Category: B

A way to measure the utilization of hospital inpatient facilities.  

The number of beds a hospital maintains regularly for the use of inpatients.  

The reassignment of beds by the hospital from one use to another, for example, the reassignment of beds from acute care to long-term care use. When such a conversion is done in both directions (when it is, depending on changing circumstances, reversible) the beds are usually called swing beds. In some states, certain types of…

The number of patients a hospital can hold. A hospital may have different bed capacity figures depending on whether one refers to its constructed beds, its licensed beds, or its regularly maintained beds. Thus, a statement of capacity should always tell which is intended. It is possible, though, that bed capacity figures may all be…

A procedure or service used in developing a relative value scale (RVS).  

A reference quantity or reference time, often a given year. For example, the data used in calculating a consumer price index (CPI) include base prices, which are prices found in the year chosen as the base.  

A machine-readable coding system which uses a pattern of bars and empty spaces to convey a specific meaning. The system is commonly encountered in grocery stores and other retail establishments, where the bar code is read with a scanning device. The system usually calculates the bill, corrects the inventory of the item, and carries out…

A term coined in the 1930’s to describe a range within a band of wavelengths of the radio frequency type. Its common usage today refers to the raw carrying capacity of a transmission medium, such as copper wires, fiber-optic cable, or satellite links. The greater the bandwidth, the more information can be transmitted. Telephones which…

One of the two standard components of a financial statement, on which are shown the assets (what is owned) and the liabilities (what is owed) by the organization. An organization is most unlikely to find the assets and the liabilities exactly equal, so a third category of entry makes the sheet “balance”: a line entitled…

The practice of physicians to charge a patient the balance of charges when the patients insurance (or other third party payer) will not pay the entire charge. For example, when Medicare will pay the physician only 80% of her or his usual fee for a given service, the physician sometimes “balance bills” the patient, who…