Author: Glossary
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Acetone powder
Employed by obtaining cell-free bacteriological extracts, the cell walls being ruptured by the drying effect of cooled acetone and ether evaporated rapidly in contact with the bacteria.
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Acetomonas
Genus of Gram-negative aerobic rods similar to Acetobacter, but oxidizing ethyl alcohol only to acetic acid.
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Acetobacter
Gram-negative aerobic rods, motile or non-motile, associated with the nitrogen metabolism of soil and the alcoholic fermentation of plant matter. The type species, Acetobacter aceti (the ‘vinegar bacillus’), oxidizes ethyl alcohol to acetic acid, and thence to carbon diozide and water. Relevant to food industry rather than of medical importance. A genus of gram-negative bacilli…
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Withhold
The portion of a payment due a physician in a managed care plan which is held back by the plan in order to provide a contingency fund to be used in case 1) the usage under the plan exceeds the predictions under which the premiums were established, and the plan is unable to pay the…
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Wide area network
Two or more local area networks (LANs) connected together, typically over telephone lines or satellite links. In an university, for example, each department usually has its own LAN. These LANs are connected together throughout the university to form a WAN for the entire campus. The transmission medium connecting the LANs together is called a “backbone”,…
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Well-year
The equivalent of one completely well year of life, a measure designed to assess the benefits of health programs. The measure is used in a General Health Policy Model (GHPM). The well-year value is derived from measures of (1) life expectancy and (2) health-related quality of life (HRQOL) during years before death. If an individual,…
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Well-baby care
Health care services to normal babies in order to detect any problems early and to give preventive advice. This is the counterpart of prenatal care for pregnant women.
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Weighting
A statistical method for combining numerical data from more than one source into a single value. Each value from a given source is usually multiplied by a factor (its “weight”) which has been judged by the person producing the statistic to represent the importance of that factor in relation to the importance of the other…
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Voluntary hospital system
The national aggregate of nonprofit hospitals and for profit hospitals in the United States. As in the case of the term “American Hospital System,” the voluntary hospital system is not a formal system, but a de facto one.
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Virtual organization
An arrangement among actual organizations (or some of their parts) and individuals which carries out functions as though they were provided by a single organization, although the arrangement is not a separate organization. Some emerging health care networks or their programs are virtual organizations. For example, some communities handle teen-aged pregnancy problems with physicians, the…