The National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) collects data on patient care in hospital-based settings to describe patterns of health care delivery and utilization in the United States. Settings currently include inpatient and emergency departments (ED). From this collection, the NHCS contributes data that may inform emerging national health threats such as the current opioid public health emergency. The 2022 - 2024 NHCS are not yet fully operational so it is important to note that the data presented here are preliminary and not nationally representative.

The data are from 24 hospitals submitting inpatient and 23 hospitals submitting ED Uniform Bill (UB)-04 administrative claims from October 1, 2022–September 30, 2024. Even though the data are not nationally representative, they can provide insight into the use of opioids and other overdose drugs. The NHCS data is submitted from various types of hospitals (e.g., general/acute, children’s, etc.) and can show results from a variety of indicators related to drug use, such as overall drug use, comorbidities, and drug and polydrug overdose. NHCS data can also be used to report on patient conditions within the hospital over time.