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Show Hospital Length of Stay Community Hospital Rates The trend for the past 20 years in hospital length of stay has been a gradual reduction in number of days spent in the hospital, although the most recent length-of-stay is similar to that attained in 1985 for Utah and the U.S. Overall, the decrease from 1973 to 1993 has been 0.8 days for the U.S., and 1.5 days for Utah. This decrease could be a result of the current emphasis on reducing medical costs, as well as more effective medical treatments. Utah's average length of stay is two days shorter than the U.S. average and the lowest in the nation (along with Oregon). One possible reason for this might be Utah's generally younger, healthier population. Another reason might be due to regional differences in practice patterns. A third possible reason might be that childbirth related admissions are higher for Utah than the U.S. average (see Table 68, p74). Table 103. Hospital Length of Stay* Year Utah U.S. Difference 1973 5.8 7.8 2.0 1974 5.6 7.8 2.2 1975 5.6 7.7 2.1 1976 5.5 7.7 2.2 1977 5.2 7.6 2.4 1978 5.2 7.6 2.4 1979 5.3 7.6 2.3 1980 5.4 7.6 2.2 1981 5.5 7.6 2.1 1982 5.4 7.6 2.2 1983 5.4 7.6 2.2 1984 5.1 7.3 2.2 1985 5.1 7.1 2.0 1986 5.2 7.1 1.9 1987 5.4 7.2 1.8 1988 5.4 7.2 1.8 1989 5.5 7.2 1.7 1990 5.4 7.2 1.8 1991 5.2 7.2 2.0 1992 5.0 7.1 2.1 1993 4.3 7.0 2.6 *Number of days. Figure 57 O 0) JQ E 3 8 T 7--6-- 5 --4--3 -- 2-- Hospital Length of Stay Utah U.S. H----1----h 1 1973 1975 1977 1979 H-------1-------1 H-------1-------h H-------I-------1-------1 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 100 Health Care Costs, Access, and Quality |
