Types of Hospitals and Beds: A Comprehensive Guide for Specialised Care

A hospital is a healthcare facility providing specialised medical and nursing care, often including emergency services. General hospitals handle urgent cases like accidents, while specialised hospitals, such as trauma, children’s, geriatric, or psychiatric facilities, focus on specific needs, often reducing healthcare costs. District hospitals serve as primary regional facilities with intensive care and long-term care beds. Teaching hospitals combine patient care with medical and nurse training. Hospitals may also have diverse departments (e.g., surgery, cardiology) and support units like pathology, pharmacy, and radiology, alongside outpatient and chronic care services. Read this article below to learn more about all the types, functions, and more.

Quality and safety:

As the quality of health care has become more of a concern around the world, hospitals have had to pay more attention to this issue. One of the most powerful ways to analyze this component of health care is through independent external quality assessment, and hospital accreditation is one way to do so. Accreditation is sourced from other countries in many parts of the world, a phenomenon known as international healthcare accreditation.

Different Departments in Hospital (Various Departments in Hospital)

Below given are the details of different departments in the hospital:- 

• Outpatient department (OPD), Surgical department, Inpatient service (IP), Nursing department, Physical medicine, Paramedical department, and Rehabilitation department, Dietary department, Pharmacy department, Operation theater complex (OT), Radiology department (X-ray), and Non-professional services are some of the departments located in hospitals.

• A nursing department, led by a director of nursing or a chief nursing officer, might exist in a hospital. Such a department has the responsibility of overseeing the hospital's clinical nursing practice, research, and regulation.

• Numerous units also have nursing as well as a medical director who also acts as a supervisor for their subject areas. A medical director, for instance, is in charge of doctors and medical treatment in an intensive care nursery, whereas the nursing manager is in charge of both nurses and nursing healthcare.

• Health records, technical support, disclosure of information, facilities management, clinical engineering, dining services, and plant operations, are examples of support units.

Hospital Services

Hospital Services refers to the clinical services provided by the Hospital, as well as the operational activities that support those clinical services, which are funded in whole or in part by the LHIN, and includes the type, volume, frequency, and availability of Hospital Services; HSAA Indicator Technical Specifications refers to the document titled "HSAA Indicator Technical Specifications," as amended or replaced from time to time.

Hospital services are the foundation of a hospital's services. They are frequently influenced by the demands or wishes of the hospital's key users, with the goal of making the hospital a one-stop or core institution of the local community or medical network. Hospitals are facilities with basic services and personnel—usually medicine and surgical departments—that provide clinical and other services for specific diseases and ailments, as well as emergency care. Hospital services include everything from basic health care to training and research for major medical school centres, as well as services created by a network of industry-owned institutions such as health maintenance organisations.

Below mentioned are some of the hospital services:-

• Emergency room services

• Short-term hospitalisation

• X-ray/radiology services

• General and specialty surgical services

• Blood services

• Laboratory services

Health maintenance organisation hospitals supplement the basic list with a variety of specialised and auxiliary services, such as:

• Pediatric specialty care

• Prescription services

• Good access to surgical specialists

• Rehabilitation services and physical therapy

• Home nursing services

• Mental health care

• Nutritional counseling

• Genetic testing and counseling

• Family support services

• Financial services

• Case management or social work services

Function of Hospital

Below mentioned are some of the functions of hospital/hospital use:-

• Medical hospital - medical hospital includes the treatment and management of patients by a team of doctors.

• Patient Support provides nursing, nutritional diagnostic, counseling, pharmacy, and medical supplies, all of which are directly related to patient care.

• Administrative responsibilities include carrying out the hospital's guidelines and directives regulating the release of support services in the areas of finance, staff, housekeeping, materials and property, laundry, protection, transportation, engineering, and board as well as several other maintenance. 

• The hospital's financial activities must be planned, guided, and coordinated for 

• Patients in a hospital as well as the employees working there.

• Prepare a job and financial plan for services and initiatives, as well as funding projections.

• To keep track of cash receipts and disbursements.

• To manage personnel development plans, procedures, and standards; to provide guidance on policy, implementation, and administration of laws, rules, and regulations.

• The quality, efficacy, and outcomes of health services for various groups and populations are shaped by the structure and dynamics of healthcare organisations; the policy repercussions for future health care reform initiatives and patients in the hospital.

• Hospital operation is another major benefit of hospitals.

Types of Beds in Hospitals with Names

Making a bed is a skill. It is a method of preparing a suitable bed based on the patient's condition and using scientific nursing concepts. The patient would feel more comfortable if the bed is made with care. Nurses must be able to prepare hospital beds in a variety of ways depending on the situation. In most cases, beds are made after a client requires specific treatment and when there are no other people in the room.

Types of beds in hospitals with names are:-

• Simple Beds

• Special Beds

Simple Beds:

•  Closed Bed

•  Open Bed

•  Occupied Bed

Special Beds:

• Operation Bed 

• Cardiac Bed

• Blanket Bed

• Amputation Bed

• Fracture Bed

Types of Hospital

Hospitals are typically subsidiced by the government, for-profit or nonprofit health agencies, health insurance providers, or charities, such as direct charitable donations. Depending on the funding, hospitals can be classified into one of three groups. 

Below mentioned are the types of the hospital:

• Publicly owned hospital

• Nonprofit hospitals

• For-profit hospitals

Hospitals may be further graded depending on the type of care they provide (indicative) or the services they provide, such as:

• Specialty Hospitals

• General Medical & Surgical Hospitals

• Clinics

• Teaching Hospitals

• Psychiatric Hospitals

• Clinics for Family Planning and Abortion

• Hospices & Palliative Care Centers

• Centers for Emergency and Other Outpatient Care

• Clinics for Sleep Disorders

• Blood & Organ Banks

• Dental Laboratories

Fundings of the Hospitals 

• Support for modern hospitals comes from several places. They may be paid for by public funds, charitable contributions, or private funds and health insurance. The National Health Service in the United Kingdom provides state-funded health services to legal citizens "completely free of delivery," as well as emergency care to everyone, regardless of nationality or status.

• Due to the requirement for hospitals to prioritise their available resources, there is a propensity for 'waiting lists' for non-essential treatment in countries with such programs, then those who can access it can opt for private medical insurance to receive treatment quite rapidly and efficiently.

• Hospitals and clinics in the United States are generally privately owned and operated, with certain for-profit hospitals including HCA Healthcare. A chargemaster is used to charge a database of procedures and their costs; nevertheless, these prices could be lower for healthcare services provided across healthcare networks.

• Hospitals are required by law to treat patients in life-threatening emergencies regardless of their financial capacity to pay. Privately operated hospitals that accept people without insurance in emergency cases, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, suffer significant revenue damage.