Objectives: This report presents national estimates of the use of non-Federal short-stay hospitals in the United States during 1997 and selected trend data. Estimates are provided by demographic characteristics of patients discharged, geographic region of hospitals, conditions diagnosed, and surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed. Measurements of hospital use include number and rate of discharges and days of care, and the average length of stay.
Methods: The estimates are based on data collected through the National Hospital Discharge Survey. The survey has been conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics since 1965. In 1997, data were collected for approximately 300,000 discharges. Of the 501 eligible non-Federal short-stay hospitals in the sample, 474 (95 percent) responded to the survey. Diagnoses and procedures were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification, or ICD-9-CM.