Hospitalization - Preparation

Well prepared to the hospital

If your doctor determines that hospitalization is necessary, the following usually happens: He / she issues an admission or referral slip that contains important information for treatment in the hospital. In the doctor's office you will also be informed about your illness and its treatment. If this doesn't happen, don't be too shy to ask about it.

Before this conversation, it is helpful to write down all of the questions and then go through them point by point with your doctor. Your doctor can also help you with the selection of the hospital. Warning: not every hospital carries out every procedure.

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• From diagnosis to admission
• Sick leave and employer
• Communication between doctor, patient and hospital
• Find the right hospital

From diagnosis to admission

Your treating doctor may advise you to change some of your habits before a planned operation in order to prevent possible complications. She / he will also tell you how long before the operation you should not drink or smoke alcoholic beverages. This is beneficial for wound healing and faster recovery and can reduce the risk of infection.

If you have received the admission or referral slip, it is best to call the hospital of your choice (you can find hospitals under: Clinic search). You can find out more about the next steps on the phone. An employee of the hospital will probably ask you to come to the hospital admission counter on a specific day.

Sick leave and employer

Your doctor will determine how long you are likely to be unable to work. Inform your job about it. Employees are obliged to inform their employer immediately if they cannot work due to illness. You can find more information on this topic on the website www.arbeiterkammer.at.

Communication between doctor, patient and hospital

The more information the doctors in the hospital receive, the better your stay in hospital will be. Your doctor will therefore inform the hospital in a letter of referral about additional illnesses and / or allergies in order to ensure that treatment is as uncomplicated as possible. Before your stay, record in writing which prescription drugs and drugs bought without a prescription in the pharmacy you are taking in what dosage. Also mention whether you are taking supplements from the pharmacy or drugstore.

In some regions of Austria, general practitioners and specialists are closely networked with the surrounding hospitals. The participating doctors transmit information such as X-ray or laboratory results directly to the hospital. However, this intensive exchange of information is not established throughout Austria.

Find the right hospital

For planned operations or therapies, you have the option of being treated at the hospital of your choice. When making this choice, it is not only the availability and the medical facilities of the hospital that are important. An important criterion can also be the number of certain interventions that are carried out in this hospital.

You can obtain information about Austria's hospitals from your general practitioner or specialist doctor or directly from the websites of the individual hospitals or via Kliniksuche.at.

The information portal kliniksuche.at offers

• Quality-assured, neutral information about which hospitals provide certain medical treatments
• how often and under what conditions.