Health care providers and facilities issue brief: health facilities: year end report-2004.

American health facilities are said to provide the best health care in the world. But hospitals are continually challenged by staff shortages, patient safety and medical errors, uninsured patients, and the growth of specialty hospitals. This issue brief provides an analysis of the issues that challenge hospitals' ability to provide quality care for patients. Moreover, the issue brief defines each issue, including staffing mandates, patient safety and medical errors, emergency hospitals, billing practices, and niche and specialty hospitals, outlines the arguments for and against each issue, and finally details and characterizes state legislative activity in regard to each issue. As of 2002, the most recent data available from the American Hospital Association (AHA), there were 5,794 registered hospitals in the United States. The AHA also states that there are 4,927 community hospitals, which includes non-governmental non-profit hospitals, investor-owned (for-profit) hospitals, and hospitals owned by state and local governments. The AHA defines community hospitals as all non-federal, short-term general, and other specialty hospitals. Specialty hospitals include obstetrics and gynecology, rehabilitation, orthopedic, and other individually described specialty services. Statistics provided by the AHA indicate that the number of rural and urban community hospitals is approximately equal--2,178 rural hospitals compared to 2,749 urban hospitals. However, this statistic alone does not address the quality of care in urban and rural settings. It does not address the total expenditures in rural and urban hospitals, nor does it address staffing levels.