Minneapolis-St. Paul ER Visit Cost

Data Sources

Cash-price values are from each facility's latest standard charges file published on its website. The average comparison note uses the city average for the same ER service level: around average means within a +/-10% band, above average means more than 10% above, and below average means more than 10% below. Hospital ownership labels and hospital overall ratings come from the CMS Hospital General Information dataset. CMS ratings are a broad summary, not a perfect measure of whether a hospital is best for a specific service.

Why ER level 4 is the default sort

ERcost defaults to ER level 4 because recent commercial ED spending research shows higher-intensity emergency department visit codes now represent a large share of billed visits. This default is based on the Health Affairs study Price Increases Versus Upcoding As Drivers Of Emergency Department Spending Increases, 2012-19 and its ED spending analysis. By 2019, level 4 was the single most common level among ER levels 3, 4, and 5, with level 5 close behind. Level 4 is a practical default for comparison, but actual coding depends on the care documented for a specific visit.