Acute care is given when a patient receives treatment for a short period, either for an injury or an episode of illness, an urgent medical crisis, or recovery from a recent surgery. Medically, care for acute health conditions is contrary to long-term health care provided to patients. 

Acute care may require the patient to stay in a hospital emergency department and provide diagnostic services, surgery, or follow-up care. Hospital-based acute and critical care means that the patient will be discharged as soon as they are considered healthy and stable.

The emergency department, intensive care, cardiology, and neonatal intensive care units are included in the acute care settings where the patient could become seriously unwell and must become stable to transfer to a different department.

There can be two types of concerns or illnesses that would require a doctor’s attention: acute and chronic. Chronic issues are ongoing and constant and acute issues are temporary and short-term. To receive acute medical care, a patient needs immediate treatment and experience recovery in the short term provided the patient gets the right care from a doctor. 

People mistake chronic and acute with the rigour of the sickness or injury. It is the length of the medical treatment that differentiates between both acute and chronic medical issues. The definition of acute medical care refers to treating diseases or injuries that will get better or are short-term. Chronic issues can stay on for several years and some are not curable but may be managed through medical care.