HOSPITALS: Understanding Different Types

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

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HOSPITAL TYPES DEFINED FOR MODERNITY

Acute Care Inpatient Hospital

An acute care inpatient hospital is a health care organization or “anchor hospital” in which a patient is treated for an acute (immediate and severe) episode of illness or the subsequent treatment of injuries related to an accident or trauma, or during recovery from surgery. Specialized personnel using complex and sophisticated technical equipment and materials usually render acute professional care in a hospital setting. Unlike chronic care, acute care is often necessary for only a short time. Measures of acute health care utilization are represented by three separate rates:

  1. Rate of admissions per 1000 patients.
  2. Average length of stay per admission.
  3. Total days of care per 1000 patients.

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Psychiatric Hospital

A psychiatric hospital (behavioral health, mental hospital, or asylum) specializes in the treatment of patients with mental illness or drug-related illness or dependencies. Psychiatric wards differ only in that they are a unit of a larger hospital.

Specialty Hospital

A specialty hospital is a type of health care organization that has a limited focus to provide treatment for only certain illnesses such as cardiac care, orthopedic or plastic surgery, elder care, radiology / oncology services, neurological care, or pain management cases. These organizations are often owned by doctors who refer patients to them. In recent years, single-specialty hospitals have emerged in various locations in the United States. Instead of offering a full range of inpatient services, these hospitals focus on providing services relating to a single medical specialty or cluster of specialties.


Long-Term Care Hospital

A long-term care hospital is an entity that provides assistance and patient care for the activities of daily living (ADLs), including reminders and standby help for those with physical, mental, or emotional problems. This includes physical disability or other medical problems for 3 months or more (90 days). The criteria of five ADLs may also be used to determine the need for help with the following: meal preparation, shopping, light housework, money management, and telephoning. Other important considerations include taking medications, doing laundry, and getting around
outside.

Rural Hospital

The parameters of a rural hospital are determined based on distance. A rural hospital is defined as a hospital serving a geographic area 10 or more miles from the nexus of a population center of 30,000 or more.

More specifically, a rural hospital means an entity characterized by one of the following:

  1. Type A rural hospital—small and remote, has fewer than 50 beds, and is more than 30
    miles from the nearest hospital
  2. Type B rural hospital—small and rural, has fewer than 50 beds, and is 30 miles or less from
    the nearest hospital
  3. Type C rural hospital—considered rural and has 50 or more beds

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ADLs versus IADLs

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

DEFINITIONS

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

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Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)

According to Leslie Kernisan MD MPH, these are the basic self-care tasks that we initially learn as very young children. They are sometimes referred to as “Basic Activities of Daily Living” (BADLs). They include:

  • Walking, or otherwise getting around the home or outside. The technical term for this is “ambulating.”
  • Feeding, as in being able to get food from a plate into one’s mouth.
  • Dressing and grooming, as in selecting clothes, putting them on, and adequately managing one’s personal appearance.
  • Toileting, which means getting to and from the toilet, using it appropriately, and cleaning oneself.
  • Bathing, which means washing one’s face and body in the bath or shower.
  • Transferring, which means being able to move from one body position to another. This includes being able to move from a bed to a chair, or into a wheelchair. This can also include the ability to stand up from a bed or chair in order to grasp a walker or other assistive device.

If a person is not fully independent with ADLs, then we usually include some information about the amount of assistance they require. ADLs were originally defined in the 1950s by a geriatrician named Sidney Katz, who was trying to define what it might look like for a person to recover to independence after a disabling event such as a stroke or hip fracture. So these measures are sometimes called the “Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living.”

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Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

These are the self-care tasks we usually learn as teenagers. They require more complex thinking skills, including organizational skills. They include:

  • Managing finances, such as paying bills and managing financial assets.
  • Managing transportation, either via driving or by organizing other means of transport.
  • Shopping and meal preparation. This covers everything required to get a meal on the table. It also covers shopping for clothing and other items required for daily life.
  • Housecleaning and home maintenance. This means cleaning kitchens after eating, keeping one’s living space reasonably clean and tidy, and keeping up with home maintenance.
  • Managing communication, such as the telephone and mail.
  • Managing medications, which covers obtaining medications and taking them as directed.

Because managing IADLs requires a fair amount of cognitive skill, it’s common for IADLs to be affected when an older person is having difficulty with memory or thinking. For those older adults who develop Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, IADLs will usually be affected before ADLs are.

IADLs were defined about ten years after ADLs, by a psychologist named M.P. Lawton. Dr. Lawton felt there were more skills required to maintain independence than were listed on the original Katz ADL index, and hence created the “Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale.”

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IADLs: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

DEFINITIONS

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

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Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

According to Leslie Kernisan MD MPH, these are the basic self-care tasks that we initially learn as very young children. These are the self-care tasks we then learn as teenagers. They require more complex thinking skills, including organizational skills. They include:

  • Managing finances, such as paying bills and managing financial assets.
  • Managing transportation, either via driving or by organizing other means of transport.
  • Shopping and meal preparation. This covers everything required to get a meal on the table. It also covers shopping for clothing and other items required for daily life.
  • Housecleaning and home maintenance. This means cleaning kitchens after eating, keeping one’s living space reasonably clean and tidy, and keeping up with home maintenance.
  • Managing communication, such as the telephone and mail.
  • Managing medications, which covers obtaining medications and taking them as directed.

Because managing IADLs requires a fair amount of cognitive skill, it’s common for IADLs to be affected when an older person is having difficulty with memory or thinking. For those older adults who develop Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, IADLs will usually be affected before ADLs are.

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IADLs were defined about ten years after ADLs, by a psychologist named M.P. Lawton. Dr. Lawton felt there were more skills required to maintain independence than were listed on the original Katz ADL index, and hence created the “Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale.”

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

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ADLs: Activities of Daily Living

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

DEFINITIONS

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

***

***

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)

According to Leslie Kernisan MD MPH, these are the basic self-care tasks that we initially learn as very young children. They are sometimes referred to as “Basic Activities of Daily Living” (BADLs). They include:

  • Walking, or otherwise getting around the home or outside. The technical term for this is “ambulating.”
  • Feeding, as in being able to get food from a plate into one’s mouth.
  • Dressing and grooming, as in selecting clothes, putting them on, and adequately managing one’s personal appearance.
  • Toileting, which means getting to and from the toilet, using it appropriately, and cleaning oneself.
  • Bathing, which means washing one’s face and body in the bath or shower.
  • Transferring, which means being able to move from one body position to another. This includes being able to move from a bed to a chair, or into a wheelchair. This can also include the ability to stand up from a bed or chair in order to grasp a walker or other assistive device.

***

***

If a person is not fully independent with ADLs, then we usually include some information about the amount of assistance they require. ADLs were originally defined in the 1950s by a geriatrician named Sidney Katz, who was trying to define what it might look like for a person to recover to independence after a disabling event such as a stroke or hip fracture. So these measures are sometimes called the “Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living.”

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Like and Subscribe

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Filed under: Ask a Doctor, Ethics, Experts Invited, Glossary Terms, LifeStyle, mental health | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »