This first-of-its-kind text provides a multidisciplinary overview of a significant problem in
hospital-based healthcare: patients who decline inpatient medical care and leave the hospital
against medical advice (AMA). Compared to standard hospital discharges AMA discharges are
associated with worse health and health services outcomes. Patients discharged AMA have been
found to have disproportionately higher rates of substance use psychiatric illness and report
stigmatization and reduced access to care. By providing a far reaching examination of AMA
discharges for a wide academic and clinical audience the book serves as a reference for
clinical care research and the development of professional guidelines and institutional
policy. The book provides both a broad overview of AMA discharges with chapters on the
epidemiology ethical and legal aspects as well as social science perspectives. For clinicians
in the disciplines of hospital medicine pediatrics emergency medicine nursing and
psychiatry the book also provides a patient-centered analysis of the problem case-based
discussions and a discussion of best practices. This comprehensive review of AMA discharges
and health care quality will interest physicians and other health care professionals social
workers hospital administrators quality and risk managers clinician-educators and health
services researchers.
