Health Policy
Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.
Policy Making
Public Health
Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.
Health Status
The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.
Delivery of Health Care
The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.
Health Care Reform
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.
Organizational Policy
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.
Health Promotion
Health Planning
Planning for needed health and/or welfare services and facilities.
Health Surveys
A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.
Health Services Accessibility
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.
World Health
The concept pertaining to the health status of inhabitants of the world.
Public Health Administration
Management of public health organizations or agencies.
Health Care Surveys
Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.
National Health Programs
Attitude to Health
Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.
Primary Health Care
Health Services Research
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)
Health Services Needs and Demand
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.
Health Priorities
Preferentially rated health-related activities or functions to be used in establishing health planning goals. This may refer specifically to PL93-641.
Quality of Health Care
Health Expenditures
Health Behavior
Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.
Insurance, Health
Health Personnel
Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)
Health Services
Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health.
Oral Health
Health Education
Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.
Health Care Rationing
Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.
Environmental Health
The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).
Health Status Disparities
World Health Organization
A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.
Mental Health Services
Organized services to provide mental health care.
Public Health Practice
The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.
United States
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.
Socioeconomic Factors
Community Health Planning
Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)
Health Care Sector
Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products.
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.
Occupational Health
The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
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)
State Government
The level of governmental organization and function below that of the national or country-wide government.
Environmental Policy
A course of action or principle adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual that concerns human interactions with nature and natural resources.
Health Manpower
The availability of HEALTH PERSONNEL. It includes the demand and recruitment of both professional and allied health personnel, their present and future supply and distribution, and their assignment and utilization.
Community Health Services
Attitude of Health Personnel
Urban Health
The status of health in urban populations.
Child Health Services
Organized services to provide health care for children.
Federal Government
Public Policy
A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.
Government
Health Transition
Demographic and epidemiologic changes that have occurred in the last five decades in many developing countries and that are characterized by major growth in the number and proportion of middle-aged and elderly persons and in the frequency of the diseases that occur in these age groups. The health transition is the result of efforts to improve maternal and child health via primary care and outreach services and such efforts have been responsible for a decrease in the birth rate; reduced maternal mortality; improved preventive services; reduced infant mortality, and the increased life expectancy that defines the transition. (From Ann Intern Med 1992 Mar 15;116(6):499-504)
Rural Health Services
Health services, public or private, in rural areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.
Rural Health
The status of health in rural populations.
Cross-Sectional Studies
Decision Making, Organizational
Outcome Assessment (Health Care)
Social Justice
State Health Plans
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.
Quality Assurance, Health Care
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.
Health Plan Implementation
Those actions designed to carry out recommendations pertaining to health plans or programs.
Nutrition Policy
Health Resources
Available manpower, facilities, revenue, equipment, and supplies to produce requisite health care and services.
International Cooperation
Interviews as Topic
Preventive Health Services
Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.
Social Control Policies
Financing, Government
Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance.
Health Literacy
Program Evaluation
Evidence-Based Medicine
An approach of practicing medicine with the goal to improve and evaluate patient care. It requires the judicious integration of best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care. This method is to help physicians make proper diagnosis, devise best testing plan, choose best treatment and methods of disease prevention, as well as develop guidelines for large groups of patients with the same disease. (from JAMA 296 (9), 2006)
Health Services Administration
Public Sector
The area of a nation's economy that is tax-supported and under government control.
Private Sector
Great Britain
Dental Health Services
Services designed to promote, maintain, or restore dental health.
Universal Coverage
Health insurance coverage for all persons in a state or country, rather than for some subset of the population. It may extend to the unemployed as well as to the employed; to aliens as well as to citizens; for pre-existing conditions as well as for current illnesses; for mental as well as for physical conditions.
Organizational Case Studies
Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.
Public Opinion
Maternal Health Services
Organized services to provide health care to expectant and nursing mothers.
Government Agencies
Administrative units of government responsible for policy making and management of governmental activities.
Prevalence
Developing Countries
Resource Allocation
Regional Health Planning
Planning for health resources at a regional or multi-state level.
Poverty
Internationality
Qualitative Research
Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)
Human Rights
Democracy
A system of government in which there is free and equal participation by the people in the political decision-making process.
Social Responsibility
Research
Critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, having for its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the revision of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in the light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions, theories, or laws. (Webster, 3d ed)
Questionnaires
Health Benefit Plans, Employee
Organizational Objectives
Occupational Health Services
Insurance Coverage
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)
Administrative Personnel
Individuals responsible for the development of policy and supervision of the execution of plans and functional operations.
Program Development
The process of formulating, improving, and expanding educational, managerial, or service-oriented work plans (excluding computer program development).
European Union
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)
Cooperative Behavior
Population Surveillance
Community Health Centers
Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to people living in a community or neighborhood.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
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.
Local Government
Interinstitutional Relations
Health Planning Councils
Organized groups serving in advisory capacities related to health planning activities.
Public Health Informatics
Brazil
Mental Disorders
Health Services for the Aged
Services for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the aged and the maintenance of health in the elderly.
State Medicine
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.
School Health Services
Preventive health services provided for students. It excludes college or university students.
Social Welfare
Marketing of Health Services
Application of marketing principles and techniques to maximize the use of health care resources.
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.
Power (Psychology)
Europe
Budgets
Leadership
Decision Making
Schools, Public Health
Educational institutions for individuals specializing in the field of public health.
Medicaid
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.
Public Health Dentistry
A dental specialty concerned with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of oral health through promoting organized dental health programs at a community, state, or federal level.
Electronic Health Records
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.
Commerce
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)
National Health Insurance, United States
National Health Insurance in the United States refers to a proposed system of healthcare financing that would provide comprehensive coverage for all residents, funded through a combination of government funding and mandatory contributions, and administered by a public agency.
Public Health Nursing
A nursing specialty concerned with promoting and protecting the health of populations, using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences to develop local, regional, state, and national health policy and research. It is population-focused and community-oriented, aimed at health promotion and disease prevention through educational, diagnostic, and preventive programs.
Costs and Cost Analysis
Cost Control
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)
Age Factors
Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.
Social Class
A stratum of people with similar position and prestige; includes social stratification. Social class is measured by criteria such as education, occupation, and income.
Community Mental Health Services
Capital Financing
Managed Care Programs
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.
Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care)
Diffusion of Innovation
Social Change
Vulnerable Populations
Groups of persons whose range of options is severely limited, who are frequently subjected to COERCION in their DECISION MAKING, or who may be compromised in their ability to give INFORMED CONSENT.
Models, Theoretical
Health Occupations
Professions or other business activities directed to the cure and prevention of disease. For occupations of medical personnel who are not physicians but who are working in the fields of medical technology, physical therapy, etc., ALLIED HEALTH OCCUPATIONS is available.
Logistic Models
Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.
Smoke-Free Policy
Prohibition against tobacco smoking in specific areas to control TOBACCO SMOKE POLLUTION.
Needs Assessment
Australia
Chronic Disease
Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care. (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)
Sex Factors
Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.
Research Design
Residence Characteristics
Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.
Legislation as Topic
Cost of Illness
The personal cost of acute or chronic disease. The cost to the patient may be an economic, social, or psychological cost or personal loss to self, family, or immediate community. The cost of illness may be reflected in absenteeism, productivity, response to treatment, peace of mind, or QUALITY OF LIFE. It differs from HEALTH CARE COSTS, meaning the societal cost of providing services related to the delivery of health care, rather than personal impact on individuals.
Health Planning Guidelines
Recommendations for directing health planning functions and policies. These may be mandated by PL93-641 and issued by the Department of Health and Human Services for use by state and local planning agencies.
Biomedical Research
Family Planning Policy
A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, to guide and determine present and future decisions on population control by limiting the number of children or controlling fertility, notably through family planning and contraception within the nuclear family.
Pregnancy
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
An operating division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is concerned with the overall planning, promoting, and administering of programs pertaining to health and medical research. Until 1995, it was an agency of the United States PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.
United Nations
An international organization whose members include most of the sovereign nations of the world with headquarters in New York City. The primary objectives of the organization are to maintain peace and security and to achieve international cooperation in solving international economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian problems.
Quality of Life
Sociology, Medical
The study of the social determinants and social effects of health and disease, and of the social structure of medical institutions or professions.
Privatization
Process of shifting publicly controlled services and/or facilities to the private sector.
Health Care Coalitions
Voluntary groups of people representing diverse interests in the community such as hospitals, businesses, physicians, and insurers, with the principal objective to improve health care cost effectiveness.
Reproductive Health Services
India
I'm sorry for any confusion, but "India" is not a medical term that can be defined in a medical context. It is a geographical location, referring to the Republic of India, a country in South Asia. If you have any questions related to medical topics or definitions, I would be happy to help with those!
Legislation, Dental
Social Values
Guidelines as Topic
A systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. The text may be cursive or in outline form but is generally a comprehensive guide to problems and approaches in any field of activity. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available.
Developed Countries
Tobacco Industry
Mass Screening
Catchment Area (Health)
A geographic area defined and served by a health program or institution.
Lobbying
Fees and Charges
Amounts charged to the patient as payer for health care services.
Empirical Research
Demography
Urban Health Services
Health services, public or private, in urban areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.
Health Records, Personal
Longitudinal patient-maintained records of individual health history and tools that allow individual control of access.