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
- $2,090
- Average billed charge
- $24,060
- Hospitals reporting
- 2,753
Compare hospitals
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.
2,746 hospitals reported at least 11 Medicare procedures for this in 2024; showing 1,501–1,550. Download as CSV
| Hospital | Cases | Average payment | vs national average | Medicare paid | Billed charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Scott & White Medical Center- College Stati | 352 | $2,494 | About average | $1,978 | $24,144 |
| Nocona General Hospital | 39 | $2,494 | About average | $1,986 | $6,057 |
| Ashtabula County Medical Center | 128 | $2,495 | About average | $1,988 | $14,866 |
| Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center | 23 | $2,495 | About average | $1,988 | $13,130 |
| Lehigh Valley Hospital - Macungie | 21 | $2,495 | About average | $1,988 | $23,437 |
| St Luke's Hospital - Carbon Campus | 183 | $2,495 | About average | $1,988 | $33,349 |
| Piedmont Newton Hospital | 178 | $2,495 | About average | $1,978 | $24,361 |
| Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville | 164 | $2,495 | About average | $1,988 | $16,102 |
| Beaufort County Memorial Hospital | 580 | $2,495 | About average | $1,980 | $17,402 |
| Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center | 50 | $2,495 | About average | $1,988 | $17,595 |
| Davie Medical Center | 31 | $2,495 | About average | $1,987 | $13,740 |
| Good Samaritan Regional Health Center | 117 | $2,495 | About average | $1,981 | $17,195 |
| CHI-St Vincent Infirmary | 241 | $2,495 | About average | $1,985 | $15,323 |
| Marshfield Medical Center - Beaver Dam (Mmc-Bd) | 80 | $2,496 | About average | $1,987 | $17,445 |
| Ottumwa Regional Health Center | 64 | $2,497 | About average | $1,981 | $21,311 |
| T J Samson Community Hospital | 283 | $2,497 | About average | $1,986 | $9,982 |
| Camc Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, Inc | 109 | $2,497 | About average | $1,980 | $16,746 |
| Houston Methodist Sugarland Hospital | 1,023 | $2,497 | About average | $1,980 | $27,635 |
| Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital | 231 | $2,497 | About average | $1,982 | $36,975 |
| Integris Health Woodward Hospital | 57 | $2,497 | About average | $1,990 | $33,338 |
| Pinnacle Hospital | 30 | $2,497 | About average | $1,971 | $62,558 |
| National Park Medical Center | 121 | $2,498 | About average | $1,985 | $31,574 |
| Newberry County Memorial Hospital | 86 | $2,498 | About average | $1,988 | $14,297 |
| Twin County Regional Hospital | 158 | $2,498 | About average | $1,983 | $31,867 |
| Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center | 342 | $2,498 | About average | $1,983 | $16,381 |
| Bon Secours Southampton Memorial Hospital | 163 | $2,500 | About average | $1,986 | $19,384 |
| Jackson County Memorial Hospital Authority | 197 | $2,500 | About average | $1,985 | $9,052 |
| Lower Bucks Hospital | 28 | $2,500 | About average | $1,942 | $14,204 |
| Mayo Clinic Health System In Red Wing | 63 | $2,501 | About average | $1,969 | $10,321 |
| Sanford USDMedical Center | 366 | $2,501 | About average | $1,990 | $18,399 |
| Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center | 447 | $2,502 | About average | $1,990 | $15,924 |
| Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital | 368 | $2,503 | About average | $1,989 | $17,932 |
| Ascension St Vincent Kokomo | 40 | $2,503 | About average | $1,990 | $19,146 |
| Guadalupe County Hospital | 43 | $2,503 | About average | $2,005 | $8,506 |
| CHI St. Vincent Hospital Hot Springs | 520 | $2,503 | About average | $1,991 | $16,603 |
| Centura St. Catherine-Dodge City | 52 | $2,503 | About average | $1,994 | $19,388 |
| Pratt Regional Medical Center | 46 | $2,503 | About average | $1,994 | $10,851 |
| Southwest Medical Center | 81 | $2,503 | About average | $1,994 | $19,055 |
| Mercy Hospital Pittsburg, Inc | 132 | $2,503 | About average | $1,994 | $13,212 |
| University Of Kansas Health System Great Bend Campus | 44 | $2,503 | About average | $1,993 | $10,609 |
| Salina Regional Health Center | 394 | $2,503 | About average | $1,992 | $13,857 |
| Elkhart General Hospital | 333 | $2,504 | About average | $1,987 | $13,218 |
| Mary Washington Hospital | 1,253 | $2,504 | About average | $1,981 | $12,647 |
| Emory Decatur Hospital | 376 | $2,504 | About average | $1,984 | $14,841 |
| Piedmont Fayette Hospital | 337 | $2,504 | About average | $1,986 | $23,592 |
| Houston Methodist Hospital | 1,771 | $2,504 | About average | $1,987 | $26,464 |
| Mercyhealth Hospital & Physician Clinic-Crystal La | 22 | $2,505 | About average | $1,976 | $19,056 |
| Cookeville Regional Medical Center | 775 | $2,505 | About average | $1,993 | $15,951 |
| Baptist Health Deaconess Madisonville | 499 | $2,507 | About average | $1,989 | $27,899 |
| St Johns Hospital | 216 | $2,507 | About average | $1,993 | $23,307 |
National trend
Average payment and billed charge per procedure, and how many Medicare procedures were reported each year.
- Average payment
- Average billed charge
View data as a table
| 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
| 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.