There are 5759 registered hospitals in the United States. This includes 2967 non-government not-for-profit community hospitals, 835 for-profit community hospitals, 1117 state and local government community hospitals, 239 federal government hospitals, and 601 hospitals of other types.
There are 955,768 staffed beds in all U.S. registered hospitals.
There were 36,941,951 admissions to hospitals in 2004.
Total expenses for all hospitals in the United States in 2004 were $533,853,359,000.
The American Hospital Association defines a multihospital system as "two or more hospitals owned, leased, sponsored, or contract managed by a central organization." A hospital system can also be a "diversified single hospital system" if a hospital brings three or more preacute or postacute non-hospital healthcare organizations into its membership. 2669 community hospitals in America are in a system.
A network is a "group of hospitals, physicians, other providers, insurers, and/or community agencies that work together to coordinate and deliver a broad spectrum of services to their community." 1464 community hospitals in America are in a network.
A hospital can be in both a system and a network. A hospital's status as part of a system or network affects patients because it helps doctors and other providers to coordinate care, and also affects referrals -- whether it might be your primary care doctor who refers you to a certain hospital because her group is in its network, or a doctor at a hospital who refers you to a certain physician group for the same reason.