Description: In MEPS, hospital care information are collected for each type of hospital setting (emergency room, inpatient, and outpatient department). Hospital inpatient stays/visits/use/events include information on operations, whether the stay begin with ER visit, the number of nights in a hospital, reason for the stay, conditions related to the inpatient stay, and whether the stay took place in a VA facility. Expenditures for hospital inpatient services consist of payments from all sources such as direct payments from individuals, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Workers¿ Compensation, and miscellaneous other sources. Expenditures typically incorporate those for facility and separately billed physicians' services and expenses for emergency room services that immediately preceded a hospital stay. Hospital Inpatient Stays Files are available as part of the event-level files. Information summarized to the person-level is available on the full-year consolidated files under the Household Full Year Files.

Data tables: For tables specifically on hospital inpatient use and expenditures, go to the Table 5 series in the Expenditures by Health Care Service tables, and the Hospital Inpatient Stays columns of the Expenditures by Medical Condition tables of the HC Summary Data Tables.

Analytic tools: You can use the MEPSnet/HC query tool to generate your own estimates for hospital inpatient visits and expenditures. Select the Hospital Inpatient Stays variables within the Utilization, Expenditures, and SOP Variable Group of the Variable Selection Query Tab.