Blood smear interpretation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
251 E. Huron, Chicago, IL · Nm · · NPI 1497859649
$105.00
Cash price Discounted cash price What a hospital charges a self-pay patient who pays directly, without going through insurance — usually well below the gross charge. Example: A CT scan has a $3,200 gross charge but an $850 discounted cash price. Ask for it by name when scheduling — hospitals don't always advertise it up front.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$150.00
Gross charge Gross charge (chargemaster price) The hospital's full, undiscounted list price — pulled from its internal "chargemaster" price list. Almost no one actually pays this. Example: A chest X-ray has a gross charge of $1,450. The same hospital's discounted cash price for the same X-ray is $180 — the gross charge mostly anchors negotiations, not what patients pay.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$23.63 with CURAECHOICE [6100] vs $150.00 with MULTIPLAN/PHCS [142] — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
Negotiated rate
The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.
Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.
Full explanation →
?
Negotiated rate
The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.
Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.
Full explanation →Payer ?Payer The insurance company footing the bill — Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare, and so on. Example: "Blue Cross Blue Shield" is the payer. Its negotiated rate for an MRI might be $904, while a different payer's negotiated rate for the same scan is $1,509. Full explanation → |
Plan ?Plan The specific product an insurer sells — e.g. "Blue Cross PPO 500" — which sets your deductible, coinsurance and negotiated rates. Example: Two people both insured by Aetna can owe very different amounts for the same MRI: $50 with an HMO plan's flat copay, or the full $1,200 toward a high-deductible PPO plan's unmet deductible. Full explanation → |
Negotiated rate | vs. cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| CURAECHOICE [6100] | NMHC CURAECHOICE | $23.63 | ↓ -77% |
| IMAGINE HEALTH [6032] | NMHC IMAGINE HEALTH | $27.27 | ↓ -74% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NMHC IMAGINE HEALTH | $27.27 | ↓ -74% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NMH AETNA NM EMPLOYEES | $29.10 | ↓ -72% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NMH AETNA BP | $45.00 | ↓ -57% |
| HUMANA HEALTH PLAN [130] | NMHC SCPP IPA | $45.45 | ↓ -57% |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] | NMHC CHWN IPA | $45.45 | ↓ -57% |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] | NMHC SCPP IPA | $45.45 | ↓ -57% |
| HUMANA HEALTH PLAN [130] | NMHC UIC IPA | $50.50 | ↓ -52% |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] | NMHC UIC IPA | $50.50 | ↓ -52% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NMH AETNA ASA | $52.95 | ↓ -50% |
| GLOBAL MEDICAL MANAGEMENT INC [6090] | NMHC GMMI | $58.58 | ↓ -44% |
| HUMANA HEALTH PLAN [130] | NMH CHS IPA | $60.00 | ↓ -43% |
| HUMANA HEALTH PLAN [130] | NMH ADVOCATE IPA | $60.00 | ↓ -43% |
| MEDPARTNERS [6038] | NMHC MEDPARTNERS | $70.70 | ↓ -33% |
| HEALTHLINK [125] | NMH SEIU HEALTHLINK | $75.00 | ↓ -29% |
| HEALTH'S FINEST NETWORK [126] | NMH HFN PLATINUM/CHC ELITE | $97.50 | ↓ -7% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE [158] | NMHC UHC REF LAB JOHN DEERE | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| HEALTHLINK [125] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD [1401] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| MULTIPLAN/PHCS [142] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE [158] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| FIRST HEALTH PLAN [6034] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| CIGNA HEALTH PLAN [178] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| GALAXY HEALTH NETWORK [220] | NMHC NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $101.00 | ↓ -4% |
| CIGNA HEALTH PLAN [178] | NMH CIGNA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (EVERNORTH) | $120.00 | ↑ +14% |
| MULTIPLAN/PHCS [142] | NMH PHCS PPO | $120.00 | ↑ +14% |
| HEALTH'S FINEST NETWORK [126] | NMH HFN/20 EPO | $123.00 | ↑ +17% |
| HEALTH'S FINEST NETWORK [126] | NMH HFN/10 PPO | $127.50 | ↑ +21% |
| UNITED HEALTHCARE [158] | NMH UHC NON-CONTRACTED OON - ED ONLY | $150.00 | ↑ +43% |
| OPTUM/UNITED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH [157] | NMH Optum UBH | $150.00 | ↑ +43% |
| MULTIPLAN/PHCS [142] | NMH NON-CONTRACTED PAYORS | $150.00 | ↑ +43% |
| CIGNA HEALTH PLAN [178] | NMH CIGNA LIFESOURCE TRANSPLANT | not published by hospital | — |
| HUMANA HEALTH PLAN [130] | NMH IL HEALTH PARTNERS IPA | not published by hospital | — |
| AETNA HEALTH PLAN [171] | NMH AETNA TRANSPLANT | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Blood smear interpretation at other Illinois hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center | Chicago | not published | $25.26 – $141.95 |
| Advocate Trinity Hospital | Chicago | not published | $25.26 – $141.03 |
| Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago (Presence Chicago Hospital Network) | Chicago | not published | $16.09 – $73.20 |
| MercyOne Genesis Aledo Medical Center | Aledo | $52.20 | $13.11 – $16.92 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth Hinsdale | Hinsdale | $31.25 | $20.98 – $29.56 |
| UnityPoint Health - Trinity Moline | Rock Island | $46.40 | $14.34 – $44.09 |
| Uchicago Medicine Adventhealth La Grange | La Grange | $31.25 | $20.15 – $29.56 |
| SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon | Mount Vernon | $75.35 | not published |