Tertiary Care
What Does Tertiary Care Mean?
Tertiary care refers to specialized consultative healthcare, typically provided to inpatients. It is delivered upon referral from a primary or secondary healthcare professional and involves facilities equipped with advanced medical screening and treatment capabilities.
Insuranceopedia Explains Tertiary Care
Tertiary care is required when a patient needs a level of care that a primary care physician cannot provide. It represents a higher level of specialty care, often necessitating hospitalization or routine screenings. As a result, smaller hospitals and general practices typically cannot offer this level of medical attention and must transfer patients to appropriate facilities. Because tertiary care often involves long hospital stays and ongoing treatment, people managing serious conditions sometimes look into life insurance for chronic illnesses to make sure their families are protected if the condition worsens.
Examples of tertiary care services include:
- Midwifery services
- Cancer management
- Neurosurgery
- Plastic surgery
- Advanced neonatology services
- Palliative care
Patients who go through cancer treatment or major surgery also tend to miss work for weeks or months, which is one reason disability insurance often comes up in financial planning around a serious diagnosis.