What does "outpatient" mean?
The word outpatient is a common term - but do you know what outpatient means? The origin comes from Latin, but the design has changed from earlier to today. What has remained, however, is the fact that outpatient treatment is only a temporary treatment.
The derivation of the word "ambulant"
The word comes from Latin. The verb "ambulare" means to wander around, to go for a walk, to pass by, to go. In the time before the birth of Christ, when Latin was still used for oral communication, there were no resident doctors to whom the sick went. There were men who understood the art of healing and wandered the country. On your trip you cared for sick people in need and became known as a healer. Over time this got around and the sick began to seek out these healers. Originally, outpatient means "wandering around" - today the term has a precise medical definition.
What "outpatient" means today
Medical or nursing care is called outpatient if it is only used temporarily. This supply ends by night at the latest. The patient goes home again, but can certainly claim the care again the following day. The interruption of medical care is important. The opposite of outpatient means inpatient, here the patient is also medically cared for overnight, usually in a hospital or clinic. There are several ways to provide outpatient care.
Options for outpatient care
- The most common type of outpatient care is visiting a general practitioner in his practice. Here, patients are examined and given the best possible care. This doctor, who works in the outpatient service, decides in case of doubt whether inpatient treatment is necessary.
- But there is also the hospital outpatient department, in which patients are treated on an outpatient basis after an accident or at times when doctors' practices are already closed. Patients go home after treatment.
- The outpatient care service cares for people in need on site. The nursing staff sometimes come to the apartment every day - according to a care key - and look after the respective people. Here the term outpatient comes very close to its original meaning, because the caring or Caring people wander around visiting patients.
- House calls from a doctor also go back heavily to the original meaning of the term. Doctors go to their patients, just as the wandering healers used to do.
- Outpatient care in a day clinic is also possible if an overnight stay is not absolutely necessary. Here the patients go to the clinic every day for a certain period of time.
- The ambulance, the ambulance called for an accident, also only provides medical care for the patient for a short period of time. She drives purposefully - like the healers once - from mission to mission.
The tasks of the health system are very clearly defined. It's not just about ...
Any medical or nursing care that is only used temporarily is called outpatient if it is not continued overnight.
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