DC hospitals: More patients, fewer overnight stays

The District's hospitals again saw more patients in 2012, continuing to benefit from the city's sustained population growth, but, crucially, the growth came in emergency department visits and outpatient procedures while higher-revenue-generating inpatient admissions declined. All together, the city's eight full-service, commercial hospitals posted a 3 percent uptick in emergency cases, from 493,036 to 507,869. Also, ambulatory surgeries grew by 2.7 percent, up from 67,034 to 68,823, according to data published by the D.C. Hospital Association today. Both those categories have grown steadily in the past decade.