Author: Glossary

Pertains to watching over and protecting, rather than, in the health care field, attempting to provide treatment.  

A committee of the medical staff charged with reviewing the credentials and performance of physicians and making recommendations as to medical staff membership and clinical privileges to be granted or modified.  

Increasing the charges to one group of patients (such as private pay patients, who presumably have the ability to pay) when the payment for another group of patients will not cover the costs for that group. If the government pays too little for its beneficiaries, for example, through the prospective payment system (PPS), it is…

A term usually applied to an external constraint of costs (or charges), such as legislation or the actions of a regulatory agency.  

Efforts to prevent increase in cost or to restrict its rate of increase. Cost containment is rarely addressed at reducing cost.  

An accounting procedure by which costs that cannot be clearly identified with any specific cost center are distributed among cost centers, and by which the costs of support services are distributed among revenue-producing services so as to be recovered in the charges.  

Those services which must be provided by an institution if it is to be accepted by the American Hospital Association (AHA) as an institution eligible for registration with AHA and inclusion in the annual Guide to the Health Care Field (AHA Guide). These services include an organized medical staff, a nursing service with registered nurse…

Care provided by family and friends, as in earlier times. These caregivers must work together cooperatively to ensure that the needs of the patient are met at all times. For example, family members may reside with the patient and handle much of the care; friends and neighbors may take turns giving needed therapies and providing…

A dollar amount for one base unit in the relative value scale (RVS). The price to be paid to the provider for a given service equals the relative value of the service multiplied by the dollar amount of the conversion factor. For example, a blood sugar determination might have a relative value of 5.0, and…

The person who is in charge of the hospital’s ongoing financial administration, including billing, accounting, budget management, and the like. A controller may or may not be the chief financial officer (CFO) (treasurer). “Controller” is sometimes spelled “comptroller.”