Episode Health Dictionary

Conventionally defined as beginning with the first 24-hour period that meets the definition of diarrhoea and ending with the last diarrhoeal day that is followed by at least two consecutive days that do not meet the definition of diarrhoea.... diarrhoeal episode

The description and measurement of the various health care services and encounters rendered in connection with an identified injury or period of illness.... episode of care

Episodes of transient ISCHAEMIA of some part of the cerebral hemispheres or the brain stem (see BRAIN) lasting anything from a few minutes to several hours and followed by complete recovery. By de?nition, the ischaemic episode must be less than 24 hours. These episodes may be isolated or they may occur several times in a day. The cause is ATHEROMA of the carotid or vertebral arteries (see ARTERIES, DISEASES OF) and the embolisation (see EMBOLISM) of PLATELETS or CHOLESTEROL. These attacks present with strokes (see STROKE) that rapidly recover.... transient ischaemic attacks or episodes (tia, tie)

The period of treatment between admission and discharge from a facility, such as inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization and outpatient, or the period of time between the first procedure and last procedure on an outpatient basis for a given diagnosis. Many health care statistics and profiles use this unit as a base for comparisons.... treatment episode

(FCE) the time a patient spends in the care of one consultant in one health-care provider. If a patient is transferred to a different hospital provider or a different consultant within the same hospital, a new FCE begins. In *hospital episode statistics an FCE is commonly referred to as simply an ‘episode’. A *spell may consist of several episodes. See also continuous patient pathway.... finished consultant episode

(HES) (in England) a database containing data on all admissions to NHS hospitals and admissions of NHS patients treated elsewhere. See record linkage.... hospital episode statistics