Blood Cell Disorders without Major Complications

MS-DRG 812 · Inpatient stay

$35,400 $6,867 -5%
Level 3 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5113 · Hospital outpatient visit

$19,201 $2,706 -6%
Sepsis

MS-DRG 870 · Inpatient stay

$248,456 $57,078 -7%
Skin Infection (without major complications)

MS-DRG 603 · Inpatient stay

$28,209 $6,781 -8%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure Charged Actually paid vs national
Combined Anterior and Posterior Spinal Fusion with Major Complications

MS-DRG 453 · Inpatient stay

$123,202 $59,331 -72%
Level 2 Icd and Similar Procedures

APC 5232 · Hospital outpatient visit

$45,204 $26,176 -70%
Level 3 Pacemaker and Similar Procedures

APC 5223 · Hospital outpatient visit

$20,081 $9,043 -61%
Combined Anterior and Posterior Spinal Fusion with Complications

MS-DRG 454 · Inpatient stay

$88,330 $44,510 -60%
Aortic and Heart Assist Procedures Except Pulsation Balloon with Major Complications

MS-DRG 268 · Inpatient stay

$142,868 $54,069 -57%
Combined Anterior and Posterior Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc

MS-DRG 455 · Inpatient stay

$79,189 $35,252 -55%
Level 3 Electrophysiologic Procedures

APC 5213 · Hospital outpatient visit

$61,114 $20,202 -54%
Pulmonary Embolism with Major Complications or Acute Cor Pulmonale

MS-DRG 175 · Inpatient stay

$25,602 $9,631 -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.