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Procedure price report

Hospital observation care, per hour

HCPCS G0378the billing code this page is about

Monitoring and care in a hospital observation setting; one unit is one hour, so the total charge depends on the number of hours the stay lasts.

Hospitals typically charge $72 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 423 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $80. Most fall between $38 and $152 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
423
States
45
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 423 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$19$44$72$130$488

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 26× what the cheapest tenth charges ($19 vs $488).

How the prices are spread

$15 – $23: 28 hospitals$15$23 – $35: 34 hospitals$35 – $54: 55 hospitals$35$54 – $84: 109 hospitals$84 – $128: 65 hospitals$84$128 – $197: 37 hospitals$197 – $303: 15 hospitals$197$303 – $466: 16 hospitals$466 – $716: 10 hospitals$466$716 – $1,100: 12 hospitals$716median $72price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (381 of 423 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$15$2328
$23$3534
$35$5455
$54$84109
$84$12865
$128$19737
$197$30315
$303$46616
$466$71610
$716$1,10012

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $72.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $52 across 15 hospitalsMN$52Illinois: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $79 across 15 hospitalsMI$79New York: median $276 across 27 hospitalsNY$276Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $61 across 12 hospitalsOR$61Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $70 across 12 hospitalsIA$70Indiana: median $44 across 27 hospitalsIN$44Ohio: median $72 across 22 hospitalsOH$72Pennsylvania: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figurePANew Jersey: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $151 across 14 hospitalsCA$151Utah: median $104 across 24 hospitalsUT$104Colorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $342 across 13 hospitalsMO$342Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $31 across 20 hospitalsVA$31Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceARTennessee: median $44 across 18 hospitalsTN$44North Carolina: median $42 across 10 hospitalsNC$42South Carolina: median $35 across 15 hospitalsSC$35Oklahoma: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $83 across 38 hospitalsTX$83Florida: median $59 across 18 hospitalsFL$59
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $72. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Missouri MO13$342+374%$66 – $342
New York NY27$276+283%$70 – $17,643
California CA14$151+110%$117 – $319
Utah UT24$104+45%$104 – $130
Texas TX38$83+15%$73 – $108
Michigan MI15$79+10%$32 – $94
Ohio OH22$720%$48 – $120
Iowa IA12$70−3%$59 – $71
Oregon OR12$61−15%$8 – $98
Florida FL18$59−18%$18 – $59
Minnesota MN15$52−28%$44 – $56
Tennessee TN18$44−39%$44 – $94
Indiana IN27$44−39%$33 – $85
North Carolina NC10$42−42%$5 – $149
South Carolina SC15$35−51%$19 – $51
Virginia VA20$31−58%$14 – $134
Illinois IL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Pennsylvania PA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $72.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care332$78$42 – $177
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access82$54$31 – $108
Ownership
For-profit65$84$40 – $178
Government51$54$30 – $205
Non-profit306$71$38 – $149
System affiliation
Part of a system353$78$44 – $151
Independent70$63$29 – $183

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$137
Median cash price$72
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

320 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $70 and the average of the middle 60% is $74; most fall between $34 and $129.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 320 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$19$44$70$108$249

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($19 vs $249).

Of the 357 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 320 gave a usable cash price; 24 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 13 a list price only.

How complete is this

423 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (11%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 469 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted423
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here27
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded19
Hospitals that filed this code469

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 4, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Observation per Hour.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Hospital observation care, per hour (CPT G0378) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-g0378-hospital-observation-care-per-hour