Wheatland Memorial Hospital
530 3Rd St Nw, Harlowton, MT 59036 · 80 Priced Procedures
Typical commercial prices here are 59% below the fair benchmark (0.41×) 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 · Low-Cost Across Departments
Wheatland Memorial Hospital maintains low, disciplined commercial pricing across both routine shoppable procedures (0.5× Medicare, p50 0.39× Fair BaseRate) and emergency/ancillary services (0.4× Medicare, p75 0.49× Fair BaseRate). Both insured and self-pay patients benefit from below-benchmark rates across departments.
Where They're Good (Patient & Payer Edge)
- Elective shoppable care is priced 59% below peer Fair BaseRate (0.41×)
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 25% of shoppable procedures (25/100 Cash Honesty)
- CMS clinical safety score (85/100 safety score) with 72% patient recommendation
- IRS 501(c)(3) charity care provides free care up to 200% FPL and discounted care up to 400% FPL (62.0% AGB cap)
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Even at low-cost facilities (0.41× 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.
- Commercial insurance median sits at 0.39× Fair BaseRate (0.5× Medicare), so insured patients should always compare the self-pay cash price before paying.
- Upper-quartile procedures (Q75 0.49×) jump +26% above the median procedure ratio (Q50 0.39×)
- Unnegotiated chargemaster list prices average 8.2× Medicare (26¢ true HCRIS cost per $1 gross)
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.
Procedure Prices at Wheatland Memorial Hospital
High-impact clinical procedures (MRIs, surgeries, inpatient stays, visits) are prioritized first. Use the category pills or search bar to filter all 80 published procedures.
| Procedure & Billing Code | This Hospital | vs. Fair |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep study (overnight, in lab) CPT Code: 95810 | $11,460 | unverified |
| Trauma team activation HCPCS Code: G0390 | $2,071 | unverified |
| Blood transfusion CPT Code: 36430 | $887 | unverified |
| Electrocardiogram (EKG, tracing only) CPT Code: 93005 | $626 | unverified |
| X-ray, hand CPT Code: 73130 | $403 | 4.3× |
| X-ray, foot CPT Code: 73630 | $344 | 3.7× |
| X-ray, ankle CPT Code: 73610 | $346 | 3.7× |
| X-ray, hip CPT Code: 73502 | $343 | 3.7× |
| X-ray, chest (single view) CPT Code: 71045 | $291 | 3.2× |
| Care planning with family CPT Code: 90887 | $242 | unverified |
| X-ray, pelvis CPT Code: 72170 | $197 | 1.8× |
| MRI, brain (with and without contrast) CPT Code: 70553 | $182 | 0.4× |
| New patient office visit (30-44 min) CPT Code: 99203 | $126 | 1.1× |
| Office visit, established patient (30-39 min) CPT Code: 99214 | $135 | 1.1× |
| CT scan, abdomen and pelvis (no contrast) CPT Code: 74176 | $144 | 0.5× |
| CT scan, abdomen and pelvis (with contrast) CPT Code: 74177 | $145 | 0.3× |
| Occupational therapy (self-care training) CPT Code: 97535 | $147 | unverified |
| MRI, lower back (no contrast) CPT Code: 72148 | $119 | 0.4× |
| Office visit, established patient (20-29 min) CPT Code: 99213 | $90 | 1.0× |
| Echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) CPT Code: 93306 | $113 | 0.2× |
| CT scan, neck (cervical spine) CPT Code: 72125 | $80 | 0.5× |
| CT scan, head (with and without contrast) CPT Code: 70470 | $101 | 0.4× |
| MRI, brain (no contrast) CPT Code: 70551 | $118 | 0.3× |
| CT scan, chest (no contrast) CPT Code: 71250 | $89 | 0.5× |
| MRI, knee or other leg joint CPT Code: 73721 | $113 | 0.3× |
Audit a Bill or Quote at Wheatland Memorial Hospital (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $7,107
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (62.0% of gross = $7,107).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Wheatland Memorial Hospital's published 45 CFR § 180 self-pay cash rate is $11,460 (vs. $11,460 commercial insurer median). Ask billing to reclassify the visit to prompt-pay self-pay if it beats your deductible.
Negotiate Toward $1,021 Fair BaseRate ($877 Medicare)
Your bill ($11,460) is $10,439 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($1,021) and 13.1× the $877 Medicare rate.
Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) & Amounts Generally Billed (AGB)
Hospital-Specific CMS HCRIS Benchmark (62.0% of gross charges)
Under 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5), a tax-exempt hospital organization may not bill FAP-eligible patients more than Amounts Generally Billed (AGB) to individuals with insurance covering emergency or medically necessary care. Derived from this facility’s reported CMS HCRIS cost-to-charge & insurer allowance filings. Verify your exact Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) determination directly with the billing office.
Clinical Quality, Patient Experience & Infection Benchmarks
Source: CMS Hospital Care Compare. Clinical quality metrics summarize historical facility-wide cohorts and are not medical advice for individual care decisions.
How to Pay Less Nearby: Freestanding Centers, Insurer Leverage & Outpatient Savings
2D regional comparison of commercial negotiated price index against CMS clinical quality composite for Wheatland Memorial Hospital.
Notable Payer Contract Outliers (SVD Matrix Anomalies)
Verify the Raw Data: Official Hospital MRF, CMS Medicare.gov & Federal Filings
Safe-Harbor Data Corrections: Parsed directly from public 45 CFR § 180 hospital filings, CMS Care Compare, and CMS HCRIS cost reports. Hospital compliance officers may submit updated MRF URLs or rate tables for verification.