Payment by a third-party payer in a sum equal to the amount expended by a health care provider or facility for health services rendered to an insured or program beneficiary. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

A scheme which provides reimbursement for the health services rendered, generally by an institution, and which provides added financial rewards if certain conditions are met. Such a scheme is intended to promote and reward increased efficiency and cost containment, with better care, or at least without adverse effect on the quality of the care rendered.

Compensatory plans designed to motivate physicians in relation to patient referral, physician recruitment, and efficient use of the health facility.

Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.

Programs designed by management to motivate employees to work more efficiently with increased productivity, and greater employee satisfaction.

A system for classifying patient care by relating common characteristics such as diagnosis, treatment, and age to an expected consumption of hospital resources and length of stay. Its purpose is to provide a framework for specifying case mix and to reduce hospital costs and reimbursements and it forms the cornerstone of the prospective payment system.

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.

The containment, regulation, or restraint of costs. Costs are said to be contained when the value of resources committed to an activity is not considered excessive. This determination is frequently subjective and dependent upon the specific geographic area of the activity being measured. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

A method of payment for health services in which an individual or institutional provider is paid a fixed, per capita amount without regard to the actual number or nature of services provided to each patient.

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XVIII-Health Insurance for the Aged, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, that provides health insurance benefits to persons over the age of 65 and others eligible for Social Security benefits. It consists of two separate but coordinated programs: hospital insurance (MEDICARE PART A) and supplementary medical insurance (MEDICARE PART B). (Hospital Administration Terminology, AHA, 2d ed and A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, US House of Representatives, 1976)

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

The assignment, to each of several particular cost-centers, of an equitable proportion of the costs of activities that serve all of them. Cost-center usually refers to institutional departments or services.

Economic aspects related to the management and operation of a hospital.

Absolute, comparative, or differential costs pertaining to services, institutions, resources, etc., or the analysis and study of these costs.

Health insurance providing benefits to cover or partly cover hospital expenses.

A system wherein reimbursement rates are set, for a given period of time, prior to the circumstances giving rise to actual reimbursement claims.

A shared service which combines the purchasing power of individual organizations or facilities in order to obtain lower prices for equipment and supplies. (From Health Care Terms, 2nd ed)

The actual costs of providing services related to the delivery of health care, including the costs of procedures, therapies, and medications. It is differentiated from HEALTH EXPENDITURES, which refers to the amount of money paid for the services, and from fees, which refers to the amount charged, regardless of cost.

A component of the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee and direct the Medicare and Medicaid programs and related Federal medical care quality control staffs. Name was changed effective June 14, 2001.

The amount that a health care institution or organization pays for its drugs. It is one component of the final price that is charged to the consumer (FEES, PHARMACEUTICAL or PRESCRIPTION FEES).

An object or a situation that can serve to reinforce a response, to satisfy a motive, or to afford pleasure.

Method of charging whereby a physician or other practitioner bills for each encounter or service rendered. In addition to physicians, other health care professionals are reimbursed via this mechanism. Fee-for-service plans contrast with salary, per capita, and prepayment systems, where the payment does not change with the number of services actually used or if none are used. (From Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)

Health insurance plans intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay; the establishment of cost-sharing incentives for outpatient surgery; selective contracting with health care providers; and the intensive management of high-cost health care cases. The programs may be provided in a variety of settings, such as HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS and PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS.

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for health care services.

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.

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.

The obtaining and management of funds for hospital needs and responsibility for fiscal affairs.

The remuneration paid or benefits granted to an employee.

Production of drugs or biologicals which are unlikely to be manufactured by private industry unless special incentives are provided by others.

The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Insurance providing for payment of services rendered by the pharmacist. Services include the preparation and distribution of medical products.

A method of examining and setting levels of payments.

Descriptive terms and identifying codes for reporting medical services and procedures performed by PHYSICIANS. It is produced by the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION and used in insurance claim reporting for MEDICARE; MEDICAID; and private health insurance programs (From CPT 2002).

The organization and operation of the business aspects of a physician's practice.

Payment for a service or for a commodity such as a body part.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

The expenses incurred by a hospital in providing care. The hospital costs attributed to a particular patient care episode include the direct costs plus an appropriate proportion of the overhead for administration, personnel, building maintenance, equipment, etc. Hospital costs are one of the factors which determine HOSPITAL CHARGES (the price the hospital sets for its services).

Reductions in all or any portion of the costs of providing goods or services. Savings may be incurred by the provider or the consumer.

Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.

A listing of established professional service charges, for specified dental and medical procedures.

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.

Works about lists of drugs or collections of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions for the compounding of medicinal preparations. Formularies differ from PHARMACOPOEIAS in that they are less complete, lacking full descriptions of the drugs, their formulations, analytic composition, chemical properties, etc. In hospitals, formularies list all drugs commonly stocked in the hospital pharmacy.

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Extended care facilities which provide skilled nursing care or rehabilitation services for inpatients on a daily basis.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

The voluntary portion of Medicare, known as the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Program, that includes physician's services, home health care, medical services, outpatient hospital services, and laboratory, pathology, and radiology services. All persons entitled to Medicare Part A may enroll in Medicare Part B on a monthly premium basis.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

That segment of commercial enterprise devoted to the design, development, and manufacture of chemical products for use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, disability, or other dysfunction, or to improve function.

Detailed financial plans for carrying out specific activities for a certain period of time. They include proposed income and expenditures.

Economic aspects of the fields of pharmacy and pharmacology as they apply to the development and study of medical economics in rational drug therapy and the impact of pharmaceuticals on the cost of medical care. Pharmaceutical economics also includes the economic considerations of the pharmaceutical care delivery system and in drug prescribing, particularly of cost-benefit values. (From J Res Pharm Econ 1989;1(1); PharmacoEcon 1992;1(1))

The functions and activities carried out by the U.S. Postal Service, foreign postal services, and private postal services such as Federal Express.

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

Application of marketing principles and techniques to maximize the use of health care resources.

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

The specialty related to the performance of techniques in clinical pathology such as those in hematology, microbiology, and other general clinical laboratory applications.

Outside services provided to an institution under a formal financial agreement.

Medical services for which no payment is received. Uncompensated care includes charity care and bad debts.

Facilities which provide nursing supervision and limited medical care to persons who do not require hospitalization.

Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance.

The obtaining and management of funds for institutional needs and responsibility for fiscal affairs.

Includes relationships between hospitals, their governing boards, and administrators in regard to physicians, whether or not the physicians are members of the medical staff or have medical staff privileges.

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.

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

The legal relation between an entity (individual, group, corporation, or-profit, secular, government) and an object. The object may be corporeal, such as equipment, or completely a creature of law, such as a patent; it may be movable, such as an animal, or immovable, such as a building.

Amounts charged to the patient or third-party payer for medication. It includes the pharmacist's professional fee and cost of ingredients, containers, etc.

Statistical models of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, as well as of financial considerations. For the application of statistics to the testing and quantifying of economic theories MODELS, ECONOMETRIC is available.

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

The compulsory portion of Medicare that is known as the Hospital Insurance Program. All persons 65 years and older who are entitled to benefits under the Old Age, Survivors, Disability and Health Insurance Program or railroad retirement, persons under the age of 65 who have been eligible for disability for more than two years, and insured workers (and their dependents) requiring renal dialysis or kidney transplantation are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A.

Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products.

Practice of a health profession by an individual, offering services on a person-to-person basis, as opposed to group or partnership practice.

Nurses professionally qualified in administration.

Agreements between two or more parties, especially those that are written and enforceable by law (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed). It is sometimes used to characterize the nature of the professional-patient relationship.

The effort of two or more parties to secure the business of a third party by offering, usually under fair or equitable rules of business practice, the most favorable terms.

Coded listings of physician or other professional services using units that indicate the relative value of the various services they perform. They take into account time, skill, and overhead cost required for each service, but generally do not consider the relative cost-effectiveness. Appropriate conversion factors can be used to translate the abstract units of the relative value scales into dollar fees for each service based on work expended, practice costs, and training costs.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

Purchasers are provided information on the quality of health care, including patient outcomes and health status, with data on the dollar outlays going towards health. The focus is on managing the use of the health care system to reduce inappropriate care and to identify and reward the best-performing providers. (from http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/meyerrpt.htm accessed 11/25/2011)

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Using certified ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS technology to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES; engage patients and families in their health care; improve care coordination; improve population and public health; while maintaining privacy and security.

A novel composition, device, or process, independently conceived de novo or derived from a pre-existing model.

Organized systems for providing comprehensive prepaid health care that have five basic attributes: (1) provide care in a defined geographic area; (2) provide or ensure delivery of an agreed-upon set of basic and supplemental health maintenance and treatment services; (3) provide care to a voluntarily enrolled group of persons; (4) require their enrollees to use the services of designated providers; and (5) receive reimbursement through a predetermined, fixed, periodic prepayment made by the enrollee without regard to the degree of services provided. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Insurance providing benefits for the costs of care by a physician which can be comprehensive or limited to surgical expenses or for care provided only in the hospital. It is frequently called "regular medical expense" or "surgical expense".

Business management of medical, dental and veterinary practices that may include capital financing, utilization management, and arrangement of capitation agreements with other parties.

Facilities designed to serve patients who require surgical treatment exceeding the capabilities of usual physician's office yet not of such proportion as to require hospitalization.

The capacity of an organization, institution, or business to produce desired results with a minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, personnel, materiel, etc.

Management of the internal organization of the hospital.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

Generally refers to the amount of protection available and the kind of loss which would be paid for under an insurance contract with an insurer. (Slee & Slee, Health Care Terms, 2d ed)

The design, completion, and filing of forms with the insurer.

A large group of diseases which are characterized by a low prevalence in the population. They frequently are associated with problems in diagnosis and treatment.

Payment, or other means of making amends, for a wrong or injury.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

A course or method of action selected, usually by an organization, institution, university, society, etc., from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions and positions on matters of public interest or social concern. It does not include internal policy relating to organization and administration within the corporate body, for which ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION is available.

Absorbent pads designed to be worn as underpants or pants liners by adults.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Kentucky" is a proper noun and not a term that has a medical definition. It is a state located in the eastern region of the United States. If you have any questions related to medical conditions or terminology, I would be happy to help answer those!

Organizations which assume the financial responsibility for the risks of policyholders.

The prices a hospital sets for its services. HOSPITAL COSTS (the direct and indirect expenses incurred by the hospital in providing the services) are one factor in the determination of hospital charges. Other factors may include, for example, profits, competition, and the necessity of recouping the costs of uncompensated care.

The collective designation of three organizations with common membership: the European Economic Community (Common Market), the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). It was known as the European Community until 1994. It is primarily an economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. Professional services, social, medical and paramedical, are subsumed under labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997, p842)

Any system which allows payors to share some of the financial risk associated with a particular patient population with providers. Providers agree to adhere to fixed fee schedules in exchange for an increase in their payor base and a chance to benefit from cost containment measures. Common risk-sharing methods are prospective payment schedules (PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEM), capitation (CAPITATION FEES), diagnosis-related fees (DIAGNOSIS-RELATED GROUPS), and pre-negotiated fees.

Any group of three or more full-time physicians organized in a legally recognized entity for the provision of health care services, sharing space, equipment, personnel and records for both patient care and business management, and who have a predetermined arrangement for the distribution of income.

Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS.

The utilization of drugs as reported in individual hospital studies, FDA studies, marketing, or consumption, etc. This includes drug stockpiling, and patient drug profiles.

Public or private organizations that provide, either directly or through arrangements with other organizations, home health services in the patient's home. (Hospital Administration Terminology, 2d ed)

Economic aspects of the field of medicine, the medical profession, and health care. It includes the economic and financial impact of disease in general on the patient, the physician, society, or government.

Payment by individuals or their family for health care services which are not covered by a third-party payer, either insurance or medical assistance.

The provision of monetary resources including money or capital and credit; obtaining or furnishing money or capital for a purchase or enterprise and the funds so obtained. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed.)

The charge levied on the consumer for drugs or therapy prescribed under written order of a physician or other health professional.

Review of claims by insurance companies to determine liability and amount of payment for various services. The review may also include determination of eligibility of the claimant or beneficiary or of the provider of the benefit; determination that the benefit is covered or not payable under another policy; or determination that the service was necessary and of reasonable cost and quality.

The broad dissemination of new ideas, procedures, techniques, materials, and devices and the degree to which these are accepted and used.

Health care services provided to patients on an ambulatory basis, rather than by admission to a hospital or other health care facility. The services may be a part of a hospital, augmenting its inpatient services, or may be provided at a free-standing facility.

Health insurance plans for employees, and generally including their dependents, usually on a cost-sharing basis with the employer paying a percentage of the premium.

The observation and analysis of movements in a task with an emphasis on the amount of time required to perform the task.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

That distinct portion of the institutional, industrial, or economic structure of a country that is controlled or owned by non-governmental, private interests.

The bestowing of tangible or intangible benefits, voluntarily and usually without expectation of anything in return. However, gift giving may be motivated by feelings of ALTRUISM or gratitude, by a sense of obligation, or by the hope of receiving something in return.

Drugs whose drug name is not protected by a trademark. They may be manufactured by several companies.

Hospital department responsible for the administration of functions and activities pertaining to the delivery of anesthetics.

The science of utilization, distribution, and consumption of services and materials.

The combining of administrative and organizational resources of two or more health care facilities.

Financing of medical care provided to public assistance recipients.

Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.

Exercise of governmental authority to control conduct.

The room or rooms in which the physician and staff provide patient care. The offices include all rooms in the physician's office suite.

PL97-248. Title II of the Act specifies "provisions relating to savings in health and income security programs." This includes changes in payment for services, benefits and premiums of Medicare as well as changes in provisions under Medicaid and other specific programs covered by Social Security. Title II includes various revenue measures.

Health services, public or private, in rural areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

Media that facilitate transportability of pertinent information concerning patient's illness across varied providers and geographic locations. Some versions include direct linkages to online consumer health information that is relevant to the health conditions and treatments related to a specific patient.

Exploitation through misrepresentation of the facts or concealment of the purposes of the exploiter.

Reproduction of data in a new location or other destination, leaving the source data unchanged, although the physical form of the result may differ from that of the source.

Expendable and nonexpendable equipment, supplies, apparatus, and instruments that are used in diagnostic, surgical, therapeutic, scientific, and experimental procedures.

The application of mathematical formulas and statistical techniques to the testing and quantifying of economic theories and the solution of economic problems.

Costs which are directly identifiable with a particular service.

Provisions of an insurance policy that require the insured to pay some portion of covered expenses. Several forms of sharing are in use, e.g., deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. Cost sharing does not refer to or include amounts paid in premiums for the coverage. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

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

Signals for an action; that specific portion of a perceptual field or pattern of stimuli to which a subject has learned to respond.

Laws concerned with manufacturing, dispensing, and marketing of drugs.

Public Law No: 111-5, enacted February 2009, makes supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.

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.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but 'Europe' is a geographical continent and not a medical term; therefore, it doesn't have a medical definition.

Theoretical representations and constructs that describe or explain the structure and hierarchy of relationships and interactions within or between formal organizational entities or informal social groups.

A medical specialty concerned with maintaining health and providing medical care to children from birth to adolescence.

Criteria and standards used for the determination of the appropriateness of the inclusion of patients with specific conditions in proposed treatment plans and the criteria used for the inclusion of subjects in various clinical trials and other research protocols.

The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.

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)

The strengthening of a conditioned response.

Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.

A measure of inpatient health facility use based upon the average number or proportion of beds occupied for a given period of time.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "California" is a place, specifically a state on the western coast of the United States, and not a medical term or concept. Therefore, it doesn't have a medical definition.

The use of severity-of-illness measures, such as age, to estimate the risk (measurable or predictable chance of loss, injury or death) to which a patient is subject before receiving some health care intervention. This adjustment allows comparison of performance and quality across organizations, practitioners, and communities. (from JCAHO, Lexikon, 1994)

All organized methods of funding.

Payments or services provided under stated circumstances under the terms of an insurance policy. In prepayment programs, benefits are the services the programs will provide at defined locations and to the extent needed.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

The selection, appointing, and scheduling of personnel.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)

Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital.

A practice whereby tokens representing money, toys, candy, etc., are given as secondary reinforcers contingent upon certain desired behaviors or performances.

Prepaid health and hospital insurance plan.

The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Belgium" is a country located in Western Europe, not a medical term or concept. It is not possible for me to provide a medical definition for it.

A partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity that enters into an arrangement for the provision of services with persons who are licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, and dentistry, and with other care personnel. Under an IPA arrangement, licensed professional persons provide services through the entity in accordance with a mutually accepted compensation arrangement, while retaining their private practices. Services under the IPA are marketed through a prepaid health plan. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

An independent administrative agency concerned with maintaining competitive free enterprise by prohibiting unfair methods of competition and unfair deceptive acts or practices.

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

Drugs that cannot be sold legally without a prescription.

Introduction of changes which are new to the organization and are created by management.

Process that is gone through in order for a drug to receive approval by a government regulatory agency. This includes any required pre-clinical or clinical testing, review, submission, and evaluation of the applications and test results, and post-marketing surveillance of the drug.

The administrative procedures involved with acquiring TISSUES or organs for TRANSPLANTATION through various programs, systems, or organizations. These procedures include obtaining consent from TISSUE DONORS and arranging for transportation of donated tissues and organs, after TISSUE HARVESTING, to HOSPITALS for processing and transplantation.

Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.

Those physicians who have completed the education requirements specified by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

The period of confinement of a patient to a hospital or other health facility.

Evaluation of biomedical technology in relation to cost, efficacy, utilization, etc., and its future impact on social, ethical, and legal systems.

Private, not-for-profit hospitals that are autonomous, self-established, and self-supported.

Conformity in fulfilling or following official, recognized, or institutional requirements, guidelines, recommendations, protocols, pathways, or other standards.

The level of governmental organization and function at the national or country-wide level.

A medical specialty concerned with the provision of continuing, comprehensive primary health care for the entire family.

An Act prohibiting a health plan from establishing lifetime limits or annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary after January 1, 2014. It permits a restricted annual limit for plan years beginning prior to January 1, 2014. It provides that a health plan shall not be prevented from placing annual or lifetime per-beneficiary limits on covered benefits. The Act sets up a competitive health insurance market.

An approach to health care financing with only one source of money for paying health care providers. The scope may be national (the Canadian System), state-wide, or community-based. The payer may be a governmental unit or other entity such as an insurance company. The proposed advantages include administrative simplicity for patients and providers, and resulting significant savings in overhead costs. (From Slee and Slee, Health Care Reform Terms, 1993, p106)

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Florida" is a geographical location and not a medical term or condition with a specific definition. It is the 27th largest state by area in the United States, located in the southeastern region of the country and known for its diverse wildlife, beautiful beaches, and theme parks. If you have any medical questions or terms that need clarification, please feel free to ask!

Ratio of output to effort, or the ratio of effort produced to energy expended.

The moral obligations governing the conduct of research. Used for discussions of research ethics as a general topic.

Criteria to determine eligibility of patients for medical care programs and services.

A branch of psychology which investigates the correlation between experience or behavior and the basic neurophysiological processes. The term neuropsychology stresses the dominant role of the nervous system. It is a more narrowly defined field than physiological psychology or psychophysiology.

Discontinuation of the habit of smoking, the inhaling and exhaling of tobacco smoke.

Persons who are enrolled in research studies or who are otherwise the subjects of research.

Accountability and responsibility to another, enforceable by civil or criminal sanctions.

Extensive collections, reputedly complete, of facts and data garnered from material of a specialized subject area and made available for analysis and application. The collection can be automated by various contemporary methods for retrieval. The concept should be differentiated from DATABASES, BIBLIOGRAPHIC which is restricted to collections of bibliographic references.

Those psychological characteristics which differentiate individuals from one another.

A system of medical care regulated, controlled and financed by the government, in which the government assumes responsibility for the health needs of the population.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

The attainment or process of attaining a new level of performance or quality.

Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.

Learning that takes place when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

The combined discipline of psychology and economics that investigates what happens in markets in which some of the agents display human limitations and complications.

Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.

Medical complexes consisting of medical school, hospitals, clinics, libraries, administrative facilities, etc.

Institutions with permanent facilities and organized medical staff which provide the full range of hospital services primarily to a neighborhood area.

A cabinet department in the Executive Branch of the United States Government whose mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter WARFARE and to protect the security of our country.

Method of measuring performance against established standards of best practice.

Providers of initial care for patients. These PHYSICIANS refer patients when appropriate for secondary or specialist care.

Concept referring to the standardized fees for services rendered by health care providers, e.g., laboratories and physicians, and reimbursement for those services under Medicare Part B. It includes acceptance by the physician.

The total amount of work to be performed by an individual, a department, or other group of workers in a period of time.