Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center

Thief River Falls, Minnesota 56701 · (218) 683-2652

Critical Access Hospitals · Voluntary non-profit - Private

Data last updated: 2026-02-20

Billing Grade
F
Fairness percentile: P31
Avg Markup
8.5x
CMS Stars
Not Available / 5
Patient Experience
Not Reported

Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center in Thief River Falls, Minnesota receives a BillKarma billing grade of F based on an average markup of 8.5x Medicare rates across 17 procedures in their published price transparency file. This places it among the 10 most expensive hospitals in Minnesota by markup ratio. The highest individual markups are for Wound Debridement (29.9x Medicare) and Mri neck spine w/o dye (13.8x Medicare). Patients with scheduled procedures at this hospital should review costs and compare nearby alternatives before confirming — charges at D and F grade hospitals are significantly above the national average.

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Billing Profile

Last updated: 2026-02-20

Average markup vs Medicare: 8.5x
Cash/self-pay discount avg: None offered
Charity care (% revenue): Not reported
State rank by markup: 8

Cash discount data sourced from hospital price transparency files. "Not reported" means the hospital did not include this in their posted file.

Billing Grade Position

Grade F 8.5x F D C B A
This hospital National avg

This hospital is currently graded F based on markup vs Medicare.

Common Procedure Prices

Last updated: 2026-02-20

CPT Description Hospital Medicare Markup
11042 Wound Debridement $1666.00 $55.78 29.9x
72141 Mri neck spine w/o dye $2627.00 $190.72 13.8x
72148 Mri lumbar spine w/o dye $2627.00 $191.72 13.7x
45378 Diagnostic colonoscopy $2232.00 $164.67 13.6x
70551 Mri brain stem w/o dye $2627.00 $195.40 13.4x
70553 Mri brain stem w/o & w/dye $4119.00 $316.97 13.0x
20610 Joint Injection (drainage) $511.00 $39.75 12.9x
71045 X-ray exam chest 1 view $278.00 $25.38 11.0x
71046 X-ray exam chest 2 views $310.00 $33.07 9.4x
49650 Lap ing hernia repair init $2833.00 $424.19 6.7x
44970 Laparoscopy appendectomy $3518.00 $578.17 6.1x
29881 Knee Arthroscopy $2781.00 $515.71 5.4x
47562 Laparoscopic cholecystectomy $3081.00 $631.95 4.9x
10060 Abscess Drainage $460.00 $100.54 4.6x
59025 Fetal non-stress test $230.00 $50.44 4.6x
27447 Total Knee Replacement $5134.00 $1159.35 4.4x
49505 Prp i/hern init reduc >5 yr $2083.00 $508.03 4.1x
27130 Total Hip Replacement $2928.00 $1162.02 2.5x

Color key: green <2x · yellow 2–5x · red >5x Medicare

Location

Grade legend: A <=2x · B 2-3x · C 3-5x · D 5-8x · F 8x+

Map shows Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center at 3001 SANFORD PARKWAY, Thief River Falls, Minnesota, 56701. Nearby hospitals within 50 miles include No nearby hospitals with comparable billing data..

Financial Assistance

Ownership: Nonprofit (Private)
Charity care: Not reported

Financial assistance policy: Request via email template

How to Dispute a Bill from Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center

Last updated: 2026-02-20

SANFORD THIEF RIVER FALLS MEDICAL CENTER currently shows a billing grade of F with an average markup around 8.5x versus Medicare reference rates. In currently loaded benchmark samples, this is below the national average (9.2x). Use that benchmark when asking billing to review line items and justify large gaps. This hospital appears to be nonprofit. Ask for the formal financial assistance application, income thresholds, and deadline rules before making payment commitments. Reported charity-care level is not reported. Before paying, scan your bill with BillKarma to identify line-item issues and generate a dispute packet.

Nearby Hospitals

Nearby hospitals with comparable billing data are unavailable.
How we grade this hospital

BillKarma calculates billing grades by comparing each hospital's gross charges to the 2026 Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rate for the same CPT codes. We download and parse each hospital's CMS-mandated price transparency file, match procedure codes to Medicare benchmarks, calculate a markup ratio for each matched procedure, and average those ratios across all matched procedures to produce the hospital's overall markup.

Grade thresholds: A = 2.0x Medicare or less · B = 2.1x–3.0x · C = 3.1x–5.0x · D = 5.1x–8.0x · F = More than 8.0x Medicare

Data sources: CMS Hospital Price Transparency files (updated annually), CMS OPPS 2026 Final Rule, CMS Hospital Compare (star ratings). Grades are recalculated when hospitals post updated price files. Last file parse date is shown above.

Data Completeness
Billing Grade Procedure Prices CMS Stars Ownership Charity Care Price Transparency PE Ownership Phone
Data sourced from CMS and hospital-published pricing files. Actual charges vary. Not medical, legal, or financial advice.