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QualityTool Icon QualityTool:

Hospitalization in the United States, 2002


square iconDescription

This 64-page fact book summarizes information from the National Inpatient Sample, an all-payer hospital database maintained by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. It provides critical information about hospitalization for policymakers and researchers interested in improving the quality and efficiency of the U.S. health care system.

This tool includes the following sections:

  • Executive summary
  • Overview of hospitals in the United States
  • Who is admitted to the hospital?
    • Gender characteristics of hospitalizations
    • Age characteristics of hospitalizations
  • Why are patients admitted to the hospital?
    • Most frequent reasons for hospitalizations
    • Most common reasons for hospitalization by age groups
    • Most common reasons for hospital stays by body system
    • Comorbidities
    • Most common comorbidities
    • Variations in comorbidities by age group
  • How are patients admitted to the hospital?
    • Admission status
    • Admissions through the emergency department (ED)
    • Admissions through the ED by payer
    • Variations in ED admissions by age group and gender
  • How much do hospitals charge?
    • Conditions with the highest charges
    • Conditions with the longest lengths of stay
  • Who is billed for hospital care?
    • Payers for hospital care
    • Medicare
    • Medicaid
    • Private insurers
    • Uninsured
    • Aggregate charges
  • How are patients discharged from the hospital?
    • Discharge status
    • Discharges to other institutions
    • Conditions with highest inpatient mortality
    • Conditions with highest inpatient mortality by age group
    • Patients leaving against medical advice
  • Source of data for this report
  • Methods
  • Appendix: 2002 statistics on stays in U.S. hospitals, principal diagnosis

Links to the Tool:
This tool is available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/factbk6/factbk6.pdf (If you don't have the software to open this PDF, download free Adobe Acrobat Reader® software.)

Developer

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Elixhauser, Anne Ph.D.; Merrill, Chaya T., M.P.H.

Funding Sources

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


QualityTool Topic

Benchmarking/Comparative Data; Quality Improvement Strategies


History

  • Release Date: 06/2005
  • Original Summary: 11/2005
Disclaimer: The inclusion of a tool in the Innovations Exchange does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or Westat of the tool or of the submitter or developer of the tool. Read more.
QualityTool Classification
Patient Population: spacer Vulnerable Populations > Frail elderly; Impoverished; Medically uninsured; Mentally ill; Terminally ill; Women
Stage of Care: spacer Acute care; Emergency care; End-of-life care
Setting of Care: spacer Emergency Setting > Hospital emergency department
Patient Care Process: spacer Active Care Processes: Diagnosis and Treatment > Assessment; Patient safety; After Care Processes > Transitions between settings; Care Management Processes > Coordination of care
IOM Domains of Quality: spacer Effectiveness; Efficiency
QualityTool Format: spacer Report; Web site
QualityTool Topic: spacer Benchmarking/Comparative Data; Quality Improvement Strategies
Developer: spacer Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Elixhauser, Anne Ph.D.; Merrill, Chaya T., M.P.H.
Funding Sources: spacer Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

 

Last updated: May 05, 2008.

 

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