Section 1: Overview Statistics for Inpatient Hospital Stays (PDF)

EXHIBIT 1.1 Characteristics of U.S. Community Hospitals (PDF)
EXHIBIT 1.2 Inpatient Hospital Stays and Average Length of Stay (PDF)
EXHIBIT 1.3 Expected Primary Payer (PDF)
EXHIBIT 1.4 Discharge Status (PDF)
EXHIBIT 1.5 Patient Age (PDF)

• The number of hospital stays increased from 34.7 million in 1997 to 39.4 million in 2009, a 14-percent increase overall, or an average annual increase of 1.1 percent. However, the rate of hospitalizations remained unchanged between 1997 and 2009: there were 1,278 hospital stays for every 10,000 persons in the United States in 1997 and 1,284 stays per 10,000 persons in 2009.
• Between 1997 and 2009, the aggregate inflation-adjusted costs for hospitalizations—the actual costs of producing hospital services—increased 57 percent. Costs rose from $229.6 billion to $361.5 billion—an average annual increase of 3.9 percent.
• The average length of stay (ALOS) in 2009 (4.6 days) was almost 20-percent shorter than in 1993 (5.7 days). The ALOS declined throughout most of the 1990s and has remained unchanged since 2000.
• In 2009, Medicare and Medicaid were the expected primary payers for more than half (57 percent) of all inpatient hospital stays (accounting for 14.7 and 8.0 million hospital stays, respectively).
• Between 1997 and 2009, uninsured and Medicaid stays (both up 42 percent) grew at three times the rate of all stays.
• The number of stays billed to Medicare grew by 17 percent from 1997 to 2009, while private insurance was unchanged.
• The number of discharges to home healthcare grew by 68 percent between 1997 and 2009.
• Uninsured and Medicaid stays accounted for over half (52 percent) of all stays discharged against medical advice, but only one-quarter (26 percent) of all other stays.
• Persons residing in the poorest communities had a 19-percent higher rate of hospitalization in 2009 (1,420 stays per 10,000 population) than those residing in all other communities (1,189 stays per 10,000 population).

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