THE HEALTHCARE SETTING

• 2 categories of healthcare facilities:

  • inpatient
  • outpatient
• 3 levels of the healthcare setting:

  • Primary level - health units in the rural areas and sub-units which are operated by the DOH
  • Secondary level - non-departmentalized that attend to patients during the symptomatic stages
  • Tertiary level - medical centers and large hospitals
• Ambulatory care - medical care given to outpatients or patients requiring follow-up care after their discharge from the hospital
• Homebound services - healthcare provided to a patient which are done in a patient's home
• Public health services - offered with little to no charge at all; belongs to the unit at the local level but are still under jurisdiction of the government's health dept
• Hospital - an institution that has permanent inpatient beds with 24-hour nursing service
• 2 major divisions in the hospital:

  • Anatomical & surgical area - histology, cytology, cytogenetics
  • Clinical analysis area - body fluids