A national study of inpatient education was conducted in 1975 by the American Hospital Association to obtain a current assessment of organized patient education programs in hospitals in order to guide the subsequent development of effective inpatient education programs. The survey sought information about organizational structures relating to patient education and about specific education programs. A universe of 2,680 hospitals was used for data analysis; to support and clarify survey findings, eleven group discussion meetings were held with staff from eighty-two hospitals. It was concluded that hospitals differ in where they place the responsibility for patient education and in how they undertake the patient education task. Flexibility is required in making management decisions so that these decisions best fit the needs of the hospital. In addition, management must be aware of what is involved in accomplishing the task and how the decisions they make will affect that task. The survey showed that there were many programs developed for specific patient populations that could be obtained and shared. Analysis of those that were obtained emphasized the wide range of sophistication of outlines of programs--for example, the clearness of objectives as well as the correlation of objectives to methods and evaluation. (Twenty-nine appendixes containing materials used in the survey and data analyses are included.) (TA)