According to Wiki: An outpatient is a patient who is not hospitalized overnight but who visits a hospital, clinic, or associated facility for diagnosis or treatment.
There’s another definition of “outpatient” here… as illustrated by the images below. If you live near a Korean hospital, like we do, you would see “confined” patients taking a stroll, shopping at the nearby grocery store or even smoking. I took the images below while I was in the car.
The hospital culture in Korea is somewhat different from the US or even in the Philippines. For one, they don’t let confined patients go out in the street. In the Philippines, some are allowed inside the hospital complex but I don’t remember seeing one out in the street. Also, visitors are expected to come to the hospital during the visiting hours. Kids are generally not allowed in the hospital unless they are patients, too. When we visited my mother in a hospital in Los Angeles, my son wasn’t allowed in the hospital to see his grandmother. Hospital rules are generally more lax here in Korea than what I was used to in the Philippines.
And here’s another one…
Technomad also has a picture of an “outpatient” taking a smoking break.
Update: 2015.06.11
The biggest issue now in Korea is the MERS scare. Even when the government has put some people in quarantine, a few still managed to do things their way. One Korean was able to travel to China despite being sick. And a couple (and doctors at that!) flew over the weekend to the Philippines for a short vacay! No wonder MERS in Korea is spreading faster than it did in the middle east! Thankfully, the mortality rate in Korea is not as high as in the middle east. Like many others, I’m hoping that scientists would find a cure or a vaccine for the MERS-CoV or if not at least it would subside by now that the government has been more proactive in dealing with this.
i dont think these images are outpatients. These people in the images are confined in the hospital, but not bedridden. They are classified as in patients. They are free to roam around as long as with the permission of the hospital. Outpatients are people seeking treatment, diagnosis or any medical service (check up) that do not render confinement or stay in the hospital. Simply, a hospital visit. Outpatients mostly visits the ER or doctors clinics, then if there is necessity for confinement, then their status will be changed to in-patient, and will be assigned to any of the departments of the hospital ( e.g. Ob, Medicine, Surgery, Ortho)
hehehe out patient talaga as in nasa labas na pasyente hahaha katawa naman sis 😛
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lol, whatever they are called, I think I would feel weird to see those people with the smocks on…
Thanks for the informative post.. and thanks for adding our comment to the blog. I searched for a while to find the right answer to my questions!
lol – that puts a new meaning to the term “outpatient”
I dont think these images are outpatients. These people in the images are confined in the hospital, but not bedridden. They are classified as in patients. They are free to roam around as long as with the permission of the hospital. Outpatients are people seeking treatment, diagnosis or any medical service (check up) that do not render confinement or stay in the hospital. Simply, a hospital visit.