CostGrade
C

47/100

#1,364 nationally

St Vincent's Birmingham

810 St Vincent's Drive, Birmingham, AL 35205 · (205) 939-7000

Charges well above the national norm

For every $1 of care Medicare actually paid for here, St Vincent's Birmingham billed $5.27 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
5.3x
volume-weighted across all its priced work
Procedures priced
113
inpatient and outpatient combined
Rank in AL
#26
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 15.7/35

Better than 45% of U.S. hospitals.

Outpatient charge markup 11.9/25

Better than 48% of U.S. hospitals.

Price level vs national median 16.9/30

Better than 56% of U.S. hospitals.

Price consistency 2.8/10

Better than 28% 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 5 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5115 · Hospital outpatient visit

802 $53,368 $10,828 -15%
Level 4 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5114 · Hospital outpatient visit

338 $35,943 $5,838 -10%
Level 1 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5191 · Hospital outpatient visit

278 $49,277 $2,670 +95%
Level 6 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5116 · Hospital outpatient visit

219 $61,137 $15,464 -26%
Sepsis (severe)

MS-DRG 871 · Inpatient stay

218 $57,168 $12,873 -12%
Level 1 Intraocular Procedures

APC 5491 · Hospital outpatient visit

167 $13,878 $1,936 +18%
Level 2 Excision/ Biopsy/ Incision and Drainage

APC 5072 · Hospital outpatient visit

145 $9,154 $1,339 -9%
Level 3 Musculoskeletal Procedures

APC 5113 · Hospital outpatient visit

142 $26,980 $2,629 +32%
Comprehensive Observation Services

APC 8011 · Hospital outpatient visit

134 $16,977 $2,237 -13%
Heart Failure (severe)

MS-DRG 291 · Inpatient stay

132 $29,499 $8,728 -32%

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

$49,277 $2,670 +95%
Level 3 Urology and Related Services

APC 5373 · Hospital outpatient visit

$24,517 $1,650 +90%
Level 3 Vascular Procedures

APC 5183 · Hospital outpatient visit

$34,337 $2,616 +80%
Level 3 Pacemaker and Similar Procedures

APC 5223 · Hospital outpatient visit

$90,221 $8,910 +75%
Level 1 Nerve Procedures

APC 5431 · Hospital outpatient visit

$19,409 $1,560 +71%
Level 3 Airway Endoscopy

APC 5153 · Hospital outpatient visit

$18,801 $1,377 +65%
Level 2 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5192 · Hospital outpatient visit

$56,127 $4,771 +62%
Level 3 Endovascular Procedures

APC 5193 · Hospital outpatient visit

$109,007 $9,086 +61%

Where it charges least relative to everyone else

Procedure Charged Actually paid vs national
Other Factors Influencing Health Status

MS-DRG 951 · Inpatient stay

$3,839 $4,498 -83%
Other Digestive System Diagnoses with Major Complications

MS-DRG 393 · Inpatient stay

$26,767 $11,022 -58%
Red Blood Cell Disorders without Major Complications

MS-DRG 812 · Inpatient stay

$17,885 $7,247 -52%
Organic Disturbances and Intellectual Disability

MS-DRG 884 · Inpatient stay

$25,149 $10,193 -50%
Percutaneous and Other Intracardiac Procedures without Major Complications

MS-DRG 274 · Inpatient stay

$65,781 $20,403 -47%
Pulmonary Embolism with Major Complications or Acute Cor Pulmonale

MS-DRG 175 · Inpatient stay

$28,871 $9,440 -47%
Craniotomy and Endovascular Intracranial Procedures with Major Complications

MS-DRG 025 · Inpatient stay

$103,772 $25,480 -46%
Skin Infection (without major complications)

MS-DRG 603 · Inpatient stay

$16,513 $6,349 -46%

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.