An instrument for reproducing sounds especially articulate speech at a distance. (Webster, 3rd ed)

A direct communication system, usually telephone, established for instant contact. It is designed to provide special information and assistance through trained personnel and is used for counseling, referrals, and emergencies such as poisonings and threatened suicides.

Consultation via remote telecommunications, generally for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of a patient at a site remote from the patient or primary physician.

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.

The functions and activities carried out by the U.S. Postal Service, foreign postal services, and private postal services such as Federal Express.

Analog or digital communications device in which the user has a wireless connection from a telephone to a nearby transmitter. It is termed cellular because the service area is divided into multiple "cells." As the user moves from one cell area to another, the call is transferred to the local transmitter.

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.

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

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.

Delivery of health services via remote telecommunications. This includes interactive consultative and diagnostic services.

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

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

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

Transmission of information over distances via electronic means.

Discontinuation of the habit of smoking, the inhaling and exhaling of tobacco smoke.

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

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).

Voluntary cooperation of the patient in following a prescribed regimen.

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

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

A telecommunication system combining the transmission of a document scanned at a transmitter, its reconstruction at a receiving station, and its duplication there by a copier.

Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning TOBACCO.

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

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.

Performance of activities or tasks traditionally performed by professional health care providers. The concept includes care of oneself or one's family and friends.

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.

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.

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

The 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.

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.

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

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

Visits to the patient's home by professional personnel for the purpose of diagnosis and/or treatment.

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

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

Interaction between the patient and nurse.

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

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.

Counseling during which a professional plays an active role in a client's or patient's decision making by offering advice, guidance, and/or recommendations.

Delivery of nursing services via remote telecommunications.

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

Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project.

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.

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

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.

The interactions between physician and patient.

Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.

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.

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

Economic aspects of the nursing profession.

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.

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

The attitude of a significant portion of a population toward any given proposition, based upon a measurable amount of factual evidence, and involving some degree of reflection, analysis, and reasoning.

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.

The care and treatment of a convalescent patient, especially that of a patient after surgery.

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.

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)

Facilities for collecting and organizing information. They may be specialized by subject field, type of source material, persons served, location, or type of services.

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

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.

Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.

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

Messages between computer users via COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS. This feature duplicates most of the features of paper mail, such as forwarding, multiple copies, and attachments of images and other file types, but with a speed advantage. The term also refers to an individual message sent in this way.

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).

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

Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.

Equipment that sends digital information over telephone lines. The term Modem is a short form of the phrase modulator-demodulator.

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.

Printed publications usually having a format with no binding and no cover and having fewer than some set number of pages. They are often devoted to a single subject.

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.

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

Educational attainment or level of education of individuals.

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.

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.

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

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

Any deviation of results or inferences from the truth, or processes leading to such deviation. Bias can result from several sources: one-sided or systematic variations in measurement from the true value (systematic error); flaws in study design; deviation of inferences, interpretations, or analyses based on flawed data or data collection; etc. There is no sense of prejudice or subjectivity implied in the assessment of bias under these conditions.

Care given to patients by nursing service personnel.

A voluntary contract between two or more doctors who may or may not share responsibility for the care of patients, with proportional sharing of profits and losses.

Criteria and standards used for the determination of the appropriateness of the inclusion of patients with specific conditions in proposed treatment plans and the criteria used for the inclusion of subjects in various clinical trials and other research protocols.

A state in southeastern Australia. Its capital is Sydney. It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 and first settled at Botany Bay by marines and convicts in 1788. It was named by Captain Cook who thought its coastline resembled that of South Wales. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p840 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p377)

Organized services to provide information on any questions an individual might have using databases and other sources. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

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)

Patterns of practice in nursing related to provision of services including diagnosis and treatment.

Registered nurses who hold Master's degrees in nursing with an emphasis in clinical nursing and who function independently in coordinating plans for patient care.

Epidemiologic investigations designed to test a hypothesized cause-effect relation by modifying the supposed causal factor(s) in the study population.

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

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

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

Persons living in the United States having origins in any of the black groups of Africa.

Communication services provided by a person or a machine to record and relay the message from the caller.

Support systems that provide assistance and encouragement to individuals with physical or emotional disabilities in order that they may better cope. Informal social support is usually provided by friends, relatives, or peers, while formal assistance is provided by churches, groups, etc.

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

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)

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.

Electromagnetic waves with frequencies between about 3 kilohertz (very low frequency - VLF) and 300,000 megahertz (extremely high frequency - EHF). They are used in television and radio broadcasting, land and satellite communications systems, radionavigation, radiolocation, and DIATHERMY. The highest frequency radio waves are MICROWAVES.

A state in south central Australia. Its capital is Adelaide. It was probably first visited by F. Thyssen in 1627. Later discoveries in 1802 and 1830 opened up the southern part. It became a British province in 1836 with this self-descriptive name and became a state in 1901. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1135)

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)

A range of values for a variable of interest, e.g., a rate, constructed so that this range has a specified probability of including the true value of the variable.

The application of nutritional principles to regulation of the diet and feeding persons or groups of persons.

A state in southeastern Australia, the southernmost state. Its capital is Melbourne. It was discovered in 1770 by Captain Cook and first settled by immigrants from Tasmania. In 1851 it was separated from New South Wales as a separate colony. Self-government was introduced in 1851; it became a state in 1901. It was named for Queen Victoria in 1851. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1295 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, p574)

An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of objects, not as they are but as they are conceived to be.

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.

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

Community or individual involvement in the decision-making process.

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

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

The expected function of a member of the nursing profession.

Communication between persons or between institutions or organizations by an exchange of letters. Its use in indexing and cataloging will generally figure in historical and biographical material.

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.

Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care. (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Patient-based medical care provided across age and gender or specialty boundaries.

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

The ratio of two odds. The exposure-odds ratio for case control data is the ratio of the odds in favor of exposure among cases to the odds in favor of exposure among noncases. The disease-odds ratio for a cohort or cross section is the ratio of the odds in favor of disease among the exposed to the odds in favor of disease among the unexposed. The prevalence-odds ratio refers to an odds ratio derived cross-sectionally from studies of prevalent cases.

Radiographic examination of the breast.

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.

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.

Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property.

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)

Studies which start with the identification of persons with a disease of interest and a control (comparison, referent) group without the disease. The relationship of an attribute to the disease is examined by comparing diseased and non-diseased persons with regard to the frequency or levels of the attribute in each group.

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

Discontinuance of care received by patient(s) due to reasons other than full recovery from the disease.

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

A willingness to reveal information about oneself to others.

Communication between CELL PHONE users via the Short Message Service protocol which allows the interchange of short written messages.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

A state in northeastern Australia. Its capital is Brisbane. Its coast was first visited by Captain Cook in 1770 and its first settlement (penal) was located on Moreton Bay in 1824. The name Cooksland was first proposed but honor to Queen Victoria prevailed. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p996 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p441)

The transfer of information from experts in the medical and public health fields to patients and the public. The study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health.

Cognitive mechanism based on expectations or beliefs about one's ability to perform actions necessary to produce a given effect. It is also a theoretical component of behavior change in various therapeutic treatments. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 1994)

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

A set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. In statistics, multivariate analysis is interpreted as any analytic method that allows simultaneous study of two or more dependent variables.

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

The act or practice of calling public attention to a product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers, magazines, on radio, or on television. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The privacy of information and its protection against unauthorized disclosure.

Fields representing the joint interplay of electric and magnetic forces.

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.

Persons living in the United States of Mexican (MEXICAN AMERICANS), Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin. The concept does not include Brazilian Americans or Portuguese Americans.

Persons who have experienced a prolonged survival after serious disease or who continue to live with a usually life-threatening condition as well as family members, significant others, or individuals surviving traumatic life events.

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

The actual costs of providing services related to the delivery of health care, including the costs of procedures, therapies, and medications. It is differentiated from HEALTH EXPENDITURES, which refers to the amount of money paid for the services, and from fees, which refers to the amount charged, regardless of cost.

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

The performance of the basic activities of self care, such as dressing, ambulation, or eating.

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

Individuals who receive patients in a medical office.

Instruments or technological means of communication that reach large numbers of people with a common message: press, radio, television, etc.