Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2022

Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2022

The American Hospital Association conducts an annual survey of hospitals in the United States. The data below, from the 2020 AHA Annual Survey, are a sample of what you will find in AHA Hospital Statistics, 2022 edition. The definitive source for aggregate hospital data and trend analysis, AHA Hospital Statistics includes current and historical data on utilization, personnel, revenue, expenses, managed care contracts, community health indicators, physician models, and much more. The AHA has also created Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals Infographics to provide visualizations for this data.

AHA Hospital Statistics is published annually by Health Forum, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association. To order print copies of AHA Hospital Statistics, call (800) AHA-2626 or visit the AHA online store. An interactive online version is also available.

Note that the ICU beds data is not published in AHA Hospital Statistics.

For further information, contact the AHA Resource Center at rc@aha.org.

1. Community hospitals are defined as all nonfederal, short-term general, and other special hospitals. Other special hospitals include obstetrics and gynecology; eye, ear, nose, and throat; long term acute-care; rehabilitation; orthopedic; and other individually described specialty services. Community hospitals include academic medical centers or other teaching hospitals if they are nonfederal short-term hospitals.  Excluded are hospitals not accessible by the general public, such as prison hospitals or college infirmaries.

2. Other hospitals include nonfederal long term care hospitals and hospital units within an institution such as a prison hospital or school infirmary. Long term care hospitals may be defined by different methods; here they include other hospitals with an average length of stay of 30 or more days.

3. Intensive care bed counts are reported on the AHA Annual Survey by approximately 80% of hospitals. Therefore, the Intensive care bed counts have been supplemented with FY2018 data reported in the CMS Healthcare Cost Report Information System (HCRIS). Total intensive care beds are not summed because the care provided is specialized. Fast Facts will be updated with FY2019 ICU bed counts in February 2021.

4. Medical-surgical intensive care. Provides patient care of a more intensive nature than the usual medical and surgical care, on the basis of physicians’ orders and approved nursing care plans. These units are staffed with specially trained nursing personnel and contain monitoring and specialized support equipment for patients who because of shock, trauma or other life-threatening conditions require intensified comprehensive observation and care. Includes mixed intensive care units.

5. Cardiac intensive care. Provides patient care of a more specialized nature than the usual medical and surgical care, on the basis of physicians’ orders and approved nursing care plans. The unit is staffed with specially trained nursing personnel and contains monitoring and specialized support or treatment equipment for patients who, because of heart seizure, open-heart surgery, or other life-threatening conditions, require intensified, comprehensive observation and care. May include myocardial infarction, pulmonary care, and heart transplant units.

6. Neonatal intensive care. A unit that must be separate from the newborn nursery providing intensive care to all sick infants including those with the very lowest birth weights (less than 1500 grams). NICU has potential for providing mechanical ventilation, neonatal surgery, and special care for the sickest infants born in the hospital or transferred from another institution. A full-time neonatologist serves as director of the NICU.

7. Pediatric intensive care. Provides care to pediatric patients that is of a more intensive nature than that usually provided to pediatric patients. The unit is staffed with specially trained personnel and contains monitoring and specialized support equipment for treatment of patients who, because of shock, trauma, or other life-threatening conditions, require intensified, comprehensive observation and care.

8. Burn care. Provides care to severely burned patients. Severely burned patients are those with any of the following: (1) second-degree burns of more than 25% total body surface area for adults or 20% total body surface area for children: (2) third-degree burns of more than 10% total body surface area; (3) any severe burns of the hands, face, eyes, ears, or feet; or (4) all inhalation injuries, electrical burns, complicated burn injuries involving fractures and other major traumas, and all other poor risk factors.

9. Other intensive care. A specially staffed, specialty equipped, separate section of a hospital dedicated to the observation, care, and treatment of patients with life-threatening illnesses, injuries, or complications from which recovery is possible. It provides special expertise and facilities for the support of vital function and utilizes the skill of medical nursing and other staff experienced in the management of these problems.

10. System is defined by AHA as either a multihospital or a diversified single hospital system. A multihospital system is two or more hospitals owned, leased, sponsored, or contract managed by a central organization. Single, freestanding hospitals may be categorized as a system by bringing into membership three or more, and at least 25 percent, of their owned or leased non-hospital pre-acute or post-acute health care organizations. System affiliation does not preclude network participation.

© 2022 by Health Forum LLC, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association

Updated January 2022