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

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

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

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

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 term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

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

Use of computers or computer systems for doing routine clerical work, e.g., billing, records pertaining to the administration of the office, etc.

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

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

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

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

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

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.

The expected function of a member of the medical profession.

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

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

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

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)

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

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

The interactions between physician and patient.

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

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)

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.

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

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)

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 study, based on direct observation, use of statistical records, interviews, or experimental methods, of actual practices or the actual impact of practices or policies.

The different methods of scheduling patient visits, appointment systems, individual or group appointments, waiting times, waiting lists for hospitals, walk-in clinics, etc.

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)

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.

Women licensed to practice medicine.

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.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

The 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.

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

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

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

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

Health 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)

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

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.

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

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.

Persons who receive ambulatory care at an outpatient department or clinic without room and board being provided.

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

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

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)

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.

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

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

The room or rooms in which the dentist and dental staff provide care. Offices include all rooms in the dentist's office suite.

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

Planning, organizing, and administering activities in an office.

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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".

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.

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

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

Professional society representing the field of medicine.

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.

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

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.

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.