Culture, bacterial cost in ID
What a culture, bacterial costs at ID hospitals — and the fair price to aim for.
Typical commercial prices here match the fair market benchmark (1.00×) after accounting for local nurse/doctor wages and patient complexity.
Balances commercial hospital prices against CMS clinical safety, infection control, and patient experience.
Uniform Value Leader
Nell J Redfield Memorial Hospital maintains disciplined commercial pricing across both elective shoppable care (0.8× Medicare) and captive emergency/ancillary departments (0.9× Medicare). Patients and health plans benefit from predictable, below-benchmark rates (0.91× Fair BaseRate) without hidden ancillary cross-subsidization.
Where They're Good (Patient & Payer Edge)
- Elective shoppable care is priced 9% below peer Fair BaseRate (0.91×)
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 25% of shoppable procedures (92/100 Cash Honesty)
- CMS clinical safety score (69/100 safety score) with 72% patient recommendation
- Binding Good Faith Estimate rights under 45 CFR § 149.610 protect self-pay patients before scheduling
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Even at low-cost facilities (1.00× Fair BaseRate), out-of-network or unnegotiated chargemaster bills can exceed commercial medians — confirm in-network status or request a self-pay cash quote up front.
- Captive ER (1.2×) & laboratory (1.6×) services average 1.13× higher multiples than routine shoppable care (0.8×)
- Upper-quartile procedures (Q75 1.11×) jump +29% above the median procedure ratio (Q50 0.86×)
- Consolidated metro market (HHI 5,328) limits in-network hospital competition (Highly Concentrated Monopoly (>2,500))
Pre-scheduled outpatient procedures where patients can comparison-shop.
Emergency, inpatient DRG, lab, and specialty drug lines billed after admission.
Detects median-gaming when upper-quartile codes spike above the p50 median.
In general, ID hospitals charge about the fair price for this. how we calculate the BaseRate →
Compared with the rest of the country, ID’s fair BaseRate ($9) is about the same as the national fair price of $10.
Cheapest ID hospitals for a culture, bacterial
- Nell J Redfield Memorial Hospital · Malad City $5
- Lost Rivers Medical Center · Arco $8
- Mountain View Hospital · Idaho Falls $9
- Northwest Specialty Hospital · Post Falls $9
- Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center · Idaho Falls $9
- Treasure Valley Hospital · Boise $9
- Madison Memorial Hospital · Rexburg $9
- West Valley Medical Center · Caldwell $9
- Idaho Falls Community Hospital, LLC · Idaho Falls $9
- St Luke's Nampa Medical Center · Nampa $9
- Kootenai Health · Coeur D'Alene $9
- Teton Valley Hospital · Driggs $11
- Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center · Boise $17
- Bingham Memorial Hospital · Blackfoot $17
- Clearwater Valley Hospital & Clinics · Orofino $21
Audit a Bill or Quote at ID Hospital Benchmark (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $8
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (36.3% of gross = $8).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Ask ID Hospital Benchmark's billing desk for their written 45 CFR § 180 discounted self-pay cash price and Good Faith Estimate under the No Surprises Act.
Negotiate Toward $9 Fair BaseRate ($5 Medicare)
Your bill ($22) is $13 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($9) and 4.4× the $5 Medicare rate.