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.

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.

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

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

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

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)

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

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

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.

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

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.

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)

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

The 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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Organizations of health care providers that agree to be accountable for the quality, cost, and overall care of Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in the traditional fee-for-service program who are assigned to it. Assigned means those beneficiaries for whom the professionals in the organization provide the bulk of primary care services. (www.cms.gov/OfficeofLegislation/Downloads/Accountable CareOrganization.pdf accessed 03/16/2011)

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

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.

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

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

The Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 establishes a Medicare+Choice program under part C of Title XVIII, Section 4001, of the Social Security Act. Under this program, an eligible individual may elect to receive Medicare benefits through enrollment in a Medicare+Choice plan. Beneficiaries may choose to use private pay options, establish medical savings accounts, use managed care plans, or join provider-sponsored plans.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

A method of examining and setting levels of payments.

Organized services to provide mental health care.

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.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

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

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.

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

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)

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

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).

Evaluation procedures that focus on both the outcome or status (OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT) of the patient at the end of an episode of care - presence of symptoms, level of activity, and mortality; and the process (ASSESSMENT, PROCESS) - what is done for the patient diagnostically and therapeutically.

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.

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

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

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.

A stand-alone drug plan offered by insurers and other private companies to beneficiaries that receive their Medicare Part A and/or B benefits through the Original Medicare Plan. It includes Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plans that do not offer prescription drug coverage and Medicare Cost Plans offering Medicare prescription drug coverage. The plan was enacted as the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 with coverage beginning January 1, 2006.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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)

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.

Health care provided to individuals.

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

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).

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

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.

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.

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

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

Therapy for the insufficient cleansing of the BLOOD by the kidneys based on dialysis and including hemodialysis, PERITONEAL DIALYSIS, and HEMODIAFILTRATION.

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

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.

A supplemental health insurance policy sold by private insurance companies and designed to pay for health care costs and services that are not paid for either by Medicare alone or by a combination of Medicare and existing private health insurance benefits. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

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

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

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.

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).

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.

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

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

The end-stage of CHRONIC RENAL INSUFFICIENCY. It is characterized by the severe irreversible kidney damage (as measured by the level of PROTEINURIA) and the reduction in GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE to less than 15 ml per min (Kidney Foundation: Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative, 2002). These patients generally require HEMODIALYSIS or KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION.

Infections resulting from the use of catheters. Proper aseptic technique, site of catheter placement, material composition, and virulence of the organism are all factors that can influence possible infection.

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.

The Commission was created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 under Title XVIII. It is specifically charged to review the effect of Medicare+Choice under Medicare Part C and to review payment policies under Parts A and B. It is also generally charged to evaluate the effect of prospective payment policies and their impact on health care delivery in the US. The former Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPAC) and the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC) were merged to form MEDPAC.

Pricing statements presented by more than one party for the purpose of securing a contract.

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

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.

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

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

A form of therapy that employs a coordinated and interdisciplinary approach for easing the suffering and improving the quality of life of those experiencing pain.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

An agency of the PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE concerned with the overall planning, promoting, and administering of programs pertaining to maintaining standards of quality of foods, drugs, therapeutic devices, etc.

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

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

Care over an extended period, usually for a chronic condition or disability, requiring periodic, intermittent, or continuous care.

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.

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.

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 systems and processes involved in the establishment, support, management, and operation of registers, e.g., disease registers.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

An increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods resulting in a substantial and continuing rise in the general price level.

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

The presence of co-existing or additional diseases with reference to an initial diagnosis or with reference to the index condition that is the subject of study. Comorbidity may affect the ability of affected individuals to function and also their survival; it may be used as a prognostic indicator for length of hospital stay, cost factors, and outcome or survival.

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

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

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.

A vital statistic measuring or recording the rate of death from any cause in hospitalized populations.

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

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

Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Specialized health care, supportive in nature, provided to a dying person. A holistic approach is often taken, providing patients and their families with legal, financial, emotional, or spiritual counseling in addition to meeting patients' immediate physical needs. Care may be provided in the home, in the hospital, in specialized facilities (HOSPICES), or in specially designated areas of long-term care facilities. The concept also includes bereavement care for the family. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Infection of the lung often accompanied by inflammation.

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)

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

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

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)

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

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

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

Payments that include adjustments to reflect the costs of uncompensated care and higher costs for inpatient care for certain populations receiving mandated services. MEDICARE and MEDICAID include provisions for this type of reimbursement.

Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.

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

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

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

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".

Persons with physical or mental disabilities that affect or limit their activities of daily living and that may require special accommodations.

A heterogeneous condition in which the heart is unable to pump out sufficient blood to meet the metabolic need of the body. Heart failure can be caused by structural defects, functional abnormalities (VENTRICULAR DYSFUNCTION), or a sudden overload beyond its capacity. Chronic heart failure is more common than acute heart failure which results from sudden insult to cardiac function, such as MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION.

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.

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.

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

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

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

NECROSIS of the MYOCARDIUM caused by an obstruction of the blood supply to the heart (CORONARY CIRCULATION).

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

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

Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.

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

Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.

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

Formal programs for assessing drug prescription against some standard. Drug utilization review may consider clinical appropriateness, cost effectiveness, and, in some cases, outcomes. Review is usually retrospective, but some analysis may be done before drugs are dispensed (as in computer systems which advise physicians when prescriptions are entered). Drug utilization review is mandated for Medicaid programs beginning in 1993.

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.

Referral by physicians to testing or treatment facilities in which they have financial interest. The practice is regulated by the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act of 1989.

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

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

Financing of medical care provided to public assistance recipients.

Facilities or services which are especially devoted to providing palliative and supportive care to the patient with a terminal illness and to the patient's family.

Government sponsored social insurance programs.

The activated center of a lymphoid follicle in secondary lymphoid tissue where B-LYMPHOCYTES are stimulated by antigens and helper T cells (T-LYMPHOCYTES, HELPER-INDUCER) are stimulated to generate memory cells.

A cabinet department in the Executive Branch of the United States Government concerned with overall planning, promoting, and administering programs pertaining to VETERANS. It was established March 15, 1989 as a Cabinet-level position.

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.

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.

Drugs that cannot be sold legally without a prescription.

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

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

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.

Hospitals located in a rural area.

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

Cost-sharing mechanisms that provide for payment by the insured of some portion of covered expenses. Deductibles are the amounts paid by the insured under a health insurance contract before benefits become payable; coinsurance is the provision under which the insured pays part of the medical bill, usually according to a fixed percentage, when benefits become payable.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.