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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Hospital Operations

Inpatient

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

/ˈɪnˌpeɪʃənt/nounCore term

In healthcare management, inpatient means: A patient who is admitted to hospital and stays at least one night in a bed for treatment, tests or observation.

In Turkish: yatan hasta, yataklı tedavi

How it is used

Used as a noun and, very often, as an adjective before another noun: inpatient care, inpatient beds, inpatient services. Managers compare inpatient and outpatient activity in monthly reports and budgets.

Example sentences

  1. Inpatient numbers rose by 8% this winter, mainly because of respiratory infections.

  2. We are moving some inpatient procedures to the day surgery unit.

Common collocations

  • inpatient care
  • inpatient admission
  • inpatient bed
  • inpatient stay
  • inpatient services
  • outpatientA patient who visits a hospital or clinic for an appointment, test or treatment and goes home the same day without being admitted.
  • admissionThe process of formally accepting a patient into hospital so that they can stay for treatment, or one single case of this.
  • length of stayThe number of days a patient spends in hospital from admission to discharge; the average across many patients is a key efficiency measure.
  • wardA section of a hospital with beds where inpatients with similar needs are cared for, such as a surgical ward or a children's ward.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Hospital Operations

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