Leaving the Hospital Early

More patients are checking themselves out of the hospital against their doctors’ advice, new government data shows. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports a 40 percent increase in the number of patients who left the hospital against medical advice over a recent 12-year period. Using hospital discharge data for 2008, the agency found that 370,000 patients checked themselves out of the hospital prematurely, compared with 264,000 who made early exits in 1997. http://nyti.ms/gsJflw