What is Outpatient clinic?
{{complex|2=Idiomatic. Does not follow MOS|date=May 2023}} An '''outpatient department''' or '''outpatient clinic''' is the part of a [[hospital]] for people with health problems who visit the hospital for [[diagnosis]] or treatment, but do not at this time need to stay in the hospital. Modern outpatient departments offer a wide range of treatment services, diagnostic tests and [[Surgery|surgical procedures]]. In the past [[patient]]s with long term problems would come regularly to these clinics, sometimes once a year and sometimes more often. The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] meant this was seen as dangerous, so there has been a big increase in the use of telephone, video and email to check up on people.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rapson2020-05-11T11:00:00+01:00|first=Jasmine|title=Covid sparks boom in digital hospital outpatient appointments|url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/technology-and-innovation/covid-sparks-boom-in-digital-hospital-outpatient-appointments/7027590.article|access-date=2023-03-13|website=Health Service Journal|language=en}}</ref> There has also been a big increase in what is called patient-initiated follow-up appointments or PIFU. It is down to the patient to contact the hospital if they think they need medical help.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-08-11|title=Redefining patient empowerment with PIFU|url=https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/08/redefining-patient-empowerment-with-pifu/|access-date=2023-03-13|website=Digital Health|language=en-GB}}</ref> Within the [[National Health Service|NHS]] there is now agreement that a “large proportion of patients can be managed without setting foot in a physical clinic”.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Carding2022-12-13T14:23:00|first=Nick|title=The Download: How virtual outpatients saves lives|url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/expert-briefings/the-download-how-virtual-outpatients-saves-lives/7033897.article|access-date=2023-03-14|website=Health Service Journal|language=en}}</ref> == Related pages == *[[Virtual wards]] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Healthcare]]