A March 11 report from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF tracks the performance of healthcare systems over the last few decades.
Here are 45 statistics to know:
Treatment outcomes
The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker measured treatment-related quality of care by analyzing treatable mortality, in-hospital mortality and maternal mortality. Among the findings:
- Treatable deaths, defined as those with preventive or healthcare interventions, have remained relatively steady in the U.S. since 2010, with 96 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010, and 99 per 100,000 in 2021.
- The in-hospital mortality rate hovered between 2.0% and 2.5% of discharges from 1991 to 2019. In 2020, the rate rose to 3.1%.
- As access to care dwindled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, death rates and maternal morbidity, including hypertension and gestational diabetes, increased. U.S. maternal deaths have declined from their peak of 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021. However, racial and ethnic disparities remain high: In 2022, Black women were more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white or Hispanic women.
Appropriate treatment
It is difficult to nationally evaluate appropriate treatment due to the complexity of clinical decisions. Some metrics used to assess this quality measure are preventable emergency department visits, hospital admissions and readmissions.
- In the last decade, the percent of inpatient readmissions within 30 days of an acute care hospital stay among Medicare beneficiaries have remained stable at about 17%.
- Between 2016 and 2021, the 30-day unplanned readmission rate for cancer hospitalizations remained steady at about 15% to 16%, and for 30-day all-cause pediatric readmissions, the rate has also been consistent at about 27% to 28%.
- Visits and admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions have been declining.
- Between 2012 and 2020, hospitalizations for lower extremity amputation increased slightly, from 3.4 per 1,000 diabetic adults to 5 per 1,000. In 2020, 6.8 per 1,000 non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic white adults with diabetes were hospitalized for a lower extremity amputation, compared to 4.8 per 1,000 Hispanic adults and 1.4 per 1,000 Asian or Pacific Islander adults.
- Hospital visits for hyperglycemia increased from 21.8 per 1,000 diabetic adults in 2012 to 26.1 per 1,000 in 2020. This rate is highest among Black adults with diabetes, which is 35.1 per 1,000.
Patient safety
Although it is impossible to remove the chances of human error in healthcare delivery, well-designed health systems have operational structures to reduce medical errors. Since 2015, most acute care hospitals have lowered their rates of healthcare-associated infections.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, the standardized infection ratio for nearly all HAIs increased — except for Clostridium difficile infections, which have decreased from a 0.99 SIR in 2015 to 0.48 in 2022.
- The largest SIR spike among HAIs was ventilator-associated events, which peaked in 2021 at 1.46 and have since remained high.
- Effective communication with patients is a key factor in patient safety. In 2022, 86% of Medicare patients said discharge information was "always" communicated well, 65% said the same for hospital staff responsiveness and 62% for medication clarification.
Preventive services
Preventive care is a commonly calculated quality metric for primary care physicians, and insurance plans are legally required to fully cover these services, but only a minority of U.S. patients receive all recommended preventive services.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this healthcare gap, and since the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy has been on the rise.
- In 2023, 66% of adults said they received all age- and gender-appropriate cancer screenings.
- More than 80% of female adults received a breast cancer screening, 76.5% of adults received an annual checkup, 65.7% of adults received a colorectal screening and 46.7% of female adults received a cervical cancer screening in 2023.
- The HHS' Healthy People initiative outlines a national goal of 70% flu vaccination by 2030, and although flu shot rates increased during the pandemic, they have since declined. In the 2009-10 virus season, 41.2% of adults received a flu shot, 52.1% during 2020-21 and 47.2% during 2023-24.
- In the 2023-24 season, 49.7% of non-Hispanic white people, 44.5% non-Hispanic Black people and 42.2% Hispanic people received the flu shot.
Health system capacity and workforce shortage
These metrics measure a health system's ability to provide timely, appropriate care.
- In 2010, there were 2.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people. After a decrease in non-profit hospital beds, this figure has fallen to 2.4 beds per 1,000 people as of 2022.
- The number of practicing physicians increased from 2.3 per 1,000 people in 2000 to 2.7 per 1,000 in 2022. The nation's supply of nurses has also increased, with 14.2 licensed nurses per 1,000 people in 2000 to 18.6 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Despite these increases in practicing physicians and nurses, a significant percentage of healthcare needs go unmet. In 2024, 47% of primary care needs were met, as well as 32% for dental care and 27% for mental healthcare.
- Diversity in the healthcare workforce has been shown to improve patient outcomes and health equity. From 2019 to 2022, however, 19% of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic but only 7% of the physician workforce is Hispanic.