Hospital Admissions

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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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• Hospital Admissions Introduction
• Going to the Hospital
• What to Bring to the Hospital
• Decision to Admit
• Types of Hospital Admissions
• Admission Process
• Patient Rights
• Advance Directives
• Hospital Services
• The Hospital Team
• Tests You May Have During Your Diagnostic Work-Up and Admission
• Treatment
• Discharge
• Author and Editor

There may come a time when you or a loved one may need to be admitted to a hospital. Today's large urban hospitals can be confusing and somewhat frightening for someone not familiar with how they work. In general, there are two major types of hospital admissions, emergent and elective. Emergent usually happen when a patient seen in the emergency department is subsequently admitted to the hospital. Elective hospital admissions occur when a doctor requests a bed be reserved for a patient on a specific day. The patient then checks in at the admissions office and does not go to the emergency department. Elective admissions make up the majority of hospital admissions (about 75%) but this percentage varies markedly with some hospitals. To get the most out of your hospital stay, the following article provides you information on these vital issues:

• Factors that influence whether you will be admitted to the hospital
• What happens once you are admitted
• Your rights as a patient
• How to improve your or a family member's care during and after the admission process

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