Hospital inpatient services account for about one-third of all health care spending. An AHRQ brief examines use and cost data from 2003 to 2013, with 2012 and 2013 being projections. (The fact that the government in July of 2014 has to project data for 2012 and 2013 shows how deficient our data gathering and analysis is. So much for being able to spot trends and identify problems and solutions in near real-time.) (AHRQ Stat. Brief) Between 1997 and 2011, aggregate hospital costs grew 3.6% annually, on an inflation adjusted basis. Costs means the actual costs for hospitals to deliver their services. Prices charged for those services have risen at a much faster rate. In the study time period, the average hospitalization cost went from $9100 to $10,600; a 2% annual rise, similar to what is projected for 2012 and 2013. Surgical admissions are the highest average cost, and pregnancy the lowest. Surgical and pregnancy admission costs are growing the fastest as well, although still at a relatively low rate. The number of admissions, about 37.4 million a year, has shown no growth over the 2003 to 2013 period, although mental health admissions are rising 3 times faster than any other segment. Length of stay is also relatively flat, at around 4.7 days over the period. Overall the picture is one of stability in inflation-adjusted costs, number of admissions and length of stay, with only one or two subsegments, like mental health, showing change rates significantly different than the overall one. Hospital costs are regularly growing faster than inflation, which explains some price increases.
✅ Subscribe via Email
About this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at [email protected].
Healthy Skeptic Podcast
Research
MedPAC 2019 Report to Congress
June 18, 2019
Headlines
Tags
Access
ACO
Care Management
Chronic Disease
Comparative Effectiveness
Consumer Directed Health
Consumers
Devices
Disease Management
Drugs
EHRs
Elder Care
End-of-Life Care
FDA
Financings
Genomics
Government
Health Care Costs
Health Care Quality
Health Care Reform
Health Insurance
Health Insurance Exchange
HIT
HomeCare
Hospital
Hospital Readmissions
Legislation
M&A
Malpractice
Meaningful Use
Medicaid
Medical Care
Medicare
Medicare Advantage
Mobile
Pay For Performance
Pharmaceutical
Physicians
Providers
Regulation
Repealing Reform
Telehealth
Telemedicine
Wellness and Prevention
Workplace
Related Posts
Commentary
March 28, 2024
More Economic News
The Congressional Budget Office is expressing increasing alarm at the federal deficit and debt situation.
Commentary
March 27, 2024
Funniest Story of the Day
Would would have thought that hail could destroy a solar farm? Certainly not the nut-case…
Commentary
March 27, 2024
What Is Going on in the US Debt Markets?
The Treasury seems determined to rely on massive amounts of short-term debt to finance our…