Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

Providers of initial care for patients. These PHYSICIANS refer patients when appropriate for secondary or specialist care.

Those physicians who have completed the education requirements specified by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

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

The expected function of a member of the medical profession.

Women licensed to practice medicine.

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

Health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team with their supervising physicians. They deliver a broad range of medical and surgical services to diverse populations in rural and urban settings. Duties may include physical exams, diagnosis and treatment of disease, interpretation of tests, assist in surgery, and prescribe medications. (from http://www.aapa.orglabout-pas accessed 2114/2011)

The interactions between physician and patient.

The physician's inability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to the patient due to the physician's disability. Common causes include alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, physical disability, and senility.

The room or rooms in which the physician and staff provide patient care. The offices include all rooms in the physician's office suite.

The art and science of studying, performing research on, preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease, as well as the maintenance of health.

An occupation limited in scope to a subsection of a broader field.

Compensatory plans designed to motivate physicians in relation to patient referral, physician recruitment, and efficient use of the health facility.

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.

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)

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

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

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

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".

A medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the internal organ systems of adults.

A province of Canada lying between the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec. Its capital is Toronto. It takes its name from Lake Ontario which is said to represent the Iroquois oniatariio, beautiful lake. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p892 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p391)

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

Educational programs designed to inform physicians of recent advances in their field.

Geographic area in which a professional person practices; includes primarily physicians and dentists.

Any group of three or more full-time physicians organized in a legally recognized entity for the provision of health care services, sharing space, equipment, personnel and records for both patient care and business management, and who have a predetermined arrangement for the distribution of income.

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 organization and operation of the business aspects of a physician's practice.

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.

The use of one's knowledge in a particular profession. It includes, in the case of the field of biomedicine, professional activities related to health care and the actual performance of the duties related to the provision of health care.

Professional society representing the field of medicine.

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

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

The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.

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

The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.

Physicians who serve in a medical and administrative capacity as head of an organized medical staff and who also may serve as liaison for the medical staff with the administration and governing board.

Economic aspects of the field of medicine, the medical profession, and health care. It includes the economic and financial impact of disease in general on the patient, the physician, society, or government.

Programs of training in medicine and medical specialties offered by hospitals for graduates of medicine to meet the requirements established by accrediting authorities.

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

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

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.

The availability of HEALTH PERSONNEL. It includes the demand and recruitment of both professional and allied health personnel, their present and future supply and distribution, and their assignment and utilization.

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

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.

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

The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.

A geographic location which has insufficient health resources (manpower and/or facilities) to meet the medical needs of the resident population.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

A medical-surgical specialty concerned with management and care of women during pregnancy, parturition, and the puerperium.

A medical specialty concerned with maintaining health and providing medical care to children from birth to adolescence.

Personal satisfaction relative to the work situation.

Physicians who hold degrees from medical schools in countries other than the ones in which they practice.

The reciprocal interaction of two or more professional individuals.

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.

The attitude and behavior associated with an individual using the computer.

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.

Use for general articles concerning medical education.

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.

Computer-based systems for input, storage, display, retrieval, and printing of information contained in a patient's medical record.

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.

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)

Physicians employed in a company or corporate setting that is generally not in the health care industry.

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.

Individuals participating in the health care system for the purpose of receiving therapeutic, diagnostic, or preventive procedures.

Practice of a health profession by an individual, offering services on a person-to-person basis, as opposed to group or partnership practice.

The quality or state of being independent and self-directing, especially in making decisions, enabling professionals to exercise judgment as they see fit during the performance of their jobs.

Physicians who are employed to work exclusively in hospital settings, primarily for managed care organizations. They are the attending or primary responsible physician for the patient during hospitalization.

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.

Licensed physicians trained in OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE. An osteopathic physician, also known as D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy), is able to perform surgery and prescribe medications.

A province of western Canada, lying between the provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Its capital is Edmonton. It was named in honor of Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p26 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p12)

Societies whose membership is limited to physicians.

Compliance with a set of standards defined by non-governmental organizations. Certification is applied for by individuals on a voluntary basis and represents a professional status when achieved, e.g., certification for a medical specialty.

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

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)

Patient involvement in the decision-making process in matters pertaining to health.

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

The remuneration paid or benefits granted to an employee.

Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS.

Provision (by a physician or other health professional, or by a family member or friend) of support and/or means that gives a patient the power to terminate his or her own life. (from APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed).

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

Confidence in or reliance on a person or thing.

The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

The services rendered by members of the health profession and non-professionals under their supervision.

A medical discipline that is based on the philosophy that all body systems are interrelated and dependent upon one another for good health. This philosophy, developed in 1874 by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, recognizes the concept of "wellness" and the importance of treating illness within the context of the whole body. Special attention is placed on the MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM.

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.

A province of eastern Canada. Its capital is Quebec. The region belonged to France from 1627 to 1763 when it was lost to the British. The name is from the Algonquian quilibek meaning the place where waters narrow, referring to the gradually narrowing channel of the St. Lawrence or to the narrows of the river at Cape Diamond. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p993 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p440)

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.

Medical specialty concerned with the promotion and maintenance of the physical and mental health of employees in occupational settings.

Withholding or withdrawal of a particular treatment or treatments, often (but not necessarily) life-prolonging treatment, from a patient or from a research subject as part of a research protocol. The concept is differentiated from REFUSAL TO TREAT, where the emphasis is on the health professional's or health facility's refusal to treat a patient or group of patients when the patient or the patient's representative requests treatment. Withholding of life-prolonging treatment is usually indexed only with EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE, unless the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment, or the issue of withholding palliative rather than curative treatment, is discussed.

The bestowing of tangible or intangible benefits, voluntarily and usually without expectation of anything in return. However, gift giving may be motivated by feelings of ALTRUISM or gratitude, by a sense of obligation, or by the hope of receiving something in return.

Refusal of the health professional to initiate or continue treatment of a patient or group of patients. The refusal can be based on any reason. The concept is differentiated from PATIENT REFUSAL OF TREATMENT see TREATMENT REFUSAL which originates with the patient and not the health professional.

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.

A formal financial agreement made between one or more physicians and a hospital to provide ambulatory alternative services to those patients who do not require hospitalization.

A subspecialty of internal medicine concerned with the study of neoplasms.

A province of Canada, lying between the provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario. Its capital is Winnipeg. Taking its name from Lake Manitoba, itself named for one of its islands, the name derived from Algonquian Manitou, great spirit. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p724 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p332)

Recording of information on magnetic or punched paper tape.

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

Accountability and responsibility to another, enforceable by civil or criminal sanctions.

Province of Canada consisting of the island of Newfoundland and an area of Labrador. Its capital is St. John's.

Nurses who are specially trained to assume an expanded role in providing medical care under the supervision of a physician.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.

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)

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)

A partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity that enters into an arrangement for the provision of services with persons who are licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, and dentistry, and with other care personnel. Under an IPA arrangement, licensed professional persons provide services through the entity in accordance with a mutually accepted compensation arrangement, while retaining their private practices. Services under the IPA are marketed through a prepaid health plan. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Information systems, usually computer-assisted, that enable providers to initiate medical procedures, prescribe medications, etc. These systems support medical decision-making and error-reduction during patient care.

The study of the heart, its physiology, and its functions.

The giving of advice and assistance to individuals with educational or personal problems.

Medical and nursing care of patients in the terminal stage of an illness.

The reciprocal interaction of physicians and nurses.

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

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)

A province of eastern Canada, one of the Maritime Provinces with NEW BRUNSWICK; PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND; and sometimes NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR. Its capital is Halifax. The territory was granted in 1621 by James I to the Scotsman Sir William Alexander and was called Nova Scotia, the Latin for New Scotland. The territory had earlier belonged to the French, under the name of Acadia. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p871 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p384)

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)

The interactions between the professional person and the family.

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.

Professional practice as an employee or contractee of a health care institution.

Acquiring information from a patient on past medical conditions and treatments.

Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)

Media that facilitate transportability of pertinent information concerning patient's illness across varied providers and geographic locations. Some versions include direct linkages to online consumer health information that is relevant to the health conditions and treatments related to a specific patient.

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

Care provided patients requiring extraordinary therapeutic measures in order to sustain and prolong life.

A method of data collection and a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.

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

A change or shift in personnel due to reorganization, resignation, or discharge.

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.

The controlling of access to health services, usually by primary care providers; often used in managed care settings to reduce utilization of expensive services and reduce referrals. (From BIOETHICS Thesaurus, 1999)

An approach of practicing medicine with the goal to improve and evaluate patient care. It requires the judicious integration of best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care. This method is to help physicians make proper diagnosis, devise best testing plan, choose best treatment and methods of disease prevention, as well as develop guidelines for large groups of patients with the same disease. (from JAMA 296 (9), 2006)

An excessive stress reaction to one's occupational or professional environment. It is manifested by feelings of emotional and physical exhaustion coupled with a sense of frustration and failure.

The science or philosophy of law. Also, the application of the principles of law and justice to health and medicine.

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.

Systematic and thorough inspection of the patient for physical signs of disease or abnormality.

Those factors, such as language or sociocultural relationships, which interfere in the meaningful interpretation and transmission of ideas between individuals or groups.

The interrelationship of medicine and religion.

The use of persons coached to feign symptoms or conditions of real diseases in a life-like manner in order to teach or evaluate medical personnel.

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

Truthful revelation of information, specifically when the information disclosed is likely to be psychologically painful ("bad news") to the recipient (e.g., revelation to a patient or a patient's family of the patient's DIAGNOSIS or PROGNOSIS) or embarrassing to the teller (e.g., revelation of medical errors).

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.

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

Computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information and provide support for decision-making in patient care.

The granting of a license to practice medicine.

The capability to perform the duties of one's profession generally, or to perform a particular professional task, with skill of an acceptable quality.

That segment of commercial enterprise devoted to the design, development, and manufacture of chemical products for use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, disability, or other dysfunction, or to improve function.

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.

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

A branch of medicine concerned with the total health of the individual within the home environment and in the community, and with the application of comprehensive care to the prevention and treatment of illness in the entire community.

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

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.

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.

Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of ambulatory care services and facilities.

The observation and analysis of movements in a task with an emphasis on the amount of time required to perform the task.

Systems used to prompt or aid the memory. The systems can be computerized reminders, color coding, telephone calls, or devices such as letters and postcards.

The process of choosing employees for specific types of employment. The concept includes recruitment.

Educational programs for medical graduates entering a specialty. They include formal specialty training as well as academic work in the clinical and basic medical sciences, and may lead to board certification or an advanced medical degree.

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

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.

A medical specialty concerned with the study of the structures, functions, and diseases of the nervous system.

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.

Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. An ethical principle holds that the autonomy of persons ought to be respected. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

The broad dissemination of new ideas, procedures, techniques, materials, and devices and the degree to which these are accepted and used.

Design of patient care wherein institutional resources and personnel are organized around patients rather than around specialized departments. (From Hospitals 1993 Feb 5;67(3):14)

A province of Canada, lying between the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba. Its capital is Regina. It is entirely a plains region with prairie in the south and wooded country with many lakes and swamps in the north. The name was taken from the Saskatchewan River from the Cree name Kisiskatchewani Sipi, meaning rapid-flowing river. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1083 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p486)

The obligations and accountability assumed in carrying out actions or ideas on behalf of others.

Educational institutions for individuals specializing in the field of medicine.

The expected and characteristic pattern of behavior exhibited by an individual as a member of a particular social group.

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

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

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

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

Individuals enrolled in a school of medicine or a formal educational program in medicine.

Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.

The medical science that deals with the origin, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders.

An individual's objective and insightful awareness of the feelings and behavior of another person. It should be distinguished from sympathy, which is usually nonobjective and noncritical. It includes caring, which is the demonstration of an awareness of and a concern for the good of others. (From Bioethics Thesaurus, 1992)

A province of Canada on the Pacific coast. Its capital is Victoria. The name given in 1858 derives from the Columbia River which was named by the American captain Robert Gray for his ship Columbia which in turn was named for Columbus. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p178 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p81-2)

Voluntary cooperation of the patient in following a prescribed regimen.

The teaching staff and members of the administrative staff having academic rank in a medical school.

Revealing of information, by oral or written communication.

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.

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.

Systematic organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specialized information, especially of a scientific or technical nature (From ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983). It often involves authenticating or validating information.

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

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

Communication, in the sense of cross-fertilization of ideas, involving two or more academic disciplines (such as the disciplines that comprise the cross-disciplinary field of bioethics, including the health and biological sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences and law). Also includes problems in communication stemming from differences in patterns of language usage in different academic or medical disciplines.

Differences of opinion or disagreements that may arise, for example, between health professionals and patients or their families, or against a political regime.

Institutions with permanent facilities and organized medical staff which provide the full range of hospital services primarily to a neighborhood area.