Echocardiogram (Limited Follow-Up Heart Ultrasound) at Sanford Vermillion Hospital

20 S Plum St, Vermillion, SD · Sanford Health · · NPI 1790721280

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Mar 4, 2026 · Ingested Aug 12, 2026

$976.80

Cash price

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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.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$1,221.00

Gross charge

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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.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$360.20 with Sanford Health Plan Align vs $1,098.90 with First Choice Health Network — same scan, same building. Share

Negotiated rates by payer
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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
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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
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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
Sanford Health Plan Align Medicare Replacement $360.20 ↓ -63%
Wellmark SD Medicare Replacement $371.18 ↓ -62%
Ucare Medicare Replacement $398.05 ↓ -59%
Health Partners Medicare Replacement $402.93 ↓ -59%
Great Plains Medicare Advantage Medicare Replacement $402.93 ↓ -59%
Aetna Medicare Replacement $402.93 ↓ -59%
United Healthcare Medicare Replacement $402.93 ↓ -59%
Primewest Medicare Replacement $410.26 ↓ -58%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange True $483.39 ↓ -51%
Sanford Health Plan Group Health/True $551.16 ↓ -44%
Sanford Health Plan SD Exchange Commercial $568.74 ↓ -42%
Sanford Health Plan Commercial/ND Pers $648.47 ↓ -34%
Security Health Plan Commercial $671.55 ↓ -31%
Health Partners State Employees $805.86 ↓ -18%
Health Partners Commercial $915.75 ↓ -6%
Medica Choice $1,007.33 ↑ +3%
United Healthcare Commercial +20 $1,019.54 ↑ +4%
Wellmark PPO $1,050.06 ↑ +8%
Aetna Commercial $1,061.05 ↑ +9%
Ucare Commercial $1,072.77 ↑ +10%
Medica Elect $1,076.92 ↑ +10%
Healthez Commercial $1,098.90 ↑ +13%
Multiplan Commercial $1,098.90 ↑ +13%
First Choice Health Network Commercial $1,098.90 ↑ +13%

Visitor-reported prices

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Echocardiogram (Limited Follow-Up Heart Ultrasound) at other South-dakota hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
Sanford Clear Lake Medical Center Clear Lake $1,074.40 $688.96 – $1,208.70
Sanford USD Medical Center Sioux Falls $1,051.20 $98.53 – $1,182.60
Sanford Hospital Webster Webster $926.40 $363.61 – $1,042.20
Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center Chamberlain $1,036.80 $443.23 – $1,166.40
Sanford Canton Inwood Medical Center Canton $964.80 $412.45 – $1,085.40
Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Aberdeen $841.60 $229.63 – $946.80

All South-dakota hospitals for this procedure →