National Hospital Discharge Survey, 1985

This annual survey was conducted to provide current data on hospitalization and morbidity in the United States. The data include basic demographic characteristics of the discharged patients (age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status), their geographic (zip code) location, and their expected sources of payment for hospital bills. Medical information in the survey includes length of stay in hospital, discharge vital status, and type of discharge (routine, against medical advice, transferred to other short-term hospital, transferred to long-term care institution). Also included are surgical and diagnostic procedures while hospitalized, as well as principal and other final diagnoses. Hospital data are provided for geographic region of the country, number of beds, and hospital ownership (proprietary, government, nonprofit-church, nonprofit-other).