Trends in inpatient hospital deaths: National Hospital Discharge Survey, 2000-2010.

Abstract

In 2000, there were 2.4 million deaths in the United States, and in 2010 there were 2.5 million (1,2). In both years, about one-third of these deaths occurred in short-stay, general hospitals (3), despite research that found that most Americans prefer to die in their own homes (4-6). This report presents National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) data from 2000 through 2010 on patients who died during hospitalization.