The process of helping patients to effectively and efficiently use the health care system when faced with one or more of these challenges: (1) choosing, understanding, and using health coverage or applying for assistance when uninsured; (2) choosing, using, and understanding different types of health providers and services; (3) making treatment decisions; and (4) managing care received by multiple providers.

Promotion and protection of the rights of patients, frequently through a legal process.

Programs and activities sponsored or administered by local, state, or national governments.

Differences in access to or availability of medical facilities and services.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

Persons trained to assist professional health personnel in communicating with residents in the community concerning needs and availability of health services.

Surgical procedures conducted with the aid of computers. This is most frequently used in orthopedic and laparoscopic surgery for implant placement and instrument guidance. Image-guided surgery interactively combines prior CT scans or MRI images with real-time video.

Methods to identify and characterize cancer in the early stages of disease and predict tumor behavior.

##### I'm sorry for any confusion, but "South Dakota" is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States and it is not a medical term or concept. It does not have a medical definition in a singular sentence or otherwise.

A geographic location which has insufficient health resources (manpower and/or facilities) to meet the medical needs of the resident population.

A traditional term for all the activities which a physician or other health care professional normally performs to insure the coordination of the medical services required by a patient. It also, when used in connection with managed care, covers all the activities of evaluating the patient, planning treatment, referral, and follow-up so that care is continuous and comprehensive and payment for the care is obtained. (From Slee & Slee, Health Care Terms, 2nd ed)

New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.

Health care provided on a continuing basis from the initial contact, following the patient through all phases of medical care.

Component of the NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. Through basic and clinical biomedical research and training, it conducts and supports research with the objective of cancer prevention, early stage identification and elimination. This Institute was established in 1937.

A subgroup having special characteristics within a larger group, often bound together by special ties which distinguish it from the larger group.

The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.

Individual members of North American ethnic groups with ancient historic ancestral origins in Asia.

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

A health care system which combines physicians, hospitals, and other medical services with a health plan to provide the complete spectrum of medical care for its customers. In a fully integrated system, the three key elements - physicians, hospital, and health plan membership - are in balance in terms of matching medical resources with the needs of purchasers and patients. (Coddington et al., Integrated Health Care: Reorganizing the Physician, Hospital and Health Plan Relationship, 1994, p7)

Intraoperative computer-assisted 3D navigation and guidance system generally used in neurosurgery for tracking surgical tools and localize them with respect to the patient's 3D anatomy. The pre-operative diagnostic scan is used as a reference and is transferred onto the operative field during surgery.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Tumors or cancer of the human BREAST.

The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

Reactions of an individual or groups of individuals with relation to the immediate surrounding area including the animate or inanimate objects within that area.

Tumors or cancer of the COLON or the RECTUM or both. Risk factors for colorectal cancer include chronic ULCERATIVE COLITIS; FAMILIAL POLYPOSIS COLI; exposure to ASBESTOS; and irradiation of the CERVIX UTERI.

Variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, economic resources, or gender and populations identified geographically or similar measures.

Endoscopic examination, therapy or surgery of the luminal surface of the colon.

The degree to which the individual regards the health care service or product or the manner in which it is delivered by the provider as useful, effective, or beneficial.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.

Tumors or cancer of the UTERINE CERVIX.

The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.

Awareness of oneself in relation to time, place and person.

Production of an image when x-rays strike a fluorescent screen.

The awareness of the spatial properties of objects; includes physical space.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

The application of electronic, computerized control systems to mechanical devices designed to perform human functions. Formerly restricted to industry, but nowadays applied to artificial organs controlled by bionic (bioelectronic) devices, like automated insulin pumps and other prostheses.

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.