Healthcare Insights

Top hospitals in California by net patient revenue

Home to more than 39 million people, California is the most populated state in the U.S. And, according to our healthcare commercial intelligence, there are more than 500 active hospitals in California.

Using Definitive Healthcare’s HospitalView product, we created a list of the top hospitals in California ranked by net patient revenue (NPR), looking at the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database.

It’s important to note that Kaiser Permanente, one of the biggest health systems in California, often does not submit full-cost reports for hospitals participating in their network to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. As a result, hospitals affiliated with Kaiser may not appear on the list below.

Top hospitals in California by net patient revenue

RankCalifornia hospital name County Definitive ID Net Patient Revenue Explore dataset
1Stanford Hospital - 300 Pasteur Dr  Santa Clara 588 $6,216,040,779  Explore
2UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights  San Francisco 560 $5,011,376,400  Explore
3Cedars-Sinai Medical Center  Los Angeles 430 $3,716,279,787  Explore
4University of California Davis Medical Center (AKA UC Davis Medical Center)  Sacramento 515 $2,965,455,011  Explore
5UC San Diego Medical Center  San Diego 550 $2,880,701,434  Explore
6Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center  Los Angeles 395 $2,298,503,641  Explore
7Santa Clara Valley Medical Center  Santa Clara 596 $2,234,920,007  Explore
8Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford (AKA Stanford Childrens Health)  Santa Clara 586 $2,127,849,835  Explore
9Helford Clinical Research Hospital (AKA City of Hope National Medical Center)  Los Angeles 370 $1,829,610,664  Explore
10UCI Medical Center (FKA UC Irvine Medical Center)  Orange 470 $1,659,711,206  Explore

Fig. 1  Data is from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the July 2023 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed October 2023.

Which California hospitals have the highest NPR?

Stanford Hospital in Santa Clara County has the highest net patient revenue among CA hospitals with an NPR of more than $6.2 billion, according to the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database.

In second place for top CA hospitals by NPR is the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights in San Francisco. The facility has an NPR of more than $5 billion. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is in third place with an NPR of more than $3.7 billion.

Notably, the top CA hospitals are evenly split between northern and southern California. The top two hospitals, however, are both located in Northern California, while Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is in the south. The majority of hospitals that rank among the bottom five on our list are in Southern California.

The tables below show that, generally speaking, hospitals in Northern California report a higher NPR than hospitals in Southern California in the most recent 12-month period tracked in our database.

Top hospitals in northern California by net patient revenue

RankNorthern CA hospital name City Definitive ID Net Patient Revenue Explore dataset
1Stanford Hospital - 300 Pasteur Dr Stanford 588 $6,216,040,779  Explore
2UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights San Francisco 560 $5,011,376,400  Explore
3University of California Davis Medical Center (AKA UC Davis Medical Center) Sacramento 515 $2,965,455,011  Explore
4Santa Clara Valley Medical Center San Jose 596 $2,234,920,007  Explore
5Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford (AKA Stanford Childrens Health) Palo Alto 586 $2,127,849,835  Explore

Fig. 2  Data is from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the July 2023 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed October 2023.

Top hospitals in southern California by net patient revenue

RankSouthern CA hospital name City Definitive ID Net Patient Revenue Explore dataset
1Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles 430 $3,716,279,787  Explore
2UC San Diego Medical Center San Diego 550 $2,880,701,434  Explore
3Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Los Angeles 395 $2,298,503,641  Explore
4Helford Clinical Research Hospital (AKA City of Hope National Medical Center) Duarte 370 $1,829,610,664  Explore
5UCI Medical Center (FKA UC Irvine Medical Center) Orange 470 $1,659,711,206  Explore

Fig. 3  Data is from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the July 2023 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed October 2023.

Comparing northern and southern California hospitals by NPR

Patient demographics may be one reason why hospitals in Northern California report a higher net patient revenue than their southern counterparts.

Northern California has different patient demographics compared to Southern California. Northern cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento have large populations and potentially a higher concentration of well-insured patients. San Jose, known for being a global hub for the tech industry, may have more people with private health insurance and higher incomes, which can lead to higher reimbursement rates and more extensive healthcare utilization. The generally higher cost of living in some areas in Northern California can also potentially translate into higher healthcare prices and, consequently, increased NPR for hospitals.

Another reason why hospital NPR is higher in Northern California may be because the area is home to some renowned academic medical centers and research institutions. Stanford Hospital, for example, is known worldwide for cardiovascular medicine and surgery, cancer treatment, and organ transplantation. The UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights is known for its achievements in neurology and neurosurgery and for becoming the first hospital on the West Coast to perform 150 robotic procedures for prostate cancer patients. These institutions, and others in Northern California, offer advanced treatments and specialized services, which can attract patients from across the U.S. and generate substantial revenue.

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