Hospitals are a major employer of statisticians and analytics professionals, both in support of clinical research like the retinopathy study described earlier, and to improve hospital operations (outcomes, cost management, etc.). Here are a few quick facts about the hospital industry:

• US hospital revenue totals over $1 trillion – about 5% of GDP. This is larger than the auto industry and on a par with the banking sector

• This revenue is split roughly 50/50 between inpatient and outpatient services, with outpatient growing faster

• Hospitals spent $38 billion on “uncompensated” care (or, to be more precise, on patients whose care was ultimately paid for by the fees charged to other patients)

• Government hospitals spent $14,015 per inpatient stay, not-for-profits hospitals spent $13,504, while investor-owned hospitals spent $10,273

• The hospital sector is relatively unconsolidated – the biggest hospital system has less than 5% of the market.