Outpatient procedure · APC 8011

Comprehensive Observation Services

In 2024, Medicare and patients paid an average of $2,634 per procedure at 2,753 hospitals. Half of hospitals averaged between $2,362 and $2,697.

Also known as: Observation stay

National figures, 2024

Average payment per case: $2,634
Typical range (middle half of hospitals): $2,362–$2,697
Medicare’s share: $2,09079% of the payment
Average billed charge: $24,060
Hospitals reporting: 2,753815,315 procedures

Hospitals in North Carolina

Narrow by a state, city or ZIP code (optionally a distance around it), and/or pick specific hospitals. With both, your picks are added to the area’s hospitals.

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North Carolina

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Year of care

Average payment across these 78 hospitals: $2,426National $2,634 · North Carolina $2,426
Median hospital: $2,421
Lowest to highest: $2,319–$2,712
Medicare procedures: 21,007

78 hospitals reported at least 11 Medicare procedures for this in 2024; showing 51–78. Download as CSV

Medicare payments per case for Comprehensive Observation Services by hospital, 2024
Hospital	Cases	Average payment	vs national average	Medicare paid	Billed charge
Duke Regional HospitalDurham, NC · CCN 340155	290	$2,436	About average	$1,940	$12,237
Atrium Health UnionMonroe, NC · CCN 340130	386	$2,440	About average	$1,939	$23,424
North Carolina Baptist HospitalWinston-Salem, NC · CCN 340047	491	$2,444	About average	$1,935	$17,013
Stanly Regional Medical CenterAlbemarle, NC · CCN 340119	142	$2,446	About average	$1,946	$19,492
Novant Health Forsyth Medical CenterWinston-Salem, NC · CCN 340014	591	$2,449	About average	$1,943	$15,494
WakeMed, Raleigh CampusRaleigh, NC · CCN 340069	1,205	$2,449	About average	$1,947	$22,418
UNC HospitalsChapel Hill, NC · CCN 340061	289	$2,449	About average	$1,943	$13,129
Novant Health Mint Hill Medical CenterCharlotte, NC · CCN 340190	162	$2,450	About average	$1,947	$19,791
WakeMed, Cary HospitalCary, NC · CCN 340173	472	$2,451	About average	$1,949	$22,272
Atrium Health AnsonWadesboro, NC · CCN 340084	31	$2,460	About average	$1,959	$16,066
Granville Health SystemsOxford, NC · CCN 340127	75	$2,469	About average	$1,967	$21,770
Person Memorial HospitalRoxboro, NC · CCN 340159	128	$2,469	About average	$1,964	$32,145
Alamance Regional Medical CenterBurlington, NC · CCN 340070	177	$2,473	About average	$1,968	$14,856
Lexington Memorial Hospital IncLexington, NC · CCN 340096	110	$2,477	About average	$1,968	$12,316
Rutherford Regional Medical CenterRutherfordton, NC · CCN 340013	122	$2,493	About average	$1,979	$27,356
Novant Health Thomasville Medical CenterThomasville, NC · CCN 340085	50	$2,495	About average	$1,988	$17,595
Davie Medical CenterBermuda Run, NC · CCN 340187	31	$2,495	About average	$1,987	$13,740
Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical CenterWilmington, NC · CCN 340141	447	$2,502	About average	$1,990	$15,924
Onslow Memorial HospitalJacksonville, NC · CCN 340042	272	$2,509	About average	$1,990	$15,360
Ecu Health North HospitalRoanoke Rapids, NC · CCN 340151	55	$2,516	About average	$1,996	$11,403
Watauga Medical CenterBoone, NC · CCN 340051	186	$2,518	About average	$2,000	$11,134
Southeastern Regional Medical CenterLumberton, NC · CCN 340050	283	$2,521	About average	$2,003	$12,573
Sentara Albemarle Medical CenterElizabeth City, NC · CCN 340109	282	$2,529	About average	$2,011	$14,579
Carteret General HospitalMorehead City, NC · CCN 340142	266	$2,539	About average	$2,020	$8,095
Carolina East Medical CenterNew Bern, NC · CCN 340131	686	$2,540	About average	$2,020	$14,811
Vidant Roanoke Chowan HospitalAhoskie, NC · CCN 340099	131	$2,551	About average	$2,031	$12,398
UNC Lenoir Health CareKinston, NC · CCN 340027	124	$2,620	About average	$2,088	$11,235
UNC Health Care WayneGoldsboro, NC · CCN 340010	116	$2,712	About average	$2,145	$13,026

National trend

Average payment and billed charge per procedure, and how many Medicare procedures were reported each year.

Average payment
Average billed charge

2020: 1,019,189 procedures at 2,860 hospitals · 2021: 965,877 procedures at 2,852 hospitals · 2022: 921,225 procedures at 2,850 hospitals · 2023: 863,129 procedures at 2,798 hospitals · 2024: 815,315 procedures at 2,753 hospitals

View data as a table

National average payment and billed charge for Comprehensive Observation Services
Year of care	Average payment	Average billed charge
2020	$2,173	$19K
2021	$2,303	$20K
2022	$2,330	$22K
2023	$2,422	$23K
2024	$2,634	$24K

By state, 2024

Case-weighted average payment across each state’s reporting hospitals, lowest first.

Show all 50 states

Average payment by state for Comprehensive Observation Services, 2024
State	Hospitals	Cases	Average payment	Typical range
Vermont	5	1,308	$1,285	$1,180–$1,485
Alabama	73	8,112	$2,241	$2,169–$2,264
Mississippi	52	11,311	$2,278	$2,235–$2,347
West Virginia	22	5,181	$2,285	$2,226–$2,367
Louisiana	64	14,412	$2,288	$2,259–$2,300
Tennessee	73	16,493	$2,299	$2,237–$2,337
Ohio	110	31,616	$2,317	$2,300–$2,380
Oklahoma	61	11,406	$2,348	$2,322–$2,440
Arkansas	40	11,142	$2,356	$2,302–$2,439
Kentucky	61	15,821	$2,359	$2,296–$2,442
South Carolina	50	15,082	$2,368	$2,308–$2,382
Kansas	33	7,920	$2,377	$2,321–$2,503
Iowa	31	7,279	$2,385	$2,330–$2,467
Missouri	63	15,191	$2,393	$2,335–$2,465
Michigan	81	23,451	$2,410	$2,364–$2,467
Georgia	92	21,579	$2,422	$2,298–$2,481
North Carolina	78	21,007	$2,426	$2,380–$2,450
Texas	233	58,602	$2,445	$2,375–$2,511
Nebraska	19	3,391	$2,450	$2,431–$2,480
Florida	166	77,597	$2,457	$2,443–$2,471
Maine	17	2,448	$2,457	$2,370–$2,519
Virginia	69	26,889	$2,459	$2,332–$2,524
Indiana	73	18,659	$2,464	$2,412–$2,485
New Mexico	22	4,083	$2,469	$2,369–$2,549
Utah	31	3,560	$2,478	$2,429–$2,452
Wisconsin	61	10,886	$2,497	$2,447–$2,538
Idaho	12	2,397	$2,548	$2,440–$2,614
Pennsylvania	122	33,705	$2,553	$2,415–$2,601
Illinois	113	39,922	$2,573	$2,522–$2,604
North Dakota	6	2,780	$2,590	$2,532–$2,653
Montana	10	3,213	$2,595	$2,543–$2,721
Colorado	48	13,460	$2,608	$2,586–$2,606
Minnesota	45	11,221	$2,627	$2,574–$2,716
New Hampshire	13	5,226	$2,637	$2,593–$2,699
South Dakota	11	2,485	$2,638	$2,559–$2,731
Arizona	54	22,819	$2,686	$2,639–$2,669
Delaware	6	4,912	$2,718	$2,698–$2,727
Wyoming	9	1,733	$2,722	$2,695–$2,745
Rhode Island	9	2,010	$2,752	$2,748–$2,778
District of Columbia	6	1,453	$2,758	$2,739–$2,795
Washington	45	8,931	$2,802	$2,728–$2,893
New Jersey	59	36,741	$2,897	$2,835–$3,029
Nevada	21	7,349	$2,900	$2,857–$2,915
Oregon	32	5,804	$2,901	$2,821–$2,873
Massachusetts	51	32,481	$2,920	$2,905–$2,928
Alaska	6	1,743	$2,936	$2,857–$2,998
New York	115	38,093	$2,983	$2,877–$3,083
Connecticut	26	15,665	$3,045	$3,022–$3,054
Hawaii	12	1,584	$3,127	$3,076–$3,276
California	242	75,162	$3,471	$3,347–$3,602

About these numbers

Average payment is what Medicare paid plus the patient’s deductible and coinsurance (and any other insurer), averaged over the hospital’s Medicare cases. It covers the hospital’s part of the care; doctors bill separately. For outpatient procedures it is Medicare’s allowed amount, which leaves out extra “outlier” payments for unusually costly cases; those are shown under the hospital name where CMS reported any, and included in the CSV. Billed charges are the hospital’s list prices, which few patients pay.

Medicare sets its payments by formula, adjusting for local wages, teaching programs, the share of low-income patients and unusually costly cases. Those adjustments drive most differences between hospitals, so a lower payment doesn’t mean better or worse care, and Medicare patients’ own costs usually vary much less than the totals. Private insurance pays different, usually higher, prices.

Source: CMS Medicare Outpatient Hospitals by Provider and Service (Medicare fee-for-service claims). CMS omits hospitals with fewer than 11 procedures. More in the glossary.