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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Hospital Operations

Outpatient

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

/ˈaʊtˌpeɪʃənt/nounCore term

In healthcare management, outpatient means: A patient who visits a hospital or clinic for an appointment, test or treatment and goes home the same day without being admitted.

In Turkish: ayaktan hasta, poliklinik hastası, ayaktan tedavi

How it is used

Often used as an adjective: outpatient clinic, outpatient appointment, outpatient department (OPD). In the UK people also say 'outpatients' for the department itself: 'She's waiting in outpatients.'

Example sentences

  1. The new outpatient clinic will see around 600 patients a day.

  2. More procedures are now done on an outpatient basis, which frees up beds.

Common collocations

  • outpatient clinic
  • outpatient appointment
  • outpatient department
  • on an outpatient basis
  • inpatientA patient who is admitted to hospital and stays at least one night in a bed for treatment, tests or observation.
  • referralThe act of sending a patient to another doctor, specialist, service or hospital for further assessment or treatment, or the letter or request that does this.
  • waiting timeThe time a patient has to wait for care, for example from arrival to being seen in the emergency department, or from referral to surgery.
  • telemedicineThe use of video calls, phone calls and digital tools to give medical care and advice when the patient and the clinician are in different places.

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.