Hospital beds per 1,000 population, 2021: 2.8
Average length of stay in hospital, 2021: 6.5 days
Average number of in-person doctor consultations per person, 2021: 3.4
CT scanners per million population, 2021: 43
CT exams per 1,000 population, 2021: 255
MRI units per million population, 2021: 38
MRI exams per 1,000 population, 2021: 108
PET scanners per million population, 2021: 6
PET exams per 1,000 population, 2021: 7
Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.
Hospital Beds Per 1,000 Population (2018): 2.83
Nurse-To-Hospital-Bed Ratio (FTE) (2018): 2.49
Doctors Consultations (In All Settings) (Number Per Capita) (2011): 4
Hospital Average Length of Stay (All Causes) (2010): 4.8 Days
Computed Tomography Scanners (Per Million Population) (2020): 42.43
Magnetic Imaging Resonance Units (Per Million Population) (2020): 34.54
Mammographs (Per Million Population) (2020): 66.92
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed April 19, 2022.
Total Number of All U.S. Hospitals, 2021: 6,129
– Number of US Community Hospitals: 5,157
– Number of Federal Government Hospitals: 206
– Number of Nonfederal Psychiatric Hospitals, 2021: 659
– Number of Other Hospitals, 2021: 107
Total Staffed Beds in All US Hospitals, 2021: 919,649
– Staffed Beds in Community Hospitals, 2021: 787,987
Source: American Hospital Association. Fast Facts on US Hospitals, 2023. Last accessed November 10, 2023.
“In terms of ambulatory care, the total number of establishments in the United States increased by around 6%, from about 455,000 in 1995 to over 483,500 in 2015. The number of doctors’ offices, a subset of the total ambulatory care establishments, has declined since 2000 and was about 178,000 in 2015. The size of these offices varies. A plurality of physicians in 2012–2013 were in practices of 1–2 physicians (43%) (Casalino et al., 2018). Another 31% were in offices with 3–9 physicians, while 26% had 10 or more physicians. From 2010 to 2016 the percentage of primary care physicians working in a hospital or healthcare system increased by 57% (from 28% to 44%), while those in independent solo or group practices decreased (Fulton, 2017). Another subset of ambulatory care establishments – dentists’ offices – experienced an increase, from about 114,000 in 1995 to nearly 126,000 in 2015. Medicare certified ambulatory surgical centres grew more than five-fold between 1990 and 2015. Rural health clinics experienced an even greater growth, having a ten-fold increase between 1980 and 2015.”
Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.
“In contrast to the growth in ambulatory care, the number of hospitals decreased significantly from 1980 to 2015. The consolidations and closings of hospitals since the 1980s that contributed to this decline are related to changes in hospital payment and the rise of managed care (Rice & Unruh, 2016). The change from retrospective to prospective payment by Medicare and other payers, reductions in payment rates and managed care practices promoted reductions in patient lengths of stay, movement of patients to outpatient settings, increased competition among hospitals, and increased hospital financial constraints. These operational changes stimulated hospital consolidation and closing. The decrease in the number of hospitals occurred across all sizes with the exception of smaller hospitals (6–49 beds), which have increased in numbers over this time period.”
Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.
“As of this writing, no other U.S. health care system has made their wait times publicly available. Our data thus represent the largest, national, and most representative measures of timely access to care for patients of both VHA and community providers.”
Source: Feyman, Y., Legler, A., & Griffith, K. N. (2021). Appointment wait time data for primary & specialty care in veterans health administration facilities vs. community medical centers. Data in brief, 36, 107134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107134
“Compared with the PS [Private Sector], overall mean VA [Veterans Administration] wait times for new appointments in 2014 were similar (mean [SD] wait time, 18.7 [7.9] days PS vs 22.5 [7.3] days VA; P = .20). Department of Veterans Affairs wait times in 2014 were similar to those in the PS across specialties and regions. In 2017, overall wait times for new appointments in the VA were shorter than in the PS (mean [SD], 17.7 [5.9] vs 29.8 [16.6] days; P < .001). This was true in primary care (mean [SD], 20.0 [10.4] vs 40.7 [35.0] days; P = .005), dermatology (mean [SD], 15.6 [12.2] vs 32.6 [16.5] days; P < .001), and cardiology (mean [SD], 15.3 [12.6] vs 22.8 [10.1] days; P = .04). Wait times for orthopedics remained longer in the VA than the PS (mean [SD], 20.9 [13.3] vs 12.4 [5.5] days; P = .01), although wait time improved significantly between 2014 and 2017 in the VA for orthopedics while wait times in the PS did not change (change in mean wait times, increased 1.5 days vs decreased 5.4 days; P = .02). Secondary analysis demonstrated an increase in the number of unique patients seen and appointment encounters in the VA between 2014 and 2017 (4 996 564 to 5 118 446, and 16 476 461 to 17 331 538, respectively), and patient satisfaction measures of access also improved (satisfaction scores increased by 1.4%, 3.0%, and 4.0% for specialty care, routine primary care, and urgent primary care, P < .05).”
Source: Penn M, Bhatnagar S, Kuy S, et al. Comparison of Wait Times for New Patients Between the Private Sector and United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(1):e187096. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.7096
“Long-term care facilities in the United States may or may not be certified by the CMS. The total number of Medicare-certified nursing homes has been decreasing since 1995 and in 2015 was close to 15,700. In contrast, the number of Medicare-certified home health agencies increased fourfold from 1980 to 2015, and stood at 12,149 in 2015. Medicare-certified hospice agencies increased similarly, most likely in response to the initiation of Medicare payment for hospice care in 1982. Since 1980 the number of end-stage renal disease facilities has increased six-fold.”
Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.
“Healthcare facilities may be under public or private ownership, and may be licensed by state governments, certified by the CMS for the Medicare programme and / or accredited by private agencies. Hospitals and nursing homes, for example, are licensed by each state and may receive certification from the CMS and accreditation by the Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), a private not-for-profit organization. Licensing and certification require that the facility meets standards both for the physical structure and for the quality and safety of services provided by the facility. New building construction may be regulated by a certificate of need (CON) law in the state.”
Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.
“Hospital-acquired adverse events (or conditions) were observed within 10,091 hospitalizations. After private equity acquisition, Medicare beneficiaries admitted to private equity hospitals experienced a 25.4% increase in hospital-acquired conditions compared with those treated at control hospitals (4.6 [95% CI, 2.0-7.2] additional hospital-acquired conditions per 10,000 hospitalizations, P = .004). This increase in hospital-acquired conditions was driven by a 27.3% increase in falls (P = .02) and a 37.7% increase in central line–associated bloodstream infections (P = .04) at private equity hospitals, despite placing 16.2% fewer central lines. Surgical site infections doubled from 10.8 to 21.6 per 10,000 hospitalizations at private equity hospitals despite an 8.1% reduction in surgical volume; meanwhile, such infections decreased at control hospitals, though statistical precision of the between-group comparison was limited by the smaller sample size of surgical hospitalizations. Compared with Medicare beneficiaries treated at control hospitals, those treated at private equity hospitals were modestly younger, less likely to be dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and more often transferred to other acute care hospitals after shorter lengths of stay. In-hospital mortality (n = 162,652 in the population or 3.4% on average) decreased slightly at private equity hospitals compared with the control hospitals; there was no differential change in mortality by 30 days after hospital discharge.”
Source: Kannan S, Bruch JD, Song Z. Changes in Hospital Adverse Events and Patient Outcomes Associated With Private Equity Acquisition. JAMA. 2023;330(24):2365–2375. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.23147
“Although there is a burgeoning literature on PE activity within several health care sectors and specialties, there has been little research to date examining PE activity in dentistry, including how PE affiliation among dentists varies by dentist demographics, specialty, or state. One study found that PE deals in dentistry steadily increased from 2011 to 2019, particularly among oral-maxillofacial surgery practices. During this period, PE-affiliated deals with dental practices amounted to about $4.4 billion.16
“The dental provider market is highly fragmented,17 which makes it an attractive acquisition target for PE firms, given the perceived potential to improve the efficiency of practices and increase PE firms’ profit margins or market share. As in other health care sectors,2,18 in dentistry, PE firms often establish new provider platforms, such as management organizations1 (called dental support organizations, or DSOs, in dentistry),19 and they build market power by adding more practices to these organizations to achieve economies of scale. Although DSOs operate with the primary aim of supporting the operational aspects of dental practices, the involvement of PE firms introduces a financial dimension, with their focus on scaling up these practices to achieve economies of scale and improved market share. This intersection between DSOs and PE firms can significantly influence the business strategies and operational dynamics of dental care provision. However, it is important to note that not all DSOs are under PE firm influence; some operate independently, maintaining distinct operational and financial objectives.”
Source: Kamyar Nasseh, Anthony T. LoSasso, and Marko Vujicic. Percentage Of Dentists And Dental Practices Affiliated With Private Equity Nearly Doubled, 2015–21. Health Affairs 2024 43:8, 1082-1089
Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Health Expenditures
Health System Financing
Coverage and Access
Costs for Consumers
Health System Resources and Utilization
Preventive Healthcare
World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.
Page last updated March 18, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.