The migration of outpatient services from hospitals to freestanding clinics and physicians continues to impact traditional hospitals.  The July 2006  Trendwatch Report, from the American Hospital Association, examined the issues raised by the migration of outpatient services out of the hospital setting.

In the report, the AHA states that in 2005, 55% of outpatient surgeries were done in freestanding surgery centers or physician offices.

In 2004/05, we began asking respondents their facility preference for outpatient services: hospital outpatient services, physician's office, or a freestanding clinic for outpatient services.

In 2004/05, 57% of our respondents preferred to use a hospital for outpatient services, which dropped to 54.8% in 2005/06.  Respondent preference for freestanding facilities  rose from 11.2% to 11.8%, and for physician offices from 31.1% to 33.4%.

While at the National level,  54% of HCMG respondents still preferred the hospital setting for outpatient services, that percentage ranged among MSAs from 32.3% in Bakersfield, CA to 70.1% in Huntington-Ashland WV-KY-OH.

With the release of the 2006/07 NRC Healthcare Market Guide data, we'll be able to see three years of data for this question.

AHA's Trendwatch July 2006
http://www.ahapolicyforum.org/ahapolicyforum/trendwatch/twjuly06.html