A large collection of DNA fragments cloned (CLONING, MOLECULAR) from a given organism, tissue, organ, or cell type. It may contain complete genomic sequences (GENOMIC LIBRARY) or complementary DNA sequences, the latter being formed from messenger RNA and lacking intron sequences.

'Medical Libraries' are repositories or digital platforms that accumulate, organize, and provide access to a wide range of biomedical information resources including but not limited to books, journals, electronic databases, multimedia materials, and other evidence-based health data for the purpose of supporting and advancing clinical practice, education, research, and administration in healthcare.

Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.

Collections of systematically acquired and organized information resources, and usually providing assistance to users. (ERIC Thesaurus, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ accessed 2/1/2008)

Information centers primarily serving the needs of hospital medical staff and sometimes also providing patient education and other services.

Hospitals engaged in educational and research programs, as well as providing medical care to the patients.

Large hospitals with a resident medical staff which provides continuous care to maternity, surgical and medical patients.

Hospitals maintained by a university for the teaching of medical students, postgraduate training programs, and clinical research.

Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in an organized facility, institution, or agency.

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

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).

Hospitals located in metropolitan areas.

Special hospitals which provide care for ill children.

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

A form of GENE LIBRARY containing the complete DNA sequences present in the genome of a given organism. It contrasts with a cDNA library which contains only sequences utilized in protein coding (lacking introns).

An agency of the NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH concerned with overall planning, promoting, and administering programs pertaining to advancement of medical and related sciences. Major activities of this institute include the collection, dissemination, and exchange of information important to the progress of medicine and health, research in medical informatics and support for medical library development.

Government-controlled hospitals which represent the major health facility for a designated geographic area.

The number of beds which a hospital has been designed and constructed to contain. It may also refer to the number of beds set up and staffed for use.

Hospitals which provide care for a single category of illness with facilities and staff directed toward a specific service.

Collection and analysis of data pertaining to operations of a particular library, library system, or group of independent libraries, with recommendations for improvement and/or ordered plans for further development.

Planning, organizing, staffing, direction, and control of libraries.

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

Professional medical personnel who provide care to patients in an organized facility, institution or agency.

A class of hospitals that includes profit or not-for-profit hospitals that are controlled by a legal entity other than a government agency. (Hospital Administration Terminology, AHA, 2d ed)

Professional medical personnel approved to provide care to patients in a hospital.

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

Special hospitals which provide care to the mentally ill patient.

Major administrative divisions of the hospital.

Study of the principles and practices of library administration and services.

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

Large collections of small molecules (molecular weight about 600 or less), of similar or diverse nature which are used for high-throughput screening analysis of the gene function, protein interaction, cellular processing, biochemical pathways, or other chemical interactions.

Areawide planning for hospitals or planning of a particular hospital unit on the basis of projected consumer need. This does not include hospital design and construction or architectural plans.

Those areas of the hospital organization not considered departments which provide specialized patient care. They include various hospital special care wards.

Libraries in which a major proportion of the resources are available in machine-readable format, rather than on paper or MICROFORM.

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.

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.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

'Nursing libraries' are specialized collections of resources, including books, journals, databases, and electronic media, that provide evidence-based information to support nursing education, research, and practice, and promote the ongoing professional development of nurses.

Compilations of data on hospital activities and programs; excludes patient medical records.

My apologies, there seems to be a misunderstanding - "Library Associations" is not a medical term; it refers to organizations that promote the interests of libraries and library professionals, often advocating for issues such as funding, intellectual freedom, and professional development, which can include medical or health science librarians.

The insertion of recombinant DNA molecules from prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic sources into a replicating vehicle, such as a plasmid or virus vector, and the introduction of the resultant hybrid molecules into recipient cells without altering the viability of those cells.

A technology, in which sets of reactions for solution or solid-phase synthesis, is used to create molecular libraries for analysis of compounds on a large scale.

Any materials used in providing care specifically in the hospital.

'Catalogs, Library' are systematic listings or databases of an organized collection of library resources, such as books, periodicals, multimedia materials, and digital assets, that provide comprehensive descriptions, locations, and access information to facilitate efficient retrieval and usage.

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 order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

Development of a library collection, including the determination and coordination of selection policy, assessment of needs of users and potential users, collection use studies, collection evaluation, identification of collection needs, selection of materials, planning for resource sharing, collection maintenance and weeding, and budgeting.

Hospital department which administers all departmental functions and the provision of surgical diagnostic and therapeutic services.

'Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over' refers to the maximum number of hospital beds equaling or exceeding 500 that are medically staffed and equipped to provide patient care and accommodation within a healthcare facility.

Organized services in a hospital which provide medical care on an outpatient basis.

The process of accepting patients. The concept includes patients accepted for medical and nursing care in a hospital or other health care institution.

The administrative process of discharging the patient, alive or dead, from hospitals or other health facilities.

Any infection which a patient contracts in a health-care institution.

Hospital department that manages and supervises the dietary program in accordance with the patients' requirements.

Acquisition, organization, and preparation of library materials for use, including selection, weeding, cataloging, classification, and preservation.

Hospitals controlled by the county government.

Integrated, computer-assisted systems designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information concerned with the administrative and clinical aspects of providing medical services within the hospital.

Hospital department responsible for the administration and management of services provided for obstetric and gynecologic patients.

A professional society in the United States whose membership is composed of hospitals.

The use of automatic machines or processing devices in libraries. The automation may be applied to library administrative activities, office procedures, and delivery of library services to users.

Hospitals controlled by the city government.

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

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.

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

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

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

Persons admitted to health facilities which provide board and room, for the purpose of observation, care, diagnosis or treatment.

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 individuals employed by the hospital.

The selection, appointing, and scheduling of personnel.

An infant during the first month after birth.

Hospital facilities equipped to carry out investigative procedures.

Print and non-print materials collected, processed, and stored by libraries. They comprise books, periodicals, pamphlets, reports, microforms, maps, manuscripts, motion pictures, and all other forms of audiovisual records. (Harrod, The Librarians' Glossary, 4th ed, p497)

Special hospitals which provide care to women during pregnancy and parturition.

Single-stranded complementary DNA synthesized from an RNA template by the action of RNA-dependent DNA polymerase. cDNA (i.e., complementary DNA, not circular DNA, not C-DNA) is used in a variety of molecular cloning experiments as well as serving as a specific hybridization probe.

Private hospitals that are owned or sponsored by religious organizations.

A multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, subcloning, determination of the DNA SEQUENCE, and information analysis.

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.

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 hospital department which is responsible for the organization and administration of nursing activities.

Cooperation among hospitals for the purpose of sharing various departmental services, e.g., pharmacy, laundry, data processing, etc.

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

The process by which the employer promotes staff performance and efficiency consistent with management goals and objectives.

Subsequent admissions of a patient to a hospital or other health care institution for treatment.

'Animal hospitals' are specialized medical facilities primarily dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, and care of sick, injured, or adopted animals, providing advanced veterinary services, surgeries, and intensive care units, often staffed with trained veterinarians and support 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)

A detailed review and evaluation of selected clinical records by qualified professional personnel for evaluating quality of medical care.

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

'Hospital bed capacity, under 100' refers to the maximum number of hospital beds available for patient care that is less than one hundred, indicating a smaller healthcare facility or a specific unit within a larger hospital with limited bed resources.

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)

Hospital department responsible for the organization and administration of psychiatric services.

The hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of diagnostic and therapeutic services for the cardiac patient.

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).

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.

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.

Interlibrary Loans is a service that facilitates the borrowing and lending of library materials between different libraries to provide their patrons access to resources that may not be available in their own library's collection.

'Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299' refers to the medical facility's capacity to accommodate patients, specifically within the range of 100 to 299 beds, which allows for a moderate-sized hospital setting, enabling it to provide care for a substantial number of patients while maintaining relatively close proximity between healthcare professionals and individuals under their supervision.

Architecture, exterior and interior design, and construction of facilities other than hospitals, e.g., dental schools, medical schools, ambulatory care clinics, and specified units of health care facilities. The concept also includes architecture, design, and construction of specialized contained, controlled, or closed research environments including those of space labs and stations.

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

Hospitals which provide care for the military personnel and usually for their dependents.

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.

Substances that reduce the growth or reproduction of BACTERIA.

Hospital units providing continuous surveillance and care to acutely ill patients.

The physical space or dimensions of a facility. Size may be indicated by bed capacity.

On the job training programs for personnel carried out within an institution or agency. It includes orientation programs.

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

Hospitals providing medical care to veterans of wars.

Care of patients by a multidisciplinary team usually organized under the leadership of a physician; each member of the team has specific responsibilities and the whole team contributes to the care of the patient.

Interfacility or intrahospital transfer of patients. Intrahospital transfer is usually to obtain a specific kind of care and interfacility transfer is usually for economic reasons as well as for the type of care provided.

Hospital facilities which provide care for newborn infants.

Hospital department which manages and provides the required housekeeping functions in all areas of the hospital.

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

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

A medical facility which provides a high degree of subspecialty expertise for patients from centers where they received SECONDARY CARE.

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.

Programs of disease surveillance, generally within health care facilities, designed to investigate, prevent, and control the spread of infections and their causative microorganisms.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

Specialists in the management of a library or the services rendered by a library, bringing professional skills to administration, organization of material and personnel, interpretation of bibliothecal rules, the development and maintenance of the library's collection, and the provision of information services.

Recording of pertinent information concerning patient's illness or illnesses.

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

Hospital department responsible for the purchasing of supplies and equipment.

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.

The hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of diagnostic and therapeutic services for the cancer patient.

Situations or conditions requiring immediate intervention to avoid serious adverse results.

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.

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)

Management activities concerned with hospital employees.

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.

Beliefs and values shared by all members of the organization. These shared values, which are subject to change, are reflected in the day to day management of the organization.

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.

'Dental libraries' are collections of resources, including books, journals, databases, and multimedia materials, that provide information and knowledge to support dental education, research, and practice.

Operations carried out for the correction of deformities and defects, repair of injuries, and diagnosis and cure of certain diseases. (Taber, 18th ed.)

In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "London" is a place name and not a medical term, so it doesn't have a medical definition. It's the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, known for its rich history, culture, and landmarks. If you have any questions related to health or medicine, I'd be happy to help answer those!

The degree of similarity between sequences of amino acids. This information is useful for the analyzing genetic relatedness of proteins and species.

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.

A deoxyribonucleotide polymer that is the primary genetic material of all cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms normally contain DNA in a double-stranded state, yet several important biological processes transiently involve single-stranded regions. DNA, which consists of a polysugar-phosphate backbone possessing projections of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (thymine and cytosine), forms a double helix that is held together by hydrogen bonds between these purines and pyrimidines (adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine).

Pathologic processes that affect patients after a surgical procedure. They may or may not be related to the disease for which the surgery was done, and they may or may not be direct results of the surgery.

Educational institutions for individuals specializing in the field of library science or information.

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.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

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

Overall systems, traditional or automated, to provide medication to patients in hospitals. Elements of the system are: handling the physician's order, transcription of the order by nurse and/or pharmacist, filling the medication order, transfer to the nursing unit, and administration to the patient.

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

Personnel who provide dental service to patients in an organized facility, institution or agency.

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.

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.

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.

Institutional systems consisting of more than one health facility which have cooperative administrative arrangements through merger, affiliation, shared services, or other collective ventures.

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

Those rights or activities which are specific to members of the institution's medical staff, including the right to admit private patients.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Planning, organizing, and administering all activities related to personnel.

Physical surroundings or conditions of a hospital or other health facility and influence of these factors on patients and staff.

Organized services to provide information on any questions an individual might have using databases and other sources. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Interactions between hospital staff or administrators and patients. Includes guest relations programs designed to improve the image of the hospital and attract patients.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Scotland" is not a medical term and does not have a medical definition. Scotland is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, located in the northern part of Great Britain. If you have any questions related to healthcare or medical terminology, I would be happy to help answer those!

Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.

Institutional health care of patients during the day. The patients return home at night.

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

Hospital department which is responsible for the administration and provision of x-ray diagnostic and therapeutic services.

A computerized biomedical bibliographic storage and retrieval system operated by the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE. MEDLARS stands for Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System, which was first introduced in 1964 and evolved into an online system in 1971 called MEDLINE (MEDLARS Online). As other online databases were developed, MEDLARS became the name of the entire NLM information system while MEDLINE became the name of the premier database. MEDLARS was used to produce the former printed Cumulated Index Medicus, and the printed monthly Index Medicus, until that publication ceased in December 2004.

Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.

Damage inflicted on the body as the direct or indirect result of an external force, with or without disruption of structural continuity.

Health care workers specially trained and licensed to assist and support the work of health professionals. Often used synonymously with paramedical personnel, the term generally refers to all health care workers who perform tasks which must otherwise be performed by a physician or other health professional.

Disease having a short and relatively severe course.

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.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

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.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Brazil" is not a medical term or concept, it is a country located in South America, known officially as the Federative Republic of Brazil. If you have any questions related to health, medicine, or science, I'd be happy to help answer those!

Conveying ill or injured individuals from one place to another.

A book is not a medical term, but generally refers to a set of printed or written sheets of paper bound together that can contain a wide range of information including literature, research, educational content, and more, which may be utilized in the medical field for various purposes such as learning, reference, or patient education.

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

Systems where the input data enter the computer directly from the point of origin (usually a terminal or workstation) and/or in which output data are transmitted directly to that terminal point of origin. (Sippl, Computer Dictionary, 4th ed)

Efforts to reduce risk, to address and reduce incidents and accidents that may negatively impact healthcare consumers.

Personal satisfaction relative to the work situation.

The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.

Interactions between health personnel and patients.

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.

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.

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.

A republic in western Africa, south of NIGER between BENIN and CAMEROON. Its capital is Abuja.

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

Hospitals organized and controlled by a group of physicians who practice together and provide each other with mutual support.

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

Hospitals which provide care to patients with long-term illnesses.

Facilities equipped for performing surgery.

Integrated set of files, procedures, and equipment for the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information.

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.

Professionals qualified by graduation from an accredited school of nursing and by passage of a national licensing examination to practice nursing. They provide services to patients requiring assistance in recovering or maintaining their physical or mental health.

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.

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

The planning of the furnishings and decorations of an architectural interior.

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

Coordination of activities and programs among health care institutions within defined geographic areas for the purpose of improving delivery and quality of medical care to the patients. These programs are mandated under U.S. Public Law 89-239.

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

The sequential correspondence of nucleotides in one nucleic acid molecule with those of another nucleic acid molecule. Sequence homology is an indication of the genetic relatedness of different organisms and gene function.

Formularies concerned with pharmaceuticals prescribed in hospitals.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)