Balancing Innovation With Patient Protection

A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care provider.

Etymology

The word patient originally meant 'one who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word patiens, the present participle of the deponent verb, patior, meaning 'I am suffering', and akin to the Greek verb πÃŽÂ¬σχειν (paskhein 'to suffer') and its cognate noun πÃŽÂ¬θος (pathos).

This language has been construed as meaning that the role of patients is to passively accept and tolerate the suffering and treatments prescribed by the healthcare providers, without engaging in shared decision-making about their care.^[1]

Outpatients and inpatients

An outpatient (or out-patient) is a patient who attends an outpatient clinic with no plan to stay beyond the duration of the visit. Even if the patient will not be formally admitted with a note as an outpatient, their attendance is still registered, and the provider will usually give a note explaining the reason for the visit, tests, or procedure/surgery, which should include the names and titles of the participating personnel, the patient's name and date of birth, signature of informed consent, estimated pre-and post-service time for history and exam (before and after), any anesthesia, medications or future treatment plans needed, and estimated time of discharge absent any (further) complications. Treatment provided in this fashion is called ambulatory care. Sometimes surgery is performed without the need for a formal hospital admission or an overnight stay, and this is called outpatient surgery or day surgery, which has many benefits including lowered healthcare cost, reducing the amount of medication prescribed, and using the physician's or surgeon's time more efficiently. Outpatient surgery is suited best for more healthy patients undergoing minor or intermediate procedures (limited urinary-tract, eye, or ear, nose, and throat procedures and procedures involving superficial skin and the extremities). More procedures are being performed in a surgeon's office, termed office-based surgery, rather than in a hospital-based operating room.

An inpatient (or in-patient), on the other hand, is "admitted" to stay in a hospital overnight or for an indeterminate time, usually, several days or weeks, though in some extreme cases, such as with coma or persistent vegetative state, patients can stay in hospitals for years, sometimes until death. Treatment provided in this fashion is called inpatient care. The admission to the hospital involves the production of an admission note. The leaving of the hospital is officially termed discharge, and involves a corresponding discharge note, and sometimes an assessment process to consider ongoing needs. In the English National Health Service this may take the form of "Discharge to Assess" - where the assessment takes place after the patient has gone home.^[2]

Misdiagnosis is the leading cause of medical error in outpatient facilities. When the U.S. Institute of Medicine's groundbreaking 1999 report, To Err Is Human, found up to 98,000 hospital patients die from preventable medical errors in the U.S. each year,^[3] early efforts focused on inpatient safety.^[4] While patient safety efforts have focused on inpatient hospital settings for more than a decade, medical errors are even more likely to happen in a doctor's office or outpatient clinic or center.^{[citation needed]}

Day patient

A day patient (or day-patient) is a patient who is using the full range of services of a hospital or clinic but is not expected to stay the night. The term was originally used by psychiatric hospital services using of this patient type to care for people needing support to make the transition from in-patient to out-patient care. However, the term is now also heavily used for people attending hospitals for day surgery.

Alternative terminology

Because of concerns such as dignity, human rights and political correctness, the term "patient" is not always used to refer to a person receiving health care. Other terms that are sometimes used include health consumer, healthcare consumer, customer or client. However, such terminology may be offensive to those receiving public health care, as it implies a business relationship.

In veterinary medicine, the client is the owner or guardian of the patient. These may be used by governmental agencies, insurance companies, patient groups, or health care facilities. Individuals who use or have used psychiatric services may alternatively refer to themselves as consumers, users, or survivors.

In nursing homes and assisted living facilities, the term resident is generally used in lieu of patient.^[5] Similarly, those receiving home health care are called clients.


History of hospitals, Hospital network, Category:Hospitals
Common hospital components	Accreditation Bed Coronary care unit Emergency department Emergency codes Hospital administrators Hospital information system Hospital medicine Hospital museum Hospitalist Intensive care unit Nocturnist On-call room Operating theater Orderly Patients Pharmacy Wards
Archaic forms	Almshouse Asclepeion (Greece) Bimaristan (Islamic) Cottage hospital (England) Hôtel-Dieu (France) Valetudinaria (Roman) Vaishya lying in houses (India) Xenodochium (Middle Ages)
Geographic service area	Base hospital (Australia) Community hospital General hospital Regional hospital or District hospital Municipal hospital
Complexity of services	Day hospital Secondary hospital Tertiary referral hospital Teaching hospital Specialty hospital
Unique physical traits	Hospital ship Hospital train Mobile hospital Underground hospital Virtual Hospital
Limited class of patients	Military hospital Combat support hospital Field hospital Prison hospital Veterans medical facilities Women's hospital
Funding	Charitable hospital For-profit hospital Non-profit hospital State hospital Private hospital Public hospital Voluntary hospital Defunct
Condition treated	Cancer Children's hospital Eye hospital Fever hospital Leper colony Lock hospital Maternity hospital Psychiatric hospital Rehabilitation hospital Trauma center Verterinary hospital
Century established	5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st
Lists of hospitals in: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America

Balancing Innovation With Patient Protection

Here's the article outline for 'Understanding Common Fee Structures in Orthodontics' focusing on orthodontic treatment for kids:

Traditional Fee Structures: Per-Treatment Pricing Models —

Insurance Coverage and Impact on Orthodontic Expenses

Payment Plan Options for Pediatric Orthodontic Care

Factors Influencing Orthodontic Treatment Costs

Comparing Different Orthodontic Practices and Their Pricing Strategies

Additional Fees and Potential Hidden Expenses in Orthodontic Treatment

About patient

Etymology

Outpatients and inpatients

Day patient

Alternative terminology

Patient-centered healthcare

See also

References

External links

Frequently Asked Questions

How safe are new orthodontic technologies for my child?

Can innovative treatments reduce treatment time and discomfort?

What potential risks should I consider with cutting-edge orthodontic treatments?

How do orthodontists ensure patient protection while implementing new technologies?

Patients
Part of a series on Patients
Concepts
Doctor-patient relationship Medical ethics Patient participation Patient-reported outcome Patient safety
Consent
Informed consent Adherence Informal coercion Motivational interviewing Involuntary treatment
Rights
Patients' rights Pregnant patients' rights Disability rights movement Patient's Charter Medical law
Approaches
Patient advocacy Patient-centered care Patient and public involvement
Abuse
Patient abuse Elder abuse
Medical sociology
Sick role