AHA Hospital Data — FAQs

AHA Data covers more than 1,300 hospital data points primarily collected directly from hospitals and health systems. Core categories include:

• Demographics & location: Urban/rural designations, critical access status, geographic identifiers
• Operations & utilization: Admissions, ED visits, births, surgeries, average length of stay
• Staffing & leadership: FTE counts, Advanced Practice Providers, CEO/President contact details at the hospital and system level
• Service lines & specialties: 150+ service lines, updated annually with new categories (e.g., prenatal and postpartum services)
• Expenses & financials: Operational cost indicators
• Technology & IT adoption: AI usage, Remote Therapeutic Monitoring, virtual patient engagement tools
• Ownership & system affiliations: Parent health system linkages for system-level analysis

This breadth of data supports more accurate market analysis, targeting and research.

The dataset includes more than 6,200 U.S. hospitals and over 400 health care systems, covering community hospitals and system-affiliated facilities across all regions. The data is structured to support both hospital-level and system-level analysis.

American Hospital Association (AHA) Data provides comprehensive information on U.S. hospitals through the AHA Annual Survey Database and DataQuery AI. Users can identify and compare hospitals by geography, health system affiliation, ownership, teaching status, bed size, critical access designation, admissions, outpatient and emergency department visits, staffing levels, and other organizational characteristics. 

AHA Data includes staffed and licensed bed counts, specialty bed information, and more than 150 hospital service-line indicators. Users can explore clinical specialties, treatment programs, and facility capabilities, including cardiovascular care, oncology, behavioral health, maternal care, rehabilitation, burn care and more. See our full list of available hospitals data points here.

AHA Data includes leadership information for hospitals and health systems, including CEO and President contacts, along with organizational and health system affiliation information. These data can support market research, business development, outreach, and strategic planning. 

Yes. The AHA tracks hospital landscape changes, including closures, mergers, acquisitions, and new facility openings. 

The core dataset is updated annually through the AHA Annual Survey, which has been conducted every year for decades. This ensures the data reflects current hospital characteristics, new service lines, recent mergers and closures and leadership changes.

In addition, DataQuery AI™ includes nightly updates to core facility data, reflecting hospital openings and closures and keeping essential details up to date so you are always working from an accurate view of the hospital landscape.

Yes. In addition to the core Annual Survey Database, AHA Data offers: 

• IT Supplement — Conducted in collaboration with ONC, focused on health information technology adoption
• CMS Financial Data — Easily combine our hospital data with reported financials
• AHA Governance — Hospital level data covering crucial areas such as board composition, structure, selection, orientation, evaluation, performance oversight, culture and more

AHA Data is primarily sourced directly from hospitals and health systems themselves, not inferred from claims data, billing records, or third-party proxies. AHA supplements high response rates with a sophisticated estimation process to produce a dataset containing information on more than 6,200 hospitals and 400 health care systems across the United States, making it the most direct and comprehensive self-reported dataset of its kind

Because the American Hospital Association is the national membership and advocacy organization for U.S. hospitals, facilities have strong institutional incentive to participate and report accurately. The AHA has administered this survey for decades using a consistent methodology, enabling reliable year-over-year comparisons. The dataset is reviewed, validated, and reconciled annually — including tracking of mergers, closures, and new hospital openings through the Landscape Changes publication.

The AHA Annual Survey Database, the AHA’s core dataset, is updated annually, with new data typically released in December. The AHA Healthcare IT Database is updated yearly in Q2. In addition, DataQuery AI includes nightly updates to core facility information, reflecting hospital openings, closures, and other important landscape changes to help ensure users have access to current information on the hospital universe. 

AHA Data is primarily self-reported by hospitals and health systems and is supplemented with validated estimation where needed to ensure completeness. The consistent methodology and annual validation process help maintain reliability for year-over-year analysis.

AHA Data is cited by leading institutions and agencies including:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Peer-reviewed journals such as JAMA and Health Affairs
• Academic institutions including Yale School of Medicine
• Health care consultants, strategists, and market researchers 

AHA Data is available through several access methods depending on your use case: 

• Licensed database download — A full data file for integration into your own systems, analytics platforms, or CRM
• AHA DataQuery AI — A web-based AI-powered interface where you can ask questions and build reports interactively without any downloads
• Custom data solutions — AHA Data specialists can work with you to configure a dataset tailored to your specific research or business needs

Licensed database files are typically delivered in flat-file or spreadsheet-compatible formats (such as CSV and/or Excel) suitable for import into statistical software, BI tools, or databases. Contact ahadatainfo@aha.org for specific format requirements or to discuss integration options.

Yes. With DataQuery AI^TM, you can ask questions in plain language and quickly generate reports without needing advanced technical or analytical expertise. 

AHA Data is offered through a variety of subscriptions and licensing solutions designed to fit different use cases — from individual researchers to large enterprise teams. Pricing depends on factors such as the specific dataset(s), the scope of access, the delivery method, and intended use. For current pricing and to find the right package for your needs, contact the AHA Data team directly at ahadatainfo@aha.org or submit an inquiry at ahadata.com.

AHA Data serves a broad range of customers including academic institutions, government agencies, health systems, consultants, and commercial vendors. Licensing terms are tailored to reflect your organization type and intended use. Reach out to the AHA Data team to discuss options appropriate for your institution.

AHA Data is the only dataset solely focused on hospital and health system characteristics, collected directly from hospitals — not derived from claims, billing files, or third-party aggregators. Key differentiators include:

• Direct sourcing — Data submitted by 6,200+ hospitals themselves, not estimated
• Unmatched breadth — 1,300+ data points per hospital across operations, staffing, services, technology, and leadership
• Decades of consistency — The same methodology used for decades enables longitudinal trend analysis
• Authoritative credibility — The AHA is the national voice of U.S. hospitals, giving the data institutional trust that no third-party source can replicate
• Annual updates — Data is refreshed every year, including tracking new service lines and leadership changes

Yes. AHA Data is widely cited in peer-reviewed research, including journals such as JAMA and Health Affairs, and is used by institutions including Yale School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, the CDC, and CMS. Its consistent methodology and direct sourcing make it the standard reference for hospital-level research across academia, government, and industry. For more information about how AHA Data is collected and validated, visit our methodology page. 

Yes. The AHA has collected hospital data annually since 1946, providing a valuable historical resource for longitudinal research and trend analysis. Users can examine changes in hospital operations, utilization, staffing, services and organizational characteristics over time.