Hoitokertaa

Hoitokerta is a Finnish term used in health care to denote a single instance of care or treatment delivered to a patient during a scheduled visit. It can include assessment, treatment, monitoring, counseling, and patient education carried out by a health professional. Hoitokerta is used across many settings, including primary care clinics, hospitals, dental practices, physiotherapy, nursing, and mental health services.

In practice, a hoitokerta may be part of an overall care plan or treatment course. The term differentiates a single visit from longer sequences such as a hoitojakso, which refers to a continuous series of sessions aimed at a defined therapeutic goal. The scope and content of a hoitokerta depend on the discipline: for example, nursing or wound care, pharmacological administration, physiotherapy exercises, or psychotherapy discussions.

Administration and documentation: Each hoitokerta is typically recorded in the patient’s health records and may be used for scheduling, care coordination, and reimbursement purposes. The exact procedures for documenting and billing hoitokerta vary by country, region, and health system, but the concept serves to standardize a unit of care within medical documentation and billing.

Origin and usage: The word combines “hoito” (care, treatment) and “kerta” (occasion, instance); together they describe an individual care encounter. Related terms include hoitojakso (treatment course) and appointment or visit in primary care.