Most Frequent Procedures Performed in U.S. Hospitals, 2010

From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:

Most hospitalizations involve one or more procedures, which can range from simple vaccinations to complex surgical procedures. The principal procedure is the procedure that is performed for definitive treatment (e.g., an appendectomy), but procedures can also be performed to make a diagnosis (e.g., tissue samples or exploratory surgery). Hospitalizations usually involve more than one procedure, which together constitute the all-listed procedures performed during a hospital stay.

This Statistical Brief presents data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) on the most common all-listed procedures performed during hospital stays in the United States in 2010, overall and by patient age. Changes between 1997 and 2010 in the number of stays and the rate of hospitalization in the population are presented for hospital stays with the most common procedures performed in 2010.

U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health

Here are recent health statistics:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality - Costs for Hospital Stays in the United States, 2010

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality - Emergency Department Visits and Hospital Inpatient Stays for Seasonal and 2009 H1N1 Influenza, 2008–2009

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 1999-2009 Cancer Incidence and Mortality Data

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - National Health Care Expenses in the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2010

National Academy of Sciences - U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health

Hospital Compare

Hospital Compare has information about the quality of care at over 4,000 Medicare-certified hospitals across the country. You can use Hospital Compare to find hospitals and compare the quality of their care.

The information on Hospital Compare:

Can help you make decisions about where you get your health care;
Encourages hospitals to improve the quality of care they provide.

Remember, in an emergency, you should go to the nearest hospital. When you can plan ahead, discuss the information you find here with your health care provider to decide which hospital will best meet your health care needs.

Some of the criteria:

Patient Survey Results

HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) is a national survey that asks patients about their experiences during a recent hospital stay. Use the results shown here to compare hospitals based on ten important hospital quality topics.

Timely & Effective Care

These measures show how often hospitals provide care that research shows gets the best results for patients with certain conditions. This information can help you compare which hospitals give recommended care most often as part of the overall care they provide to patients.

Readmissions, Complications and Deaths

Patients who are admitted to the hospital for treatment of medical problems sometimes get other serious injuries, complications, or conditions, and may even die. Some patients may experience problems soon after they are discharged and need to be admitted to the hospital again. These events can often be prevented if hospitals follow best practices for treating patients.

Use of Medical Imaging (tests like Mammograms, MRIs, and CT scans)

These measures give you information about hospitals' use of medical imaging tests for outpatients based on the following:
Protecting patients’ safety, such as keeping patients’ exposure to radiation and other risks as low as possible.
Following up properly when screening tests such as mammograms show a possible problem.
Avoiding the risk, stress, and cost of doing imaging tests that patients may not need.


Spending per hospital patient with Medicare

The "Spending per Hospital Patient with Medicare" measure shows whether Medicare spends more, less or about the same per Medicare patient treated in a specific hospital, compared to how much Medicare spends per patient nationally. This measure includes any Medicare Part A and Part B payments made for services provided to a patient during the 3 days prior to the hospital stay, during the stay, and during the 30 days after discharge from the hospital.

Number of Medicare patients treated

This shows the number of Medicare patients with a certain condition (MS-DRG) that a hospital treated during the current data collection period. These data are based on the number of Medicare patients that were discharged with a certain condition. They do not include patients in Medicare Health Plans.

A whole lot of health-related data

From the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

2010 Hospital Inpatient Stays File
2010 Prescribed Medicines File
Health Care Expenditures for the Five Most Common Conditions of Adults Ages 40 to 64, 2009
Preventive Health Care Utilization by Adult Residents of MSAs & Non-MSAs: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, 2009
Use & Expenses for Office-Based Physician Visits by Specialty, 2009: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population


From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2011 Imputed Family Income/Personal Earnings Files


From the National Center for Health Statistics

Wait Time for Treatment in Hospital Emergency Departments: 2009

Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys and lots of other health stats

From the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

2010 Emergency Room Visits
Office-Based Medical Provider Visits
2010 Outpatient Visits
Asthma Medication Use among Adults with Reported Treatment for Asthma, United States, 1998-1999 and 2008-2009
Trends in Use and Expenditures for Depression among U.S. Adults Age 18 and Older, Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 1999 and 2009
The Uninsured in America, 1996-2011: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 65


From the National Center for Health Statistics

Multiple Chronic Conditions Among Adults Aged 45 and Over: Trends Over the Past 10 Years



From the National Institute on Drug Abuse
Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2011 (Volume II): College Students & Adults Ages 19-50

Reports on Oral Health; Hypertension; Hospital Costs; Causes of Death

Selected Oral Health Indicators in the United States, 2005–2008 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Expenditures for Hypertension among Adults Age 18 and Older, 2009: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Components of Cost Increases for Inpatient Hospital Procedures, 1997-2009 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Deaths: Leading Causes for 2008 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Headaches in U.S. Hospitals and Emergency Departments

From HHS [PDF], 2008 data

Economic Impact on Hospitals and their Communities

Six out of ten hospitals nationally are seeing a greater proportion of patients without insurance coming through their emergency departments, according to a new survey from the American Hospital Association (AHA). At the same time, nearly half of hospitals reported they have cut staff. Recent employment information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that hospital employment is no longer growing and that the number of mass layoffs for hospitals reported in February was more than double what it was a year ago.