Hospital outpatient services under Medicare, 1987

Abstract

Presented in this article are data related to hospital outpatient services provided for aged and disabled Medicare beneficiaries during calendar year 1987. Trend data are also presented for selected calendar years 1974-87. Hospital outpatient covered charges and Medicare program payments (in total and per enrollee) are the statistics employed to measure the use of hospital outpatient services. The data contained in this article should provide information to help identify trends and patterns of care for monitoring the Medicare hospital outpatient services.

Figure 1. Relative growth in total Medicare payments, hospital inpatient payments, and hospital outpatient payments: Selected years 1974-87 (Semi-logarithmic scale, 1974=100)

Figure 2. Percent distribution of hospital outpatient charges under Medicare, by type of service: 1987

Figure 3. Average program payment for hospital outpatient services per Medicare enrollee, by area of residence: 1987

Figure 4. Number of bills and average charge for hospital outpatient services under Medicare, by leading principal diagnosis: 1987

Figure 5. Number of procedures and average charge for hospital outpatient services under Medicare, by leading surgical procedure: 1987