rehospitalize

verb

re·​hos·​pi·​tal·​ize (ˌ)rē-ˈhä-(ˌ)spi-tə-ˌlīz 

rehospitalized; rehospitalizing

transitive verb

: to readmit (someone) to a hospital as a patient : to hospitalize (someone) again

The patient was discharged but then rehospitalized one month later.

rehospitalization

(ˌ)rē-ˌhä-(ˌ)spi-tə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

plural rehospitalizations

patients at risk of rehospitalization

Medicare currently pays for all rehospitalizations, except those in which patients are rehospitalized within 24 hours after discharge for the same condition for which they had initially been hospitalized.

—Stephen F. Jencks

Word History

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined above