Definitions and Methodology

Hospital name, state, and status are taken from three sources according to the following precedence:,

• Information may be collected and updated as the result of direct communications with hospitals, news items, etc.  Such information has highest precedence over other sources.
• Information may be collected or updated directly from a hospital's website or from a system's website.
• Information for hospitals without websites may be taken from their most recent Medicare cost report and/or the Medicare Provider of Services file.  (Data for these hospitals are updated quarterly as new versions of these files become available.  Data from these sources is only used when information is not available from a website or through direct communications.)

The type of facility is determined from the last four digits of its CMS Certification Number (CCN).  Only short term acute care hospitals are reported:

Numbers of staffed beds are taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare cost report (W/S S-3, Part I, col.1).  Cost report instructions define staffed beds as, "the number of beds available for use by patients at the end of the cost reporting period.  A bed means an adult bed, pediatric bed, birthing room, or newborn bed maintained in a patient care area for lodging patients in acute, long term, or domiciliary areas of the hospital. Beds in labor room, birthing room, postanesthesia, postoperative recovery rooms, outpatient areas, emergency rooms, ancillary departments, nurses' and other staff residences, and other such areas which are regularly maintained and utilized for only a portion of the stay of patients (primarily for special procedures or not for inpatient lodging) are not termed a bed for these purposes."  The total number of general med/surg beds plus special care beds are reported:

• General Medical/Surgical Beds are the beds used for routine care.
• Special Care Beds include Intensive Care Units, Coronary Care Units, etc.

The total number of inpatient discharges (all payors) is taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare Cost Report (W/S S-3, part I, line 14, column 15).

The total number of patient days (all payors) is taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare Cost Report (W/S S-3, part I, line 12, column 6).

The total patient revenue (inpatient and outpatient) is taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare Cost Report (W/S G-2, part I, line 25, column 10).