Author: Glossary

A document adopted by a corporation or association which governs its business conduct and the rights and responsibilities of its members. Bylaws may also authorize the separate issuance of rules and regulations to govern specific activities. The process for changing the rules and regulations is less cumbersome than that for changing the bylaws themselves.  

Regulations which owners must meet in the construction, use, and maintenance of buildings. Building codes are promulgated and enforced by government agencies and are designed to ensure that buildings are durable and safe. The National Fire Protection Association (NHPA) issues, and periodically revises, a standard called the Life Safety Code which covers both construction and…

A part of the legislative budgeting process which defines federal programs in such a manner that program costs are consistent with Congress’ decision as to how much money is to be spent for the program in question.  

A term which came into use as part of the prospective payment system (PPS) to mean that the new payment system may not pay hospitals, in the aggregate, any more or less for Medicare patients than the hospitals would have been paid under the previous system. More generally, a budget may be said to be…

A computer program used to read (browse) information on the Internet’s World Wide Web.  

A chart graphically presenting the results of a break-even analysis.  

The contract between a bondholder and the institution (for example, a hospital) issuing the bond.  

A person, other than a patient, physician, or employee, who is temporarily residing in a hospital or other health care facility. A patient’s parent or spouse staying in the hospital would be a boarder. A patient no longer requiring hospitalization who is provided with meals and lodging in a hospital, usually until other living arrangements…

A corporation, typically a nonprofit health-related corporation, which has been formed by a community in order to implement the Blue Indigo concept. As the concept develops, a few criteria must be met before a corporation can properly be called a Blue Indigo Corporation: (1) there must be collaborative effort between at least two local organizations,…

The concept that (1) the health of a population is primarily its own responsibility and (2) health care reform, as well as achievement of improvement of individual health, can only be the result of the mobilization of local resources under community leadership. Innovation and experimentation are fundamental to the concept. The concept originated with a…