Spinal Fusion Cost in Pennsylvania — Compare All Hospitals
Spinal fusion surgery (non-cervical), used to treat severe degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, or vertebral instability.
What this hospital charge usually covers
The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for spinal fusion. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 2–5 days):
Included in the hospital bill
- Operating-room time (typically 3–6 hours for a single-level fusion)
- Inpatient room, nursing, medications during the stay
- Recovery-room and immediate post-op monitoring
- Intraoperative neuromonitoring (varies by hospital)
Usually billed separately
- Surgeon, anesthesiologist, and assistant-surgeon professional fees
- Pedicle-screw / cage / bone-graft hardware (sometimes itemized separately, sometimes bundled)
- Pre-surgical MRI, CT, and bone-density scans
- Outpatient physical therapy after discharge
Quality signals to check before picking a hospital
Price alone won't tell you which hospital does spinal fusion 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:
Surgical-Site Infection
Spine hardware infections often require additional surgery to remove and replace — the stakes for SSI prevention are high.
Patient Safety Composite (PSI-90)
Captures the patient-safety indicators most relevant to long, complex inpatient surgery (DVT, post-op respiratory failure, accidental punctures).
30-Day Readmissions (hospital-wide)
Reflects discharge planning quality — important since spine fusion patients often have complex pain-management needs.
When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit
The list below sorts by price. For spinal fusion, 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.
- For multi-level fusion or revision surgery, surgeon and hospital volume matter substantially — worth weighing against price.
- For prior failed spine surgery, high-volume academic centers tend to offer better outcomes on complex revisions.
- For patients with significant medical comorbidities (cardiac, pulmonary, diabetes), the hospital with the better PSI-90 score is usually worth the price difference.
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:
- Are all hardware (screws, cages, bone graft) costs included in this estimate?
- How many spinal fusions at this level does the surgeon perform per year?
- What is the expected length of stay, and what happens to the bill if I stay longer?
- Will I need post-discharge inpatient rehab, and is that estimated separately?
Hospitals ranked by gross charge
- 1
Physicians Care Surgical Hospital
Royersford, PA
Gross charge $14,423 - 2
Heritage Valley Beaver
Beaver, PA
Gross charge $46,864 - 3
Heritage Valley Sewickley
Sewickley, PA
Gross charge $46,864Medicare pays (avg) $21,139 - 4
Conemaugh Nason Medical Center
Roaring Spring, PA
Gross charge $142,388Cash pay $56,955 - 5
Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center - Main Campus
Johnstown, PA
Gross charge $142,388Cash pay $56,955 - 6
Conemaugh Meyersdale Medical Center
Meyersdale, PA
Gross charge $142,388Cash pay $56,955 - 7
Conemaugh Miners Medical Center
Hastings, PA
Gross charge $142,388Cash pay $56,955 - 8
St Luke's Hospital - Upper Bucks Campus
Quakertown, PA
Gross charge — - 9
St Lukes Hospital (Acute Care)
Bethlehem, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $26,744 - 10
St. Luke's Grand View Hospital - Sellersville
Sellersville, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $24,214 - 11
Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center
Meadowbrook, PA
Gross charge — - 12
Lancaster General Hospital
Lancaster, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $25,726 - 13
Hospital of University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $35,279 - 14
Chan Soon- Shiong Medical Center at Windber
Windber, PA
Gross charge — - 15
Jefferson Health- Northeast
Philadelphia, PA
Gross charge — - 16
St. Luke's Hospital - Easton Campus
Easton, PA
Gross charge — - 17
Acmh Hospital
Kittanning, PA
Gross charge — - 18
Chester County Hospital
West Chester, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $25,581 - 19
St. Luke's Hospital - Miners Campus
Coaldale, PA
Gross charge — - 20
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Philadelphia, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $34,072 - 21
Pennsylvania Hospital
Philadelphia, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $31,782 - 22
Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital of Scranton
Scranton, PA
Gross charge — - 23
Surgical Institute of Reading
Wyomissing, PA
Gross charge —Cash pay $35,794Medicare pays (avg) $27,557 - 24
St. Luke's Hospital - Monroe Campus
Stroudsburg, PA
Gross charge — - 25
Geisinger St. Luke's Hospital
Orwigsburg, PA
Gross charge — - 26
St. Luke's Hospital - Carbon Campus
Lehighton, PA
Gross charge — - 27
UPMC McKeesport
Mc Keesport, PA
Gross charge — - 28
UPMC Jameson (Acute Care)
New Castle, PA
Gross charge — - 29
UPMC Somerset
Somerset, PA
Gross charge — - 30
Reading Hospital
West Reading, PA
Gross charge — - 31
UPMC Williamsport
Williamsport, PA
Gross charge — - 32
UPMC Hamot
Erie, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $24,894 - 33
UPMC Altoona
Altoona, PA
Gross charge — - 34
UPMC Northwest (Acute Care)
Seneca, PA
Gross charge — - 35
UPMC Bedford
Everett, PA
Gross charge — - 36
Pottstown Hospital
Pottstown, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $24,069 - 37
Phoenixville Hospital
Phoenixville, PA
Gross charge — - 38
Bryn Mawr Hospital
Bryn Mawr, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $26,236 - 39
Paoli Hospital
Paoli, PA
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $22,916 - 40
UPMC Horizon - Greenville
Greenville, PA
Gross charge — - 41
UPMC Hanover
Hanover, PA
Gross charge — - 42
UPMC East (Acute Care)
Monroeville, PA
Gross charge —
7 Pennsylvania hospitals publish gross charges for spinal fusion (DRG 460). Prices range from $14,423 to $142,388 — roughly 10×. The cheapest is Physicians Care Surgical Hospital in Royersford; the most expensive is Conemaugh Miners Medical Center in Hastings. The state average sits at $96,815.
The number you see is each hospital's published "list price" — the gross charge for the facility component of spinal fusion. 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 spinal fusion at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.
If you're scheduling spinal fusion 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 spinal fusion in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 460 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.