Healthcare and social assistance revenue for the first quarter of 2015 was $579.3 billion, down 0.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Services Survey.
And spending was up 7.2 percent from the first quarter of 2014.
Here are five key points about the survey data.
1. Hospitals reported revenue of $263.4 billion in the first quarter of 2015, up 9.2 percent from the same period of 2014.
2. Within hospitals, general medical and surgical hospitals saw a 9.3 percent increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.
3. Ambulatory healthcare services reported revenue of $219.4 billion in the first quarter of 2015, up 5.9 percent from the same period of 2014.
4. Physician office revenue grew 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014, while outpatient care centers' revenue increased 8.7 percent.
5. Overall, the rise in healthcare spending is mostly attributed to greater use of health services as well as more people covered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The report notes that people also are starting to use more physician and outpatient services again as the economy improves.