Massachusetts Hospitals — Commercial Relative Price Variations 2013-2021

Top 15 Hospitals by Commercial Revenue

For many years, a handful of Massachusetts hospitals have dominated healthcare pricing in the commercial market.

“Relative price” is an aggregate measure used to compare price variations among hospitals. The average of all hospital prices has a relative price of 1.0. A relative price of 1.5 means a hospital’s commercial prices are 50% higher than average. A relative price of .84 means commercial prices 16% below average.

Of the the top 15 hospitals by net patient commercial revenue, the five with the highest relative prices in the commercial market are: Boston Children’s, Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women’s (B&W), Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Cape Cod Hospital. B&W and MGH are part of the Mass General Brigham (MGB) system. Dana-Farber is affiliated with B&W. Lowest relative commercial prices of the top 15 hospitals are seen among the Southcoast Hospital Group: Charlton Memorial, St. Luke’s Hospital, and Tobey Hospital. A hospital’s relative commercial price ranking does not change much over time.

For detailed notes on the methodology and trends shown on this site, see our descriptive page here.

Relative price is not the same as the actual price charged by any particular hospital. The relative price metric cannot be used in connection with the actual price of any one particular service or bundle of services at any hospital.