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AHRQ News and Numbers
Release date: August 2, 2005
According to the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the top five procedures performed on hospital patients in 2003, were:
- Cesarean section (C-section)
- 1.2 million procedures.
- $14.6 billion in total charges.
- Upper GI endoscopy for diagnosing ulcers, stomach cancer, and other problems
- 712,000 procedures.
- $14.5 billion in total charges.
- Catheterization to diagnose heart problems
- 707,000 procedures.
- $17.3 billion in total charges.
- Respiratory intubation and mechanical ventilation (artificial respiration)
- 617,000 procedures.
- $35.4 billion in total charges.
- Angioplasty to widen plaque-narrowed arteries in the heart
- 676,000 procedures.
- $26.5 billion in total charges.
The total charge statistics reflect what hospitals charged for patient stays involving the above-cited principal procedures. They do not include physician fees.
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