Oncologist, bioethicist, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress—and a key figure in the development of the Affordable Care Act—Ezekiel Emanuel recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that describes how the hospital has been in decline for decades and how this is more of a sign of medical progress than a lack of access to care. For those who are unfamiliar with our site, this is pretty much our raison d’etre, and it’s good to know that some of the most experienced professionals in the healthcare field agree with your central tenet.

Among the facts cited in the NY Times article:

At its peak, in 1981, there were “over 39 million hospitalizations — 171 admissions per 1,000 Americans. Thirty-five years later, the population has increased by 40 percent, but hospitalizations have decreased by more than 10 percent….the number of hospitals has declined to 5,534 this year from 6,933 in 1981.”

In 2002, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there were 1.7 million cases of hospital-acquired infections that caused nearly 100,000 deaths….Studies have shown that patients with heart failure, pneumonia and some serious infections can be given intravenous antibiotics and other hospital-level treatments at home by visiting nurses. These ‘hospital at home’ programs usually lead to more rapid recoveries, at a lower cost.

Just to say it, neither we nor Emanuel are zealots or absolutists when it comes to hospitals. There is still an important place for hospital-based care including major surgeries, trauma care, and other types of acute and specialized medical care. But hospital settings also carry their own unique healthcare risks—namely healthcare-associated infections—that may outweigh the potential benefits. Likewise, you may be that infectious agent. Otherwise healthy adults should avoid the hospital when they have the flu lest they infect more vulnerable populations.