What does hospitalization mean?
Hospitalization means either the admission of a person to a hospital or the period during which they receive inpatient care. In medical and public-health contexts, it commonly refers to the complete episode: the decision to admit a patient, the treatment provided, and the subsequent discharge. The word is distinct from a visit to a hospital emergency department, because it normally implies that the person is formally admitted as a patient. Hospitalization is also widely used in insurance, epidemiology, and health statistics to describe rates of admission and length of stay. For example, a report might examine emergency hospitalizations during a heatwave, while a doctor might discuss a patient’s hospitalization after a serious operation. Although “hospitalisation” is the usual British spelling, “hospitalization” is standard in American English and is also accepted in Britain.
nounThe admission of a patient to a hospital for treatment or care, or the period during which the patient remains there.
- The act or process of admitting a patient to a hospital for treatment or care.
- A period of inpatient care, including the time between formal admission and discharge.
"Her hospitalization lasted three days after surgery."
"Hospitalization was necessary after the accident."
"The study compared emergency hospitalization rates in rural and urban communities."
The plural is used for separate admissions or periods of inpatient care, especially in medical, insurance, and public-health contexts.
"The number of hospitalizations increased during the winter."
A hospitalization can mean the moment someone is admitted—or the entire stay that follows.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of hospitalization
Hospitalization was formed in English from “hospitalize” plus the suffix “-ation,” which turns a verb into a noun naming an action or process. “Hospitalize” in turn comes from “hospital,” a word that entered English through Old French from the Latin hospitale, meaning a guesthouse or place for receiving guests. These words ultimately connect with the Latin hospes, meaning guest or host, the same root found in hospitality, hospice, and hotel.
Related word forms
How hospitalization is actually used
The term is formal and especially common in medicine, public health, health insurance, and statistics. It is broader than “hospital admission” when it refers to the whole period of care, although the two are sometimes used interchangeably. British English also commonly uses the spelling “hospitalisation.”