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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Patient Flow and Capacity

Elective

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

/ɪˈlektɪv/adjectiveCommon term

In healthcare management, elective means: Planned in advance rather than done as an emergency, such as a hip replacement that is booked weeks ahead.

In Turkish: planlı, elektif, randevulu

How it is used

Used before nouns: elective surgery, elective admission, elective activity. Elective does not mean optional or unnecessary; the patient still needs treatment, but it can be scheduled. In busy winters, elective work is often cancelled to free up beds.

Example sentences

  1. We cancelled 40 elective operations last week because of the flu outbreak.

  2. Elective activity is now back to the level it was at before the pandemic.

Common collocations

  • elective surgery
  • elective admission
  • elective activity
  • elective waiting list
  • waiting listA list of patients who are waiting for an appointment, test or operation, usually ordered by clinical priority and the date they were added.
  • operating theatreA specially equipped room in a hospital where surgical operations are carried out; the term is often used for the whole surgical suite.
  • admissionThe process of formally accepting a patient into hospital so that they can stay for treatment, or one single case of this.
  • capacityThe amount of care a hospital or service can provide with its beds, staff, rooms and equipment in a given time.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Patient Flow and Capacity

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.