DRG 460 · Musculoskeletal

Spinal Fusion Cost in North Carolina — Compare All Hospitals

Spinal fusion surgery (non-cervical), used to treat severe degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, or vertebral instability.

State average
$175,342
gross charge · DRG 460
Hospitals
20
with published pricing
Price range
$74,647 – $212,190
low to high
Lowest $74,647 Highest $212,190

20 North Carolina hospitals publish gross charges for spinal fusion (DRG 460). Prices range from $74,647 to $212,190 — roughly 3×. The cheapest is Catawba Valley Medical Center (Acute Care) in Hickory; the most expensive is Novant Health Rowan Medical Center in Salisbury. The state average sits at $175,342.

The number you see is each hospital's published "list price" — the gross charge for the facility component of spinal fusion. Insurance plans negotiate substantial discounts, Medicare and Medicaid pay fixed federal rates, and uninsured patients can usually qualify for a cash-pay discount. But the gross charge still works as a useful benchmark: a hospital that lists spinal fusion at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.

If you're scheduling spinal fusion in North Carolina, sort the list below by price, then click each hospital name to see its quality profile — CMS overall star rating, surgical-safety measures, readmission rates, patient-experience scores. The cheapest hospital isn't always the right call. Teaching hospitals often charge more because they take complex cases, and a higher-rated community hospital may deliver equivalent outcomes for a straightforward case at a lower price. Use the price column to narrow the field; use the quality data to make the final call.

Pricing comes from each hospital's Machine-Readable File (MRF), published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. North Carolina hospitals missing from the list either don't perform spinal fusion in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 460 in their most recent MRF, or fell below our data-quality thresholds (we filter out clearly erroneous entries like $0 charges). The list refreshes as hospitals update their files.

What this hospital charge usually covers

The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for spinal fusion. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 2–5 days):

Included in the hospital bill

  • Operating-room time (typically 3–6 hours for a single-level fusion)
  • Inpatient room, nursing, medications during the stay
  • Recovery-room and immediate post-op monitoring
  • Intraoperative neuromonitoring (varies by hospital)

Usually billed separately

  • Surgeon, anesthesiologist, and assistant-surgeon professional fees
  • Pedicle-screw / cage / bone-graft hardware (sometimes itemized separately, sometimes bundled)
  • Pre-surgical MRI, CT, and bone-density scans
  • Outpatient physical therapy after discharge

Quality signals to check before picking a hospital

Price alone won't tell you which hospital does spinal fusion best. These are the CMS quality measures that matter most for this specific procedure. Click any hospital below for its full profile, then look for these:

Surgical-Site Infection

Spine hardware infections often require additional surgery to remove and replace — the stakes for SSI prevention are high.

Patient Safety Composite (PSI-90)

Captures the patient-safety indicators most relevant to long, complex inpatient surgery (DVT, post-op respiratory failure, accidental punctures).

30-Day Readmissions (hospital-wide)

Reflects discharge planning quality — important since spine fusion patients often have complex pain-management needs.

When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit

The list below sorts by price. For spinal fusion, the lowest price isn't automatically the best fit — these are situations where it's worth weighing additional factors against price. None of the below is medical advice; talk to your doctor about what applies to your specific situation.

Questions to ask your hospital or insurer

The gross charge is the starting point. These are the procedure-specific questions to ask before you commit:

Hospitals ranked by gross charge

  1. 1

    Catawba Valley Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Hickory, NC

    Gross charge $74,647
    Cash pay $44,788
  2. 2

    Rutherford Regional Health System

    Rutherfordton, NC

    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  3. 3

    Harris Regional Hospital

    Sylva, NC

    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  4. 4

    Wilson Medical Center

    Wilson, NC

    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  5. 5

    Maria Parham Medical Center

    Henderson, NC

    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  6. 6
    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  7. 7

    Haywood Regional Medical Center

    Clyde, NC

    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  8. 8
    Gross charge $142,388
    Cash pay $56,955
  9. 9

    Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center

    Wilmington, NC

    Gross charge $171,366
    Cash pay $77,115
  10. 10

    Frye Regional Medical Center

    Hickory, NC

    Gross charge $177,728
    Cash pay $71,091
  11. 11

    Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center

    Winston-Salem, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  12. 12
    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  13. 13

    Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center

    Thomasville, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  14. 14

    Novant Health Medical Park Hospital

    Winston-Salem, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  15. 15

    Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center

    Supply, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  16. 16

    Novant Health Matthews Medical Center

    Matthews, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  17. 17

    Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center

    Huntersville, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  18. 18

    Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center

    Charlotte, NC

    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  19. 19
    Gross charge $208,243
    Cash pay $104,122
  20. 20

    Novant Health Rowan Medical Center

    Salisbury, NC

    Gross charge $212,190
    Cash pay $106,095

Compare spinal fusion pricing in nearby states