So, what the heck is “dispo”? “Dispo” is short for “disposition” – that is to say, the disposition of the patient from the hospital. In a large number of cases, your patients will not be able to return to wherever they lived prior to their hospitalization. This may be because of preexisting life circumstances (e.g., patient is homeless) or the effects of the illness (e.g., frail elderly who've suffered a stroke and need prolonged physical therapy, and/or whose families can no longer take care of them, or an addicted patient who desires a shot at drug rehab).

In the beginning of wards work, students and interns may work very hard to shepherd a patient quite expeditiously through an acute illness and recovery, only to find the patient cannot be discharged owing to dispo issues. Patients may linger for as long as a week on a hospital ward despite having no true need for this level of care. This is a true bummer for all concerned: For patients, it means more time in the hospital, which puts them at risk for hospital-acquired infections, like pneumonia. For students and residents, it means the team's service remains larger, with continued pre-rounding and notes and more work for the team. For the hospital, it means increased expenses.