WASHINGTON (Monday, October 25, 2004) -

The nation's hospitals continued to face many challenges in 2003 - including the increasing costs of providing care to patients, rising demand for care, workforce shortages, caring for those without health insurance given the rising number of uninsured, emergency readiness preparedness, and soaring medical liability insurance premiums - as reflected in the results of the latest American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey. Results of the survey were released today in AHA Hospital Statistics 2005, a reference source on hospitals published by the AHA subsidiary Health Forum.

"America's hospitals continue to play an important role in the communities they serve and health care providers work increasingly hard to meet the challenges they face today," said AHA President Dick Davidson. "For example, in addition to health care services provided in their facilities, many hospitals are developing and implementing long-term plans to improve the health and wellness of their communities. Hospitals' dedication to their mission is stronger than ever. AHA will continue to work with community hospitals across the nation to meet the challenges they face so hospitals can keep their doors open and deliver quality care to all who need it."

New to this year's AHA Hospital Statistics is a section entitled "Trends: An Overview of 2003" that highlights the events affecting health care in 2003 and reports on survey data that identifies and adds perspective to longstanding and emerging trends.

Among continuing trends, the survey reports hospitals' financial health remained fragile, with roughly one-third of America's hospitals operating in the red. Overall, payments failed to keep pace with the cost of caring for patients, causing operating margins to decline. In particular, Medicare reimbursed 95 cents of every dollar hospitals spent caring for Medicare patients, continuing a pattern of declining reimbursements over the past five years. Medicaid reimbursement dropped to 92 cents on the dollar. However, while hospitals saw improvements in their investments that caused overall margins to increase slightly, continued volatility in the markets means this is not a stable and reliable source of income.

AHA Hospital Statistics also shows that more Americans are turning to hospitals for care, continuing a trend seen over the last several years. In 2003, hospitals saw more than 34.7 million inpatient admissions and nearly 111 million emergency visits - an increase in emergency visits of 11.6 percent in five years. However, America's community hospitals experienced the first decline in outpatient surgeries - down by 1.1 percent - in more than two decades reflecting the impact of the proliferation of ambulatory surgical centers.

AHA Hospital Statistics contains data gathered from more than 5,000 hospitals and health systems across the country and includes data arranged by state, region and Metropolitan Statistical Area. Some highlights include the number of surgical operations, births and emergency department visits.

To order AHA Hospital Statistics, call 1-800-AHA-2626, or visit the online store at www.ahaonlinestore.com. Single copies (item number 082005) are available at $155 for AHA members and $235 for non-AHA members, plus shipping and handling. A combination of the book and MS Excel files on CD-ROM (item number 082205) is available as well at $330 for AHA members and $630 for non-AHA members.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations that are committed to health improvement in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include almost 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks and other providers of care. Founded in 1898, AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.

About Health Forum

Health Forum, an affiliate of the AHA, offers health care leaders access to new information and fresh ideas that they can use to strengthen their organization's clinical and business performance. For more information, visit www.HealthForum.com.

Contact: Elizabeth Lietz - 202-626-2284

Jennifer Armstrong Gay - 202-626-2342