News: Patient visits to hospitals, physician offices jump 26% since '99

Patients in the United States made an estimated 1.1 billion visits to physician offices and hospital outpatient and emergency departments in 2006, an average of four visits per person per year, according to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its National Health Care Survey. The number increased by 26 percent from 1996 to 2006, more than twice the rate of growth of the U.S. population. The increase is linked to the aging of the population, according to the CDC. Other survey highlights include: