Term: Outpatient

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Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2009-04-09

Definition:

This term has different definitions in MCHP research. The majority use definition 1, or a slight variation of this defintion ...

1. A patient who receives treatment or surgery from a hospital, but who is not admitted as an inpatient (Finlayson et al., 2009).
   
   
2. One of 13 alternate levels of care (ALC) defined, this is a patient who receives treatment or surgery from a hospital, but who is not admitted as an inpatient. Length of stay for outpatients is coded in different ways depending on the study. The "Three Province Health Reform" study codes them as LOS=1, while the "Inter-provincial Technology Assessment Using Population Based Data" study codes outpatients as LOS=0.5 . The term is also referred to as "Day Patient" (De Coster et al., 1996).

Related terms 

• Alternate Level of Care (ALC)
• Ambulatory Care
• Combined Method
• Hospital Abstracts Data
• Hospital Data
• Hospital Days
• Inpatient
• Length of Stay (LOS)
• Observation Units
• Out of Hospital (OOH)
• Outpatient Encounters
• Outpatient Hospital Care
• Outpatient Surgical Care
• Surgical Outpatients

References 

• De Coster C, Peterson S, Kasian P. Alternatives to Acute Care . Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health and Evaluation, 1996. [Report] [Summary] (View)
• Finlayson G, Reimer J, Dahl M, Stargardter M, McGowan K. The Direct Cost of Hospitalizations in Manitoba, 2005/06. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2009. [Report] [Summary] [Additional Materials] (View)

Term used in 

• Fransoo R, Martens P, The Need to Know Team, Prior H, Burchill C, Koseva I, Rajotte L. Who is in our Hospitals.and why? Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2013. [Report] [Summary] [Additional Materials] (View)
• Garland A, Fransoo R, Olafson K, Ramsey C, Yogendran M, Chateau D, McGowan K. The Epidemiology and Outcomes of Critical Illness in Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] (View)
• Heaman M, Kingston D, Helewa M, Brownell M, Derksen S, Bogdanovic B, McGowan K, Bailly A. Perinatal Services and Outcomes in Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] [Updates and Errata] (View)
• Roos NP, Burchill CA, Black CD. Utilization of hospital resources. Med Care 1995;33 (12 Suppl):55-72. [Abstract] (View)