Medical state is a term used to describe a hospital patient's health status, or condition.
Concern for patient privacy and desire to avoid litigation associated with its breach have prompted doctors and hospitals to use these terms as an alternative to disclosing specific medical conditions.
Definitions vary among hospitals, and it is even possible for a patient to be upgraded or downgraded simply by being moved from one place to another, with no change in actual physical state.
Furthermore, medical science is a highly complex discipline dealing with complicated and often overlapping threats to life and well-being.
In the case of possibly life-threatening illness, a patient may be treated by a dozen or more specialists, each with their area of medical expertise.