Overview of Hospital Stays in the United States, 2012 #180

Overview of Hospital Stays in the United States, 2012 #180

AHRQ Stats

There were 36.5 million hospital stays in the United States in 2012, each averaging 4.5 days at a cost of $10,400. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #180: Overview of Hospital Stays in the United States, 2012.)

Overview of Hospital Stays in the United States, 2012

Audrey J. Weiss, Ph.D. and Anne Elixhauser, Ph.D. 

Highlights

In 2012, there were 36.5 million hospital stays in the United States, with an average length of stay of 4.5 days and an average cost of $10,400 per stay. The rate of hospitalization decreased by an average of 0.3 percent per year from 2003 to 2008 and by an average of 1.9 percent per year from 2008 to 2012. Between 2003 and 2012, average inflation-adjusted hospital costs increased by 1.8 percent per year. About 56 percent of hospital stays in 2012 were medical, 21.8 percent were surgical, and 22.2 percent were maternal or neonatal. Females had a higher rate of hospitalization in 2012 than did males, but males had a longer average length of stay and higher average cost per stay. In 2012, patients residing in low income communities had a higher rate of hospitalization, a longer length of stay, and lower average hospital costs compared with patients in higher income communities. The rate of hospital stays in 2012 was lower in the Pacific and Mountain divisions than in the other Census divisions. Patients hospitalized in the Northeast had the longest length of stay and patients in the West had the highest average hospital costs. From 2003 to 2012, the share of hospital stays billed to private insurance decreased from 36.6 to 30.6 percent.