Echo transthoracic at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$461.56
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.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,393.58
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.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$621.47 with SoundPath vs $2,734.47 with Aetna — 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 →
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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 ?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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoundPath | Medicare|All Plans | $621.47 | ↑ +35% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $621.47 | ↑ +35% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $627.68 | ↑ +36% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $630.57 | ↑ +37% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $640.11 | ↑ +39% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $640.11 | ↑ +39% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $640.11 | ↑ +39% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $664.97 | ↑ +44% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $671.19 | ↑ +45% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $671.19 | ↑ +45% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $677.40 | ↑ +47% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $714.69 | ↑ +55% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $1,003.38 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,045.19 | ↑ +126% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $1,193.22 | ↑ +159% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $1,230.51 | ↑ +167% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $1,242.94 | ↑ +169% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $1,277.05 | ↑ +177% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $1,363.43 | ↑ +195% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $1,368.97 | ↑ +197% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $1,505.97 | ↑ +226% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $1,563.38 | ↑ +239% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $1,846.10 | ↑ +300% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $1,961.04 | ↑ +325% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $2,034.60 | ↑ +341% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $2,064.28 | ↑ +347% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,064.28 | ↑ +347% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $2,324.30 | ↑ +404% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $2,734.47 | ↑ +492% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Echo transthoracic at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $917.60 | $327.91 – $3,957.12 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $917.60 | $329.56 – $2,622.93 |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $2,248.80 | $632.74 – $2,263.43 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $1,331.40 | $608.89 – $1,733.69 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $2,248.80 | $632.74 – $2,191.19 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $2,248.80 | $557.04 – $2,263.43 |
| Kadlec Regional Medical Center | Richland | $653.80 | $270.22 – $1,882.98 |
| Providence Holy Family Hospital | Spokane | $1,401.40 | $608.89 – $1,598.35 |