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.

A system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in a product or process by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

A sampling methodology using small sample sizes when conducting surveys in small geographical or population-based areas or lots.

A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.

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

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

Facilities equipped to carry out investigative procedures.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

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

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

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

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.

Use of a device (film badge) for measuring exposure of individuals to radiation. It is usually made of metal, plastic, or paper and loaded with one or more pieces of x-ray film.

Certification as complying with a standard set by non-governmental organizations, applied for by institutions, programs, and facilities on a voluntary basis.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

A scientific or medical discipline concerning the study of male reproductive biology, diseases of the male genital organs, and male infertility. Major areas of interest include ENDOCRINOLOGY; SPERMATOGENESIS; semen analysis; FERTILIZATION; CONTRACEPTION; and CRYOPRESERVATION.

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

A field of anatomical pathology in which living tissue is surgically removed for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment.

The state wherein the person is well adjusted.

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)

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)

Hospital department which administers and provides pathology services.

The science concerned with problems of radiation protection relevant to reducing or preventing radiation exposure, and the effects of ionizing radiation on humans and their environment.

Techniques used to carry out clinical investigative procedures in the diagnosis and therapy of disease.

The application of industrial management practice to systematically maintain and improve organization-wide performance. Effectiveness and success are determined and assessed by quantitative quality measures.

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.

The recognition of professional or technical competence through registration, certification, licensure, admission to association membership, the award of a diploma or degree, etc.

The state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease.

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

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

Hospital facilities equipped to carry out investigative procedures.

Planning for needed health and/or welfare services and facilities.

An organized procedure carried out by a select committee of professionals in evaluating the performance of other professionals in meeting the standards of their specialty. Review by peers is used by editors in the evaluation of articles and other papers submitted for publication. Peer review is used also in the evaluation of grant applications. It is applied also in evaluating the quality of health care provided to patients.

A subspecialty of pathology applied to the solution of clinical problems, especially the use of laboratory methods in clinical diagnosis. (Dorland, 28th ed.)

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

The collective designation of three organizations with common membership: the European Economic Community (Common Market), the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). It was known as the European Community until 1994. It is primarily an economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. Professional services, social, medical and paramedical, are subsumed under labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997, p842)

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

Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.

The measurement of radiation by photography, as in x-ray film and film badge, by Geiger-Mueller tube, and by SCINTILLATION COUNTING.

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.

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

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

The planning and managing of programs, services, and resources.

The concurrent or retrospective review by practicing physicians or other health professionals of the quality and efficiency of patient care practices or services ordered or performed by other physicians or other health professionals (From The Facts On File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988).

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

A subspecialty of medical oncology and radiology concerned with the radiotherapy of cancer.

Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)

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).

Institutions which provide medical or health-related services.

A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.

The concept pertaining to the health status of inhabitants of the world.

Health care professionals, technicians, and assistants staffing LABORATORIES in research or health care facilities.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

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.

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.

Computer-assisted mathematical calculations of beam angles, intensities of radiation, and duration of irradiation in radiotherapy.

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 systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. The text may be cursive or in outline form but is generally a comprehensive guide to problems and approaches in any field of activity. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available.

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

The interaction of persons or groups of persons representing various nations in the pursuit of a common goal or interest.

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

Method of measuring performance against established standards of best practice.

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

The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease.

Organizations representing designated geographic areas which have contracts under the PRO program to review the medical necessity, appropriateness, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care received by Medicare beneficiaries. Peer Review Improvement Act, PL 97-248, 1982.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

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.

Participation of employees with management as a labor-management team, in decisions pertaining to the operational activities of the organization or industry.

Those actions designed to carry out recommendations pertaining to health plans or programs.

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

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.

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

The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.

Variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, economic resources, or gender and populations identified geographically or similar measures.

The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

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.

Incorrect diagnoses after clinical examination or technical diagnostic procedures.

Procedures for collecting, preserving, and transporting of specimens sufficiently stable to provide accurate and precise results suitable for clinical interpretation.

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.

Freedom of equipment from actual or potential hazards.

Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.

Formal voluntary or governmental procedures and standards required of hospitals and health or other facilities to improve operating efficiency, and for the protection of the consumer.

Studies in which a number of subjects are selected from all subjects in a defined population. Conclusions based on sample results may be attributed only to the population sampled.

A health care system which combines physicians, hospitals, and other medical services with a health plan to provide the complete spectrum of medical care for its customers. In a fully integrated system, the three key elements - physicians, hospital, and health plan membership - are in balance in terms of matching medical resources with the needs of purchasers and patients. (Coddington et al., Integrated Health Care: Reorganizing the Physician, Hospital and Health Plan Relationship, 1994, p7)

Organized services to provide mental health care.

Preferentially rated health-related activities or functions to be used in establishing health planning goals. This may refer specifically to PL93-641.

Controlled vocabulary of clinical terms produced by the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO).

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

A basis of value established for the measure of quantity, weight, extent or quality, e.g. weight standards, standard solutions, methods, techniques, and procedures used in diagnosis and therapy.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

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.

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.

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

The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of women.

CONFORMAL RADIOTHERAPY that combines several intensity-modulated beams to provide improved dose homogeneity and highly conformal dose distributions.

Works about controlled studies which are planned and carried out by several cooperating institutions to assess certain variables and outcomes in specific patient populations, for example, a multicenter study of congenital anomalies in children.

The status of health in rural populations.

A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.

The process of formulating, improving, and expanding educational, managerial, or service-oriented work plans (excluding computer program development).

Management review designed to evaluate efficiency and to identify areas in need of management improvement within the institution in order to ensure effectiveness in meeting organizational goals.

Data collected during dental examination for the purpose of study, diagnosis, or treatment planning.

Assessments aimed at determining agreement in diagnostic test results among laboratories. Identical survey samples are distributed to participating laboratories, with results stratified according to testing methodologies.

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

The status of health in urban populations.

The total amount of radiation absorbed by tissues as a result of radiotherapy.

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

Degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

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.

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.

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.

Process that is gone through in order for a device to receive approval by a government regulatory agency. This includes any required preclinical or clinical testing, review, submission, and evaluation of the applications and test results, and post-marketing surveillance. It is not restricted to FDA.

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

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)

Committees of professional personnel who have responsibility for determining policies, procedures, and controls related to professional matters in health facilities.

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

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.

A republic in western Africa, north of NIGERIA and west of CHAD. Its capital is Niamey.

The terms, expressions, designations, or symbols used in a particular science, discipline, or specialized subject area.

Devices or objects in various imaging techniques used to visualize or enhance visualization by simulating conditions encountered in the procedure. Phantoms are used very often in procedures employing or measuring x-irradiation or radioactive material to evaluate performance. Phantoms often have properties similar to human tissue. Water demonstrates absorbing properties similar to normal tissue, hence water-filled phantoms are used to map radiation levels. Phantoms are used also as teaching aids to simulate real conditions with x-ray or ultrasonic machines. (From Iturralde, Dictionary and Handbook of Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Imaging, 1990)

The purposes, missions, and goals of an individual organization or its units, established through administrative processes. It includes an organization's long-range plans and administrative philosophy.

Methods to identify and characterize cancer in the early stages of disease and predict tumor behavior.

A detailed review and evaluation of selected clinical records by qualified professional personnel to improve the quality of patient care and outcomes. The clinical audit was formally introduced in 1993 into the United Kingdom's National Health Service.

An operating division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is concerned with the overall planning, promoting, and administering of programs pertaining to health and medical research. Until 1995, it was an agency of the United States PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.

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

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

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

Automated systems applied to the patient care process including diagnosis, therapy, and systems of communicating medical data within the health care setting.

Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)

Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.

Devices which accelerate electrically charged atomic or subatomic particles, such as electrons, protons or ions, to high velocities so they have high kinetic energy.

The observation, either continuously or at intervals, of the levels of radiation in a given area, generally for the purpose of assuring that they have not exceeded prescribed amounts or, in case of radiation already present in the area, assuring that the levels have returned to those meeting acceptable safety standards.

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.

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.

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.

Methods of preparing cells or tissues for examination and study of their origin, structure, function, or pathology. The methods include preservation, fixation, sectioning, staining, replica, or other technique to allow for viewing using a microscope.

Hospital department which is responsible for the administration of diagnostic pulmonary function tests and of procedures to restore optimum pulmonary ventilation.

The specialty of ANALYTIC CHEMISTRY applied to assays of physiologically important substances found in blood, urine, tissues, and other biological fluids for the purpose of aiding the physician in making a diagnosis or following therapy.

Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.

The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization.

Hospital department which is responsible for the administration and provision of diagnostic and medical rehabilitation services to restore or improve the functional capacity of the patient.

Management of the internal organization of the hospital.

Planning for health resources at a regional or multi-state level.

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)

The smallest continent and an independent country, comprising six states and two territories. Its capital is Canberra.

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.

Computer systems or programs used in accurate computations for providing radiation dosage treatment to patients.

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

The exchange of students or professional personnel between countries done under the auspices of an organization for the purpose of further education.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

International organizations which provide health-related or other cooperative services.

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.

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

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)

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

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

The process of minimizing risk to an organization by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences, and by attempting to handle events and incidents which do occur in such a manner that their effect and cost are minimized. Effective risk management has its greatest benefits in application to insurance in order to avert or minimize financial liability. (From Slee & Slee: Health care terms, 2d ed)

Transmission of information over distances via electronic means.

Societies having institutional membership limited to hospitals and other health care institutions.

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.

Laboratory and other services provided to patients at the bedside. These include diagnostic and laboratory testing using automated information entry.

Determination, by measurement or comparison with a standard, of the correct value of each scale reading on a meter or other measuring instrument; or determination of the settings of a control device that correspond to particular values of voltage, current, frequency or other output.

Societies whose membership is limited to physicians.

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

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

The application of pathology to questions of law.

Methods of creating machines and devices.

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)

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

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.

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 infant during the first month after birth.

A rating of a body of water based on measurable physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

The upkeep of property or equipment.

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

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.

Unstable isotopes of cesium that decay or disintegrate emitting radiation. Cs atoms with atomic weights of 123, 125-132, and 134-145 are radioactive cesium isotopes.

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 radiology services and facilities.

A specialty concerned with the nature and cause of disease as expressed by changes in cellular or tissue structure and function caused by the disease process.

Institutions specializing in the care of cancer patients.

New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.

Detailed account or statement or formal record of data resulting from empirical inquiry.

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

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

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

Facilities providing diagnostic, therapeutic, and palliative services for patients with severe chronic pain. These may be free-standing clinics or hospital-based and serve ambulatory or inpatient populations. The approach is usually multidisciplinary. These clinics are often referred to as "acute pain services". (From Br Med Bull 1991 Jul;47(3):762-85)

Precise and detailed plans for the study of a medical or biomedical problem and/or plans for a regimen of therapy.

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

Sequential operating programs and data which instruct the functioning of a digital computer.

Country located in EUROPE. It is bordered by the NORTH SEA, BELGIUM, and GERMANY. Constituent areas are Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, formerly included in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES.

Transmission and interpretation of tissue specimens via remote telecommunication, generally for the purpose of diagnosis or consultation but may also be used for continuing education.