Sepsis Cost in Massachusetts — Compare All Hospitals
Hospitalization for septicemia or severe sepsis (no extended ventilator) without major complications.
What this hospital charge usually covers
The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for sepsis. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 5–7 days):
Included in the hospital bill
- Emergency department evaluation and sepsis workup
- Inpatient room and continuous monitoring
- IV antibiotics and fluids (often broad-spectrum until culture results return)
- Blood cultures, lactate, and serial labs
- Source-control procedures if needed (drainage, etc.)
Usually billed separately
- Hospitalist, infectious-disease, and any specialty consultant fees
- Outpatient antibiotics after discharge
- Home health for any IV antibiotic continuation
- Long-term rehab if sepsis caused weakness
Quality signals to check before picking a hospital
Price alone won't tell you which hospital does sepsis best. These are the CMS quality measures that matter most for this specific procedure. Click any hospital below for its full profile, then look for these:
Sepsis Care Bundle (SEP-1)
The headline sepsis metric — measures how often hospitals deliver evidence-based sepsis care within strict time windows (antibiotics, fluids, repeat lactate).
Septic Shock 3-Hour Bundle
For the sickest sepsis patients, faster bundle completion saves lives.
Hospital-wide Mortality
Sepsis is the leading cause of in-hospital death. A hospital with strong overall mortality numbers is usually doing the right things for sepsis.
C. diff Infection Ratio
Sepsis treatment requires broad-spectrum antibiotics, which raises C. diff risk. Hospitals with low SIR control this better.
When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit
The list below sorts by price. For sepsis, the lowest price isn't automatically the best fit — these are situations where it's worth weighing additional factors against price. None of the below is medical advice; talk to your doctor about what applies to your specific situation.
- Sepsis admissions aren't shoppable in real time — the nearest hospital is typically the right call during an acute episode. This page is more useful for chronic-condition planning or evaluating where care was delivered.
- For elderly patients or those with chronic disease, the hospital with the best SEP-1 compliance score may be worth additional travel time when distances are comparable.
Questions to ask your hospital or insurer
The gross charge is the starting point. These are the procedure-specific questions to ask before you commit:
- During acute illness: skip this list and call 911. Sepsis worsens by the hour.
- After discharge: what outpatient antibiotic continuation is needed? Is it covered?
- Is post-sepsis rehab or follow-up recommended? Where will it happen?
Hospitals ranked by gross charge
- 1
Cambridge Health Alliance
Cambridge, MA
Gross charge $14,653Medicare pays (avg) $15,968 - 2
Lowell General Hospital
Lowell, MA
Gross charge $15,494Cash pay $10,845Medicare pays (avg) $7,331 - 3
MelroseWakefield Hospital
Melrose, MA
Gross charge $15,494Cash pay $10,845Medicare pays (avg) $7,144 - 4
Southcoast Hospitals Group
Fall River, MA
Gross charge $23,558Cash pay $10,951Medicare pays (avg) $7,293 - 5
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Newton, MA
Gross charge $24,099Cash pay $18,074Medicare pays (avg) $7,384 - 6
Tufts Medical Center
Boston, MA
Gross charge $25,655Cash pay $10,845 - 7
Cooley Dickinson Hospital
Northampton, MA
Gross charge $31,432Cash pay $23,574Medicare pays (avg) $6,840 - 8
Umass Memorial Healthalliance Hospitals
Leominster, MA
Gross charge $33,255Medicare pays (avg) $7,992 - 9
Umass Memorial Health - Harrington Hospital
Southbridge, MA
Gross charge $33,255Medicare pays (avg) $7,254 - 10
Umass Memorial Medical Center/University Campus
Worcester, MA
Gross charge $33,255Medicare pays (avg) $10,442 - 11
Mercy Medical Center
Springfield, MA
Gross charge $38,169Cash pay $20,993Medicare pays (avg) $7,990 - 12
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA
Gross charge $48,308Cash pay $36,231Medicare pays (avg) $9,932 - 13
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary -
Boston, MA
Gross charge $53,837Cash pay $40,378 - 14
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA
Gross charge $55,070Cash pay $41,302Medicare pays (avg) $11,028 - 15
Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
Jamaica Plain, MA
Gross charge $55,070Cash pay $41,302Medicare pays (avg) $8,700 - 16
Saint Anne's Hospital
Fall River, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $7,514 - 17
Holyoke Medical Center
Holyoke, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $7,767 - 18
Berkshire Medical Center (Acute Care)
Pittsfield, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $9,440 - 19
Heywood Hospital
Gardner, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $7,411 - 20
Falmouth Hospital
Falmouth, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $6,899 - 21
Fairview Hospital
Great Barrington, MA
Gross charge — - 22
Athol Hospital
Athol, MA
Gross charge — - 23
Mount Auburn Hospital
Cambridge, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $9,184 - 24
Baystate Franklin Medical Center
Greenfield, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $7,201 - 25
Anna Jaques Hospital
Newburyport, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $7,262 - 26
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Needham
Needham, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $6,896 - 27
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $10,763 - 28
New England Baptist Hospital
Boston, MA
Gross charge — - 29
Winchester Hospital
Winchester, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $6,399 - 30
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Milton
Milton, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $7,114 - 31
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington
Burlington, MA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $8,580
15 Massachusetts hospitals publish gross charges for sepsis (DRG 872). Prices range from $14,653 to $55,070 — roughly $40,417 apart. The cheapest is Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge; the most expensive is Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. The state average sits at $33,374.
These numbers are list prices — what the hospital bills before any insurance adjustment. 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 sepsis at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.
You usually don't choose a hospital during an urgent sepsis admission. This page is for the planning side: patients with chronic conditions weighing their options, caregivers picking ahead of time, or employers comparing in-network facilities. Click any hospital name for its full quality profile — CMS overall star rating, mortality and readmission rates, patient-experience scores. When two nearby hospitals look similar on quality, the one with lower published charges is the safer default for routine medical admissions.
Pricing comes from each hospital's Machine-Readable File (MRF), published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Massachusetts hospitals missing from the list either don't perform sepsis in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 872 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.