A day hospital is an

outpatient 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 ...

facility where patients attend for assessment, treatment or

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

during the day and then return home or spend the night at a different facility. Day hospitals are becoming a new trend in healthcare. The number of surgical procedures carried out on a same-day basis has markedly increased in EU countries and USA. New medical technologies such as less invasive surgeries and better anesthetics have made this development possible. These innovations improve patient safety and health outcomes. Shortening the length of stay in hospital reduces the cost per intervention and increases the number of procedures performed. Less hospital beds are necessary, and they are often replaced by day hospital chairs that enable admission and preparation of the patient before surgery and recovery after surgery. The patient groups most likely to receive this sort of

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

provision are elderly people, those with psychiatric problems, and those with physical rehabilitative needs. It is also used for some

cancer treatments Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g ...

, as at New York's

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

and London's

UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre is a research-led day hospital in Huntley Street in central London. It is the oncology (cancer treatment) wing of University College Hospital, part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Hi ...

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, day hospitals originated in the late 1950s with a focus on rehabilitation for frail older people, enabling many to remain in their own homes. Comprehensive assessment and a range of specialised services have since been introduced. Day hospitals in the UK are normally run by an NHS trust and focus on therapeutic assessment and management, as distinct from "day care" facilities run by local authorities or voluntary agencies and offering social support. They may operate on a sessional basis rather than throughout the day, and may rotate between locations from day to day. Benefits have been identified in reduced rates of mortality and morbidity and reduced inpatient admissions, although there is a lack of evidence for other benefits and cost-effectiveness.Brown L, Forster A, Young J, Crocker T, Benham A, Langhorne P
"Medical day hospital care for older people versus alternative forms of care"
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 6. Art. No.: CD001730. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001730.pub3

United States

Day hospital services are well established in the United States. These services may be termed as "

partial hospitalization Partial hospitalization, also known as PHP (partial hospitalization program), is a type of program used to treat mental illness and substance abuse. In partial hospitalization, the patient continues to reside at home, but commutes to a treatment ...

" in some regions.

Sweden

Day hospital services for elderly people have existed in Sweden since the early 1950s and continue to expand, with 1,600 places in the country. Day hospitals are integrated with primary health care and social care.

Australia

In Australia, many older people receive care in day hospitals, but for patients with psychiatric conditions day hospitals have largely been superseded by community mental health teams.

References

{{Authority control Types of health care facilities Hospital departments