preadmission certification /prē′ədmish″ən/ , a system whereby physicians are required to obtain advance approval for nonemergency hospital admissions for patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and managed health care plans, as well as most third-party payers. The system is intended to determine whether the patient can be treated as an outpatient or in another, less expensive manner than hospitalization. Emergency admissions require post hoc approval. Also called precertification.
