The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announces the release of HCUP Facts and Figures: Statistics on Hospital-Based Care in the United States, 2007, available online at the HCUP-US Website. This report presents data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database on hospital care in 2007, as well as trends in care from 1997 to 2007.

HCUP Facts and Figures features an overview of numerous hospital-related topics, including general characteristics of U.S. hospitals and the patients being treated; the most common diagnoses, conditions, and procedures associated with inpatient stays; the costs and charges associated with hospitalizations; and a special section that details trends in hospital care by expected payer, including Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and the uninsured.

Highlights from the 2007 report include:

• The total number of hospital discharges grew by 14 percent between 1997 and 2007, with growth varying by expected primary payer. The average length of stay declined from 4.8 to 4.6 days over this period, likely attributable to the decline in the average length of stay for hospitalizations billed to Medicare (from 6.3 to 5.6 days).
• Medicare and Medicaid were the expected primary payers for more than half of all inpatient hospital discharges and about 60 percent of aggregate hospital costs in 2007. Medicare stays had the highest average cost ($10,800) and Medicaid the lowest ($6,600). While the share of Medicare stays remained relatively stable between 1997 and 2007, discharges billed to Medicaid increased from 16 to 19 percent. Hospitalizations billed to Medicare and Medicaid accounted for more than three-quarters of the increase in discharges from 1997 to 2007.
• The share of discharges billed to private insurance fell from 39 to 35 percent between 1997 and 2007, reflecting the decline in the population with private insurance coverage.
• The uninsured accounted for 6 percent of all hospital stays in 2007, about the same as in 1997. These stays accounted for 22 percent of discharges against medical advice in 2007.
• Stays for some body system conditions and payers grew rapidly from 1997 to 2007:
• Medicare stays citing pregnancy and childbirth showed large increases, although the total number of stays remained relatively low. Infectious and parasitic conditions and blood disorders also rose rapidly for the Medicare population.
• Large growth occurred in Medicaid stays for skin, perinatal (newborns), pregnancy and childbirth, and musculoskeletal conditions.
• For private insurance and uninsured stays, large increases occurred in skin, blood, and endocrine conditions. There was also rapid growth in stays billed to private insurance for musculoskeletal conditions.
• Across all payers, there was rapid growth in the number of hospitalizations for acute renal failure, skin and subcutaneous tissue infections, anemia, non-specific chest pain, septicemia (blood infection), osteoarthritis, complication of device, implant, or graft, and complication of surgical procedures or medical care.

For more information, please visit the HCUP-US Website, or contact HCUP User Support at hcup@ahrq.gov.