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

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)

Coverage by contract whereby one part indemnifies or guarantees another against loss by a specified contingency.

Health insurance to provide full or partial coverage for long-term home care services or for long-term nursing care provided in a residential facility such as a nursing home.

Insurance providing for payment of a stipulated sum to a designated beneficiary upon death of the insured.

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

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.

Individuals or groups with no or inadequate health insurance coverage. Those falling into this category usually comprise three primary groups: the medically indigent (MEDICAL INDIGENCY); those whose clinical condition makes them medically uninsurable; and the working uninsured.

An organization of insurers or reinsurers through which particular types of risk are shared or pooled. The risk of high loss by a particular insurance company is transferred to the group as a whole (the insurance pool) with premiums, losses, and expenses shared in agreed amounts.

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health.

Adverse or favorable selection bias exhibited by insurers or enrollees resulting in disproportionate enrollment of certain groups of people.

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.

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.

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.

Insurance providing coverage for dental care.

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)

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.

Organized services to provide mental health care.

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)

Organized services to provide health care for children.

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

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.

Insurance against loss resulting from liability for injury or damage to the persons or property of others.

Health care programs or services designed to assist individuals in the planning of family size. Various methods of CONTRACEPTION can be used to control the number and timing of childbirths.

Insurance providing a broad range of medical services and supplies, when prescribed by a physician, whether or not the patient is hospitalized. It frequently is an extension of a basic policy and benefits will not begin until the basic policy is exhausted.

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.

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.

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

Insurance providing coverage for physical injury suffered as a result of unavoidable circumstances.

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.

Community health and NURSING SERVICES providing coordinated multiple services to the patient at the patient's homes. These home-care services are provided by a visiting nurse, home health agencies, HOSPITALS, or organized community groups using professional staff for care delivery. It differs from HOME NURSING which is provided by non-professionals.

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

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.

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive health services provided for individuals in the community.

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

Public Law 104-91 enacted in 1996, was designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system, protect health insurance coverage for workers and their families, and to protect individual personal health information.

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.

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.

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

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".

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

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

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

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

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

Insurance providing benefits to cover part or all of the psychiatric care.

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the aged and the maintenance of health in the elderly.

Financing of medical care provided to public assistance recipients.

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

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

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.

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)

Health care services related to human REPRODUCTION and diseases of the reproductive system. Services are provided to both sexes and usually by physicians in the medical or the surgical specialties such as REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE; ANDROLOGY; GYNECOLOGY; OBSTETRICS; and PERINATOLOGY.

Organized services to provide health care to expectant and nursing mothers.

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

Government sponsored social insurance programs.

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

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

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive mental health services provided for individuals in the community.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Services specifically designed, staffed, and equipped for the emergency care of patients.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

The organization and administration of health services dedicated to the delivery of health care.

Organized services to provide health care to adolescents, ages ranging from 13 through 18 years.

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

State-provided health insurance marketplaces established under the PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.

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

Insurance designed to compensate persons who lose wages because of illness or injury; insurance providing periodic payments that partially replace lost wages, salary, or other income when the insured is unable to work because of illness, injury, or disease. Individual and group disability insurance are two types of such coverage. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p207)

Services designed to promote, maintain, or restore dental health.

Organized services for the purpose of providing diagnosis to promote and maintain health.

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)

The level of governmental organization and function below that of the national or country-wide government.

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.

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)

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.

Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.

Organized services to provide health care to women. It excludes maternal care services for which MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES is available.

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.

Services offered to the library user. They include reference and circulation.

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

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

A cabinet department in the Executive Branch of the United States Government concerned with administering those agencies and offices having programs pertaining to health and human services.

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

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.

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

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.

Hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of immediate medical or surgical care to the emergency patient.

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.

Financial assistance provided by the government to indigent families with dependent children who meet certain requirements as defined by the Social Security Act, Title IV, in the U.S.

A general concept referring to the organization and administration of nursing activities.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

The area of a nation's economy that is tax-supported and under government control.

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.

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

Organized services to provide diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of genetic disorders.

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.

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)

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Taiwan" is not a medical term and does not have a medical definition. It is a country located in East Asia. If you have any questions related to healthcare or medical terms, I would be happy to help with those!

Status not subject to taxation; as the income of a philanthropic organization. Tax-exempt organizations may also qualify to receive tax-deductible donations if they are considered to be nonprofit corporations under Section 501(c)3 of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.

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)

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

Organized institutions which provide services to ameliorate conditions of need or social pathology in the community.

Process of shifting publicly controlled services and/or facilities to the private sector.

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.

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.

Systematic identification of a population's needs or the assessment of individuals to determine the proper level of services needed.

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.

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)

Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.

The condition in which individuals are financially unable to access adequate medical care without depriving themselves and their dependents of food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials of living.

Health care provided to individuals.

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.

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.

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

The state of being engaged in an activity or service for wages or salary.

Great Britain is not a medical term, but a geographical name for the largest island in the British Isles, which comprises England, Scotland, and Wales, forming the major part of the United Kingdom.

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

Health services for employees, usually provided by the employer at the place of work.

Tax on the net income of an individual, organization, or business.

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 confinement of a patient in a hospital.

That portion of total HEALTH CARE COSTS borne by an individual's or group's employing organization.

Children with mental or physical disabilities that interfere with usual activities of daily living and that may require accommodation or intervention.

Insurance providing benefits for the costs of care provided by nurses, especially nurse practitioners and nurse clinicians.

A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships.

Programs in which participation is required.

An organized procedure carried out through committees to review admissions, duration of stay, professional services furnished, and to evaluate the medical necessity of those services and promote their most efficient use.

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.

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)

Persons living in the United States of Mexican (MEXICAN AMERICANS), Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin. The concept does not include Brazilian Americans or Portuguese Americans.

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.

Health care provided to specific cultural or tribal peoples which incorporates local customs, beliefs, and taboos.

Total pharmaceutical services provided by qualified PHARMACISTS. In addition to the preparation and distribution of medical products, they may include consultative services provided to agencies and institutions which do not have a qualified pharmacist.

The use of community resources, individual case work, or group work to promote the adaptive capacities of individuals in relation to their social and economic environments. It includes social service agencies.

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.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but 'England' is not a medical term and does not have a medical definition. England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, known for its rich history, cultural heritage, and contributions to medical science. However, in a medical context, it may refer to the location of a patient, healthcare provider, or research study, but it is not a term with a specific medical meaning.

The inhabitants of rural areas or of small towns classified as rural.

Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.

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

An infant during the first month after birth.

Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to people living in a community or neighborhood.

Exercise of governmental authority to control conduct.

A strategy for purchasing health care in a manner which will obtain maximum value for the price for the purchasers of the health care and the recipients. The concept was developed primarily by Alain Enthoven of Stanford University and promulgated by the Jackson Hole Group. The strategy depends on sponsors for groups of the population to be insured. The sponsor, in some cases a health alliance, acts as an intermediary between the group and competing provider groups (accountable health plans). The competition is price-based among annual premiums for a defined, standardized benefit package. (From Slee and Slee, Health Care Reform Terms, 1993)

Providing for the full range of personal health services for diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and rehabilitation of patients.

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.

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

Prepaid health and hospital insurance plan.

Community or individual involvement in the decision-making process.

Excessive, under or unnecessary utilization of health services by patients or physicians.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

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.

Tax-exempt trusts or custodial accounts established by individuals with financial institutions for saving money for future medical expenses.

All organized methods of funding.

Statistical interpretation and description of a population with reference to distribution, composition, or structure.

A specific type of health insurance which provides surgeons' fees for specified amounts according to the type of surgery listed in the policy.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but the term "Oregon" is a geographical location and not a medical concept or condition. It is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. If you have any questions related to medical topics, I would be happy to help answer those!

Size and composition of the family.

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

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

Those facilities which administer health services to individuals who do not require hospitalization or institutionalization.

Organized services to provide immediate psychiatric care to patients with acute psychological disturbances.

A set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. In statistics, multivariate analysis is interpreted as any analytic method that allows simultaneous study of two or more dependent variables.

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.

An interactive process whereby members of a community are concerned for the equality and rights of all.

Organized efforts by communities or organizations to improve the health and well-being of the child.

Visits made by patients to health service providers' offices for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

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)

A method of examining and setting levels of payments.

Available manpower, facilities, revenue, equipment, and supplies to produce requisite health care and services.

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).

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)

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

The total of dental diagnostic, preventive, and restorative services provided to meet the needs of a patient (from Illustrated Dictionary of Dentistry, 1982).

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)

Financial assistance to impoverished persons for the essentials of living through federal, state or local government programs.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

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.

Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).

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

The state of being retired from one's position or occupation.

Countries in the process of change with economic growth, that is, an increase in production, per capita consumption, and income. The process of economic growth involves better utilization of natural and human resources, which results in a change in the social, political, and economic structures.

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

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.

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

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.

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

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Costs which are directly identifiable with a particular service.

Arrangements negotiated between a third-party payer (often a self-insured company or union trust fund) and a group of health-care providers (hospitals and physicians) who furnish services at lower than usual fees, and, in return, receive prompt payment and an expectation of an increased volume of patients.

A geographic area defined and served by a health program or institution.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Failure of a professional person, a physician or lawyer, to render proper services through reprehensible ignorance or negligence or through criminal intent, especially when injury or loss follows. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

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

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

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