DRG 551 · Musculoskeletal

Back Problems Cost in Pennsylvania — Compare All Hospitals

Back or spine problems, such as disc disease, spinal narrowing, or severe back pain, treated without surgery. The stay typically involves pain control, medication, and physical therapy.

State average
$77,009
gross charge · DRG 551
Hospitals
22
with published pricing
Price range
$21,815 – $169,256
low to high
Lowest $21,815 Highest $169,256

22 Pennsylvania hospitals publish gross charges for back problems (DRG 551). Prices range from $21,815 to $169,256 — roughly 8×. The cheapest is Heritage Valley Beaver in Beaver; the most expensive is Temple University Hospital - Main Campus in Philadelphia. The state average sits at $77,009.

The number you see is each hospital's published "list price" — the gross charge for the facility component of back problems. Insurance plans negotiate substantial discounts, Medicare and Medicaid pay fixed federal rates, and uninsured patients can usually qualify for a cash-pay discount. But the gross charge still works as a useful benchmark: a hospital that lists back problems at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.

If you're scheduling back problems in Pennsylvania, sort the list below by price, then click each hospital name to see its quality profile — CMS overall star rating, surgical-safety measures, readmission rates, patient-experience scores. The cheapest hospital isn't always the right call. Teaching hospitals often charge more because they take complex cases, and a higher-rated community hospital may deliver equivalent outcomes for a straightforward case at a lower price. Use the price column to narrow the field; use the quality data to make the final call.

Pricing comes from each hospital's Machine-Readable File (MRF), published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Pennsylvania hospitals missing from the list either don't perform back problems in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 551 in their most recent MRF, or fell below our data-quality thresholds (we filter out clearly erroneous entries like $0 charges). The list refreshes as hospitals update their files.

Hospitals ranked by gross charge

  1. 1

    Heritage Valley Beaver

    Beaver, PA

    Gross charge $21,815
    Cash pay $12,652
  2. 2

    Heritage Valley Sewickley

    Sewickley, PA

    Gross charge $21,815
    Cash pay $12,652
  3. 3

    Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital (Acute Care)

    Darby, PA

    Gross charge $26,186
    Cash pay $17,021
  4. 4

    Nazareth Hospital

    Philadelphia, PA

    Gross charge $26,186
    Cash pay $17,021
  5. 5

    St. Mary Medical Center

    Langhorne, PA

    17 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge $26,186
    Cash pay $17,021
    Medicare pays (avg) $11,589
  6. 6

    St. Clair Hospital

    Pittsburgh, PA

    Gross charge $36,739
    Cash pay $12,330
  7. 7

    Conemaugh Nason Medical Center

    Roaring Spring, PA

    Gross charge $36,807
    Cash pay $14,723
  8. 8

    Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center - Main Campus

    Johnstown, PA

    Gross charge $36,807
    Cash pay $14,723
  9. 9
    Gross charge $36,807
    Cash pay $14,723
  10. 10
    Gross charge $36,807
    Cash pay $14,723
  11. 11

    Wayne Memorial Hospital (Acute Care)

    Honesdale, PA

    Gross charge $45,760
    Cash pay $36,608
  12. 12

    Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital

    Sayre, PA

    Gross charge $99,106
    Cash pay $79,285
  13. 13

    Guthrie Troy Community Hospital

    Troy, PA

    Gross charge $99,106
    Cash pay $79,285
  14. 14

    Geisinger-Community Medical Center

    Scranton, PA

    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
  15. 15

    Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital

    Bloomsburg, PA

    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
  16. 16

    Geisinger Medical Center

    Danville, PA

    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
  17. 17

    Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital

    Lewistown, PA

    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
  18. 18

    Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center

    Wilkes Barre, PA

    17 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,340
  19. 19

    Geisinger Medical Center Muncy

    Muncy, PA

    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
  20. 20

    Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital

    Jersey Shore, PA

    Gross charge $117,578
    Cash pay $72,899
  21. 21

    Chestnut Hill Hospital

    Philadelphia, PA

    Gross charge $151,761
    Cash pay $19,010
  22. 22

    Temple University Hospital - Main Campus

    Philadelphia, PA

    11 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge $169,256
    Cash pay $19,010
    Medicare pays (avg) $17,079
  23. 23

    Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center

    Camp Hill, PA

    12 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $8,925
  24. 24

    Jefferson Lansdale Hospital

    Lansdale, PA

    Gross charge
  25. 25

    St Luke's Hospital - Upper Bucks Campus

    Quakertown, PA

    Gross charge
  26. 26

    Wellspan York Hospital

    York, PA

    22 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,715
  27. 27

    St Lukes Hospital (Acute Care)

    Bethlehem, PA

    19 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,299
  28. 28

    St. Luke's Grand View Hospital - Sellersville

    Sellersville, PA

    13 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $10,180
  29. 29

    WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital

    Gettysburg, PA

    Gross charge
  30. 30

    WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital

    Lebanon, PA

    Gross charge
  31. 31

    Clarion Hospital

    Clarion, PA

    Gross charge
  32. 32

    Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center

    Reading, PA

    Gross charge
  33. 33

    Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center

    Meadowbrook, PA

    Gross charge
  34. 34

    Lancaster General Hospital

    Lancaster, PA

    21 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $10,991
  35. 35

    Hospital of University of Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia, PA

    Gross charge
  36. 36

    Chan Soon- Shiong Medical Center at Windber

    Windber, PA

    Gross charge
  37. 37

    Meadville Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Meadville, PA

    Gross charge
  38. 38

    Jefferson Health- Northeast

    Philadelphia, PA

    18 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,593
  39. 39

    Wellspan Waynesboro Hospital

    Waynesboro, PA

    Gross charge
  40. 40

    Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital

    Philadelphia, PA

    Gross charge
    Cash pay $22,773
  41. 41

    Excela Health Westmoreland Regional Hospital

    Greensburg, PA

    Gross charge
  42. 42

    WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital

    Chambersburg, PA

    Gross charge
  43. 43

    St. Luke's Hospital - Easton Campus

    Easton, PA

    Gross charge
  44. 44

    Acmh Hospital

    Kittanning, PA

    Gross charge
  45. 45
    Gross charge
  46. 46

    Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

    Philadelphia, PA

    25 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $15,586
  47. 47

    Chester County Hospital

    West Chester, PA

    Gross charge
  48. 48

    Crozer Chester Medical Center

    Upland, PA

    Gross charge
  49. 49

    St. Luke's Hospital - Miners Campus

    Coaldale, PA

    Gross charge
  50. 50

    Independence Health Frick Hospital

    Mount Pleasant, PA

    Gross charge
  51. 51

    IHS Latrobe Hospital

    Latrobe, PA

    Gross charge
  52. 52

    Penn Presbyterian Medical Center

    Philadelphia, PA

    Gross charge
  53. 53

    WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital

    Ephrata, PA

    Gross charge
  54. 54

    Pennsylvania Hospital

    Philadelphia, PA

    Gross charge
  55. 55

    Jefferson Abington Hospital

    Abington, PA

    37 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $11,196
  56. 56
    Gross charge
  57. 57

    Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

    Hershey, PA

    12 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,342
  58. 58
    Gross charge
    Cash pay $16,654
  59. 59
    Gross charge
  60. 60

    Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital

    East Norriton, PA

    Gross charge
    Cash pay $22,773
  61. 61

    St. Luke's Hospital - Monroe Campus

    Stroudsburg, PA

    Gross charge
  62. 62

    Geisinger St. Luke's Hospital

    Orwigsburg, PA

    Gross charge
  63. 63

    St. Luke's Hospital - Carbon Campus

    Lehighton, PA

    Gross charge
  64. 64

    Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center

    Enola, PA

    Gross charge
  65. 65

    Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center

    Lancaster, PA

    Gross charge
  66. 66
    Gross charge
  67. 67

    Titusville Area Hospital

    Titusville, PA

    Gross charge
  68. 68

    UPMC McKeesport

    Mc Keesport, PA

    Gross charge
  69. 69

    UPMC Jameson (Acute Care)

    New Castle, PA

    Gross charge
  70. 70

    UPMC Somerset

    Somerset, PA

    Gross charge
  71. 71

    Reading Hospital

    West Reading, PA

    30 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $11,896
  72. 72

    UPMC Williamsport

    Williamsport, PA

    13 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $10,424
  73. 73

    UPMC Hamot

    Erie, PA

    Gross charge
  74. 74

    UPMC Altoona

    Altoona, PA

    11 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $11,919
  75. 75

    UPMC Northwest (Acute Care)

    Seneca, PA

    Gross charge
  76. 76

    UPMC St. Margaret (Acute Care)

    Pittsburgh, PA

    Gross charge
  77. 77

    UPMC Bedford

    Everett, PA

    Gross charge
  78. 78

    Pottstown Hospital

    Pottstown, PA

    Gross charge
  79. 79

    Phoenixville Hospital

    Phoenixville, PA

    Gross charge
  80. 80

    Lehigh Valley Hospital (Acute Care)

    Allentown, PA

    66 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,148
  81. 81

    Bryn Mawr Hospital

    Bryn Mawr, PA

    Gross charge
  82. 82

    Paoli Hospital

    Paoli, PA

    15 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $10,283
  83. 83

    UPMC Horizon - Greenville

    Greenville, PA

    Gross charge
  84. 84

    Lehigh Valley Hospital–Hazleton

    Hazleton, PA

    Gross charge
  85. 85

    Lehigh Valley Hospital–Pocono (Acute Care)

    East Stroudsburg, PA

    Gross charge
  86. 86

    UPMC Hanover

    Hanover, PA

    Gross charge
  87. 87

    UPMC East (Acute Care)

    Monroeville, PA

    Gross charge
  88. 88
    Gross charge
  89. 89

    Lehigh Valley Hospital–Dickson City

    Dickson City, PA

    Gross charge
  90. 90

    UPMC Muncy

    Muncy, PA

    Gross charge
  91. 91

    UPMC Cole

    Coudersport, PA

    Gross charge
  92. 92

    UPMC Wellsboro

    Wellsboro, PA

    Gross charge

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