`hospital_price_search`

Pack: hospital-prices · Connect: https://pipeworx.io/mcp (see Connect below for a single-pack URL)

No MCP client? Call it directly: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/hospital_price_search for the schema, then POST the same URL with its arguments for the data.

Hospital prices for a CPT/HCPCS or MS-DRG code near a ZIP: gross, cash, negotiated by payer, with explicit coverage and absence reasons.

Tool description as the model sees it

What hospitals near a US ZIP charge for one service, from the standard charges files each hospital publishes under the CMS price transparency rule. Per hospital: gross charge (list price, not what anyone pays), self-pay discounted cash price, the de-identified min/max negotiated amounts, and a summary of payer-specific negotiated dollar rates; pass payer and/or plan to get that payer’s negotiated rate rows. Each rate carries dollar_available: when a hospital published a percentage or formula instead of a dollar amount it says so and gives the hospital’s own text rather than a number. COVERAGE IS PARTIAL AND STATED (the store is loaded state by state; each response lists the states loaded): every response says how many hospitals in range have prices loaded, why others do not (the hospital’s site blocks us, no file found, …), and distinguishes “no hospital in range”, “hospital held but code absent” and “code present but payer not listed”. Holds only the CMS 70 shoppable CPT/HCPCS services and MS-DRGs. Use for “what does a head CT cost near 02139”, “MS-DRG 470 near 10016 for Aetna”.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`near`	string	yes	A 5-digit US ZIP (“10016”) or “lat,lon” (“40.7459,-73.9780”).
`radius_mi`	number	no	Search radius in miles (1-150, default 25). Straight-line, from ZIP centroid to the hospital’s ZIP centroid.
`payer`	string	no	Case-insensitive substring of the payer name (e.g. “aetna”, “blue cross”). Returns that payer’s negotiated rows.
`plan`	string	no	Case-insensitive substring of the plan name (e.g. “ppo”, “medicare advantage”).
`setting`	string	no	Restrict to inpatient or outpatient pricing. Default: both.
`limit`	number	no	Hospitals to return (1-50, default 20), nearest first.
`rates_per_hospital`	number	no	With payer/plan: negotiated rows per hospital (1-25, default 5).

Example call

Arguments

{
  "code": "470",
  "near": "60453",
  "radius_mi": 10,
  "limit": 4
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/hospital-prices/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"hospital_price_search","arguments":{"code":"470","near":"60453","radius_mi":10,"limit":4}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('hospital_price_search', {
  "code": "470",
  "near": "60453",
  "radius_mi": 10,
  "limit": 4
});

More examples

{
  "code": "470",
  "near": "60453",
  "radius_mi": 3,
  "payer": "blue cross"
}

Response shape

Field	Type	Description
`found`	boolean	Whether at least one priced result was found
`reason`	string	Machine-readable reason when found is false
`message`	string	Plain-language explanation of the reason
`hint`	string	How to narrow or fix the request
`data_as_of`	string \| null	File last-updated date, or the store cycle
`source`	string	Publisher and dataset
`licence_note`	string	Reuse-licence caveat
`coverage`	object	Which states and how many hospitals the store holds
`total`	number	Hospitals priced for the query
`returned`	number	Hospitals in this response
`truncated`	boolean	More hospitals than returned
`narrowing_hint`	string	How to narrow
`hospitals`	array	Hospitals with their prices or absence reasons
`hospitals_searched`	object	Counts of hospitals in range, with prices, priced
`not_priced`	object	Hospitals without a price and why
`searched`	object	The query as interpreted

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": true,
  "properties": {
    "found": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "Whether at least one priced result was found"
    },
    "reason": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Machine-readable reason when found is false"
    },
    "message": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Plain-language explanation of the reason"
    },
    "hint": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "How to narrow or fix the request"
    },
    "data_as_of": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "File last-updated date, or the store cycle"
    },
    "source": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Publisher and dataset"
    },
    "licence_note": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Reuse-licence caveat"
    },
    "coverage": {
      "type": "object",
      "description": "Which states and how many hospitals the store holds",
      "additionalProperties": true
    },
    "total": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Hospitals priced for the query"
    },
    "returned": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Hospitals in this response"
    },
    "truncated": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "More hospitals than returned"
    },
    "narrowing_hint": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "How to narrow"
    },
    "hospitals": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "Hospitals with their prices or absence reasons",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "additionalProperties": true,
        "properties": {
          "ccn": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "CMS Certification Number"
          },
          "name": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Hospital name"
          },
          "data_as_of": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "The hospital file's last_updated_on"
          },
          "prices": {
            "type": "array",
            "description": "Gross, cash and negotiated summary per setting",
            "items": {
              "type": "object",
              "additionalProperties": true
            }
          },
          "negotiated_rates": {
            "type": "array",
            "description": "Payer rows; dollar_available false carries methodology text",
            "items": {
              "type": "object",
              "additionalProperties": true,
              "properties": {
                "dollar_available": {
                  "type": "boolean",
                  "description": "False when the hospital published a percentage or formula, not a dollar figure"
                },
                "negotiated_dollar": {
                  "type": [
                    "number",
                    "null"
                  ],
                  "description": "Negotiated dollar amount"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "hospitals_searched": {
      "type": "object",
      "additionalProperties": true,
      "description": "Counts of hospitals in range, with prices, priced"
    },
    "not_priced": {
      "type": "object",
      "additionalProperties": true,
      "description": "Hospitals without a price and why"
    },
    "searched": {
      "type": "object",
      "additionalProperties": true,
      "description": "The query as interpreted"
    }
  }
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config — every tool in the catalog, including this one — or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Connect to just the hospital-prices pack

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hospital-prices": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/hospital-prices/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

hospital_price_search