Category: B

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…

Refusal by insurers to insure high-risk industries, professions, or individuals (especially those who might inherit diseases). If the blacklisting applies to high-risks in a given geographical area, it is called “redlining” (this has been a civil rights issue). Refusal to insure a high-risk industry is also called “industry screening.”  

Notifying patients or their third party payers of the charges for services rendered, along with the amount due.  

Care which assists with the physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, social, financial, and legal needs of the survivor(s) of a person who has died.  

The array or set of benefits (services covered) included in or provided by a given insurance “policy.” The term is widely heard in the health care reform discussions; one does not hear it used in connection with automobile insurance.  

The performance, with respect to a given attribute, of an organization or individual whose performance is considered to be the goal of others. In the context of health care reform, benchmark performance would be that which delivers the best combination of results and cost; i.e., the “best” possible outcome may cost so much that it…

A overall percentage decrease in physician fees to be paid by Medicare during the period of transition to the resource based relative value scale (RBRVS). The assumption was made by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that physicians would attempt to adjust to the RBRVS (which will reduce physician fees for certain services) by increasing…

A slang term for a physician-owned professional liability insurance company.