When a patient leaves the hospital without being discharged it's called leaving against medical advice.
If you walk out of a hospital without being discharged, it's considered that you're leaving the hospital against medical advice, which doctor did not approve your leaving of the hospital.
Staff cannot physically stop you from leaving the hospital, unless you're a danger, but you'll also sign a form that you acknowledge the risks like worsening conditions, potential death, readmission and you'll also still get a hospital bill for any services rendered, and health insurance will often not pay the full stay of the hospital visit.
Before you leave the hospital against medical advice and without being formally discharged, the hospital will ask that you sign a form that states that you're leaving against medical advice, which documents you were informed of risks like complications or even death.
Your underlying health issue may worsen and require emergency care later and increase your risk of death or serious illness and you have no legal recourse against the hospital, as signing the AMA form relinquishes your right to sue the hospital for complications that arise from early discharge.
It's not illegal to discharge yourself from the hospital as long as you're not actually being held like in a mental ward of the hospital.
If you're in a hospital for regular medical care, and you're an adult you can legally and freely leave the hospital and discharge yourself from the hospital, even without the hospital discharging you.
However if you do discharge yourself and walk out of the hospital without being discharged properly, then your health insurance will likely not cover the cost of the hospital stay and care and it could result in complications that can result.
It's best to remain in the hospital until discharged, but you can legally and freely leave the hospital at any time as long as you're safely able to do so.
Hospitals also sometimes will unsafely discharge a patient, which is when a hospital releases a patient from the hospital too soon or without the proper planning.
When a patient is released from the hospital and it results in an unsafe discharge from the hospital, it means that the patient is not medically stable yet or not ready for home or the patient also lacks clear instructions.
A patient that was unsafely discharged from a hospital may also not have adequate support for continued that is needed, which risks the patient harm, complications or readmission to the hospital.
Key signs of a patient being unsafely discharged from the hospital are the patient has severe symptoms that persist, no medication or follow up plant, no assessment of the patients home environment or even inadequate transportation from the hospital to the home.
The unsafe discharge from the hospital often stems from insurance issues or even negligence of the hospital staff.
Patients that are unsafely discharged from the hospital may have no safe way to get home, especially if the patient is vulnerable, the patient may be discharged while they're confused, weak or unable to manage self care.
The patient that is unsafely discharged from the hospital may have no caregiver identified, no home health services arranged or the home environment may be deemed unsafe for the patient.
The unsafely discharged patient from the hospital may also have no clear personalized plan for their medications, wound care, follow up appointments or warnings signs and the patient may be stent home before being medically stable, still experience severe symptoms or may be sent home before all tests are complete.
Medical negligence, insurance pressure and communication issues are common reasons for a patient being unsafely discharged from a hospital.
Poor communication and poor coordination between healthcare teams and doctors or with social services can result in unsafe discharge from the hospital.
Unsafe discharge form a hospital can also be driven by cost concerns instead of patient needs, when the insurance stops paying for the hospital stay.
And failure of the hospital staff to meet the standard care of the patient can result in unsafe discharge.
If you or a person you know or are related too have been unsafely discharged you should request medical records and consult with an attorney as it could be a result of medical malpractice in which you can sometimes sue for if it caused harm.