DRG 551 · Musculoskeletal

Back Problems Cost in Washington — 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
$32,929
gross charge · DRG 551
Hospitals
5
with published pricing
Price range
$19,430 – $45,846
low to high
Lowest $19,430 Highest $45,846

5 Washington hospitals list a gross charge for back problems under the federal price-transparency rule, with quoted prices spanning $19,430 to $45,846. The cheapest is Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend; the most expensive is Valley Medical Center in Renton. The state average sits at $32,929.

What's listed is each hospital's gross charge — its published price for the inpatient stay, before any insurance discount. 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 Washington, 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. Washington 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

    Jefferson Healthcare

    Port Townsend, WA

    Gross charge $19,430
    Cash pay $15,544
  2. 2

    Island Hospital

    Anacortes, WA

    Gross charge $20,299
  3. 3
    Gross charge $35,502
    Cash pay $28,401
  4. 4
    Gross charge $43,567
    Cash pay $32,675
  5. 5

    Valley Medical Center

    Renton, WA

    Gross charge $45,846
    Cash pay $32,092
  6. 6

    Providence St. Mary Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Walla Walla, WA

    Gross charge
  7. 7

    Virginia Mason Medical Center

    Seattle, WA

    Gross charge
  8. 8

    Providence Regional Medical Center Everett

    Everett, WA

    Gross charge
  9. 9
    Gross charge
  10. 10

    Providence Centralia Hospital (Acute Care)

    Centralia, WA

    Gross charge
  11. 11

    St. Clare Hospital

    Lakewood, WA

    Gross charge
  12. 12

    Providence St. Peter Hospital

    Olympia, WA

    Gross charge
  13. 13

    Swedish Medical Center / Cherry Hill

    Seattle, WA

    Gross charge
  14. 14

    Swedish Edmonds Campus

    Edmonds, WA

    Gross charge
  15. 15

    Swedish Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Seattle, WA

    12 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $14,093
  16. 16

    MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital

    Yakima, WA

    Gross charge
  17. 17

    St. Michael Medical Center

    Silverdale, WA

    Gross charge
  18. 18

    Deaconess Medical Center

    Spokane, WA

    Gross charge
  19. 19
    Gross charge
  20. 20

    Kadlec Regional Medical Center

    Richland, WA

    17 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,523
  21. 21

    Providence Holy Family Hospital

    Spokane, WA

    Gross charge
  22. 22

    MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital (Acute Care)

    Puyallup, WA

    14 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,614
  23. 23

    St. Joseph Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Tacoma, WA

    19 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $18,886
  24. 24

    Multicare Valley Hospital

    Spokane Valley, WA

    Gross charge
  25. 25

    MultiCare Allenmore Hospital

    Tacoma, WA

    16 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,541
  26. 26

    MultiCare Capital Medical Center

    Olympia, WA

    Gross charge
  27. 27

    St. Francis Hospital

    Federal Way, WA

    Gross charge
  28. 28

    St. Anthony Hospital

    Gig Harbor, WA

    11 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $12,051
  29. 29

    Swedish Issaquah Campus

    Issaquah, WA

    Gross charge
  30. 30

    MultiCare Covington Medical Center

    Covington, WA

    Gross charge
  31. 31
    Gross charge
  32. 32

    Prosser Memorial Hospital

    Prosser, WA

    Gross charge
  33. 33

    Providence Mount Carmel Hospital

    Colville, WA

    Gross charge
  34. 34

    St. Elizabeth Hospital

    Enumclaw, WA

    Gross charge
  35. 35

    PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center

    Longview, WA

    Gross charge
  36. 36

    PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center

    Vancouver, WA

    22 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $13,400
  37. 37

    Overlake Hospital Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Bellevue, WA

    Gross charge
  38. 38

    Harborview Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Seattle, WA

    15 Medicare stays/yr
    Gross charge
    Medicare pays (avg) $20,005

Compare back problems pricing in nearby states