A predetermined period of time during a hospital stay when the patient is permitted to be away from the hospital, with the understanding that the patient will return at the end of the period. An LOA may be for a few hours, a day, or several days. A leave is granted by the attending physician (see physician), who has satisfied herself that the patient’s condition warrants the absence. The patient’s departure is not a discharge, and the return is not an admission. There is debate as to whether the absent days are a part of the patient’s length of stay (LOS). Questions also arise as to responsibility for the patient on LOA, that is, whether the hospital or patient is liable if the patient’s condition worsens or there is an accident.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A predetermined period of time during a hospital stay when the patient is permitted to be away from the hospital, with the understanding that the patient will return at the end of the period. An LOA may be for a few hours, a day, or several days. A leave is granted by the attending physician […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-l"],"yoast_head":"\n