The simultaneous use of multiple laboratory procedures for the detection of various diseases. These are usually performed on groups of people.

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

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

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

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

A vehicle equipped for transporting patients in need of emergency care.

The specialty or practice of nursing in the care of patients admitted to the emergency department.

The branch of medicine concerned with the evaluation and initial treatment of urgent and emergent medical problems, such as those caused by accidents, trauma, sudden illness, poisoning, or disasters. Emergency medical care can be provided at the hospital or at sites outside the medical facility.

First aid or other immediate intervention for accidents or medical conditions requiring immediate care and treatment before definitive medical and surgical management can be procured.

Paramedical personnel trained to provide basic emergency care and life support under the supervision of physicians and/or nurses. These services may be carried out at the site of the emergency, in the ambulance, or in a health care institution.

Brief therapeutic approach which is ameliorative rather than curative of acute psychiatric emergencies. Used in contexts such as emergency rooms of psychiatric or general hospitals, or in the home or place of crisis occurrence, this treatment approach focuses on interpersonal and intrapsychic factors and environmental modification. (APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 7th ed)

Legal process required for the institutionalization of a patient with severe mental problems.

The sorting out and classification of patients or casualties to determine priority of need and proper place of treatment.

Hospitals controlled by the county government.

The use of communication systems, such as telecommunication, to transmit emergency information to appropriate providers of health services.

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 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.

Fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters equipped for air transport of patients.

Special hospitals which provide care to the mentally ill patient.

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

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.

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.

Medical care provided after the regular practice schedule of the physicians. Usually it is designed to deliver 24-hour-a-day and 365-day-a-year patient care coverage for emergencies, triage, pediatric care, or hospice care.

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

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

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

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

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

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

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

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

Hospitals located in metropolitan areas.

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.

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).

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)

Parliamentary democracy located between France on the northeast and Portugual on the west and bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

Special hospitals which provide care for ill children.

Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Major administrative divisions of the hospital.

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)

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

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.

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

Organized services to provide health care for children.

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

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

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

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

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.

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

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

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.

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

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

Any materials used in providing care specifically in the hospital.

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

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

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

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

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

Conveying ill or injured individuals from one place to another.

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

An infant during the first month after birth.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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).

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

Procedures outlined for the care of casualties and the maintenance of services in disasters.

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

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

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.

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.

Contraceptive substances to be used after COITUS. These agents include high doses of estrogenic drugs; progesterone-receptor blockers; ANTIMETABOLITES; ALKALOIDS, and PROSTAGLANDINS.

Means of postcoital intervention to avoid pregnancy, such as the administration of POSTCOITAL CONTRACEPTIVES to prevent FERTILIZATION of an egg or implantation of a fertilized egg (OVUM IMPLANTATION).

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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)

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

Hospital facilities equipped to carry out investigative procedures.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Disease having a short and relatively severe course.

Private hospitals that are owned or sponsored by religious organizations.

Hospitals controlled by the city government.

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.

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

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.

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

The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.