Making Sense of Your UW Medical Bills

Patients of UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center receive bills from Patient Financial Services (PFS) that cover inpatient hospital stays, clinic visits and other outpatient services, such as X-rays, lab tests and therapies. These are Medical Center Services (also called Facility Fees) and are separate from the professional fees doctors charge.

UW Physicians (UWP) is a separate entity from the medical centers and bills professional fees for services provided by doctors practicing at both medical centers. This is why you may receive two bills for the same visit:  one from PFS covering medical center services and one from UWP for the services provided by your physician.

Provider-based clinics, such as those located within the medical center, will issue both a facility fee and a professional fee in one bill. The UW Medical Center provider-based clinics include: 

• Main clinics in the medical center on N.E. Pacific Avenue

• UWMC-Roosevelt clinics

• Eastside Specialty Center

• UW Medicine Regional Heart Center – Alderwood 

• UWMC Prosthetics and Orthotics Clinic

• Center on Human Development and Disability

Hospital charges may be as much as, or greater than, the charges for professional services, depending on services. Patients may also receive bills for visits with other providers, including: 

• Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

• Children’s University Medical Group

• Airlift Northwest (air and ground ambulance service)

• Support Med (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologists)

For questions about your bill, please contact: