Author: Glossary
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Patient-directed care
Health care guided by the recipient of the care. A trend in medical practice stemming from the concept that patients should be empowered to make decisions as to their own health and health care. In patient-directed care, the physician advises and collaborates with the patient in determining the steps to be taken to discover the…
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Patient-centered care
Health care which takes into account the patient’s preferences, values, life style, family, expressed needs and fears; care approached from the patient’s point of view. Such care includes education, physical comfort, emotional support, coordination of care, involvement of family and friends, and help with transitions.
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Patient care manager
Synonym for gatekeeper. It has been suggested that the term “PCM” replace the widely-used term “gatekeeper,” but “gatekeeper” is likely to be retained.
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Patient care management
The determination of processes and procedures (such as diagnostic testing, administration of drugs, surgery, nursing, physical therapy, and others), their scheduling, and arranging for them in the care of the individual patient.
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Patient advocacy
An allied health field developed to help patients with their complaints and problems in relation to medical care and hospital and other health care services, and with the protection of their rights. The practitioner may be called a patient advocate, a patient representative, a health advocate, or an ombudsperson.
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Pareto principle
A principle which states that in any series of steps in a process, such as the diagnosis of a patient’s problem, there are a “vital few” steps and a “trivial many.” The procedure for identifying the vital few and the trivial many is called a Pareto analysis. The Pareto analysis makes feasible productive efforts at…
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Paradigm shift
The change in one’s “world view” in moving from one paradigm to another: replacing an old paradigm with a new one. Such a change may take a lot of energy, and usually has far-reaching consequences.
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Pain management program
A specialized medical program for the management of chronic (and sometimes acute) pain, employing a multidisciplinary approach with medical, nursing, and allied health professionals. The national cost of treating pain is said to rank as the third highest health care cost, led only by cancer and heart disease.
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Over-coding
Submission of a patient’s bill with diagnosis or operation coding which suggests to the payer’s audit system that an attempt is being made to obtain a higher reimbursement than was probably justified. An audit of the coding and billing is likely to be triggered by such coding. Computer systems which are intended to prevent this…
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Stay outlier
An unusually long stay. Also called day outlier.