Vital capacity test at St. Joseph Medical Center
1717 South J Street, Tacoma, WA · Vmfh · · NPI 1952309098
$110.94
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.
$334.95
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.
$177.34 with SoundPath vs $780.30 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 | $177.34 | ↑ +60% |
| Kaiser | Medicare|All Plans | $177.34 | ↑ +60% |
| First Choice | Commercial|All Plans | $179.09 | ↑ +61% |
| Optum | Medicare|All Plans | $179.11 | ↑ +61% |
| Seattle Medical Group | Medicare|All Plans | $182.26 | ↑ +64% |
| BCBS - Premera | Medicare|All Plans | $182.66 | ↑ +65% |
| Aetna | Medicare|All Plans | $182.66 | ↑ +65% |
| BCBS - Regence | Medicare|All Plans | $182.66 | ↑ +65% |
| Humana | Medicare|All Plans | $189.75 | ↑ +71% |
| United | Medicare|All Plans | $191.53 | ↑ +73% |
| Molina | Medicare|All Plans | $191.53 | ↑ +73% |
| Amerigroup | Medicare|All Plans | $193.30 | ↑ +74% |
| CHPW | Medicare|All Plans | $203.94 | ↑ +84% |
| Aetna | Commercial|Rental | $241.17 | ↑ +117% |
| MultiPlan | Commercial|All Plans | $251.22 | ↑ +126% |
| Molina | Commercial|Marketplace Exchange | $340.49 | ↑ +207% |
| Coordinated Care | Commercial|Ambetter Exchange | $351.13 | ↑ +217% |
| Sound Family Medicine | Commercial|All Plans | $354.68 | ↑ +220% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|LifeWise Primary Exchange | $361.59 | ↑ +226% |
| Uniform Medical Plan | Commercial|All Plans | $386.05 | ↑ +248% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|HMO | $395.70 | ↑ +257% |
| Kaiser | Commercial|PPO | $435.30 | ↑ +292% |
| BCBS - Regence | Commercial|All Plans | $442.67 | ↑ +299% |
| BCBS - Premera | Commercial|All Other Plans | $522.71 | ↑ +371% |
| United | Commercial|Navigate | $559.58 | ↑ +404% |
| United | Commercial|Cascade Care | $589.04 | ↑ +431% |
| United | Commercial|All Other Plans | $589.04 | ↑ +431% |
| Aetna | Commercial|AWH | $663.25 | ↑ +498% |
| Aetna | Commercial|All Other Plans | $780.30 | ↑ +603% |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Vital capacity test at other Washington hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital | Tacoma | $88.80 | $36.78 – $1,143.81 |
| MultiCare Allenmore Hospital | Tacoma | $88.80 | $36.96 – $673.34 |
| Providence St Luke's Rehabilitation Medical Center | Spokane | $250.74 | $143.39 – $157.72 |
| Providence St Joseph Hospital | Chewelah | $85.40 | not published |
| Swedish Medical Center - First Hill Campus | Seattle | $467.52 | $149.00 – $650.25 |
| Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital | Spokane | $518.00 | $143.39 – $498.06 |
| Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill | Seattle | $467.52 | $149.00 – $629.49 |
| Swedish Issaquah | Issaquah | $467.52 | $149.42 – $650.25 |