Category: C

A system which merges clinical and financial data, patient-by-patient, in a hospital. The diagnosis and procedure data are standardized by use of the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM), while the financial data are standardized by use of the International Classification of Clinical Services (ICCS). The system is intended to facilitate data…

The method (philosophy) of hospital management in which hospitals try to control the costs for each kind of case so that the revenue for that case will cover the cost. Cost-per-case management is a new style of management which was developed when hospital revenue changed from reimbursement for services rendered to prospectively deter mined prices…

Prohibits corporations and business entities from practicing medicine. The doctrine attempts to prohibit business people and lay people without medical licenses from practicing medicine and prevent doctors from avoiding liability by incorporating. This bars companies from hiring doctors to treat their employees and also bars doctors and health care professionals from incorporating. However, there are…

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) defines this as “integration of care components.”  

The term used by the American Hospital Association (AHA) in its listing of hospitals in the AHA Guide to the Health Care Field to indicate the kind of organization or institution responsible for operating the hospital. Some 24 categories are used. In the non-federal sector, the grouping is quite general, such as “church-operated” and “investor-owned…

A defendant who is sued in tort is entitled to recover money (damages) from any others who contributed to the plaintiffs injury and who were liable to the plaintiff. For various reasons not all of the defendants are brought into the suit so one defendant gets stuck paying the whole damage award. That defendant can…

Chemicals which are given patients by mouth and also intra¬ venously in certain kinds of x-ray diagnostic procedures (contrast radiography) in order to make body structures through which the chemicals pass show up with contrasting density when x-rayed. These media are classified as “traditional,” those available before 1986, and a newer kind introduced in 1986…

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) defines this, apart from continuity of care, as “matching the patient’s ongoing needs with the appropriate level and type of medical, health, or social service.” The range of services required by chronically ill, impaired, or elderly people. Services include, among others, preventive measures, acute medical treatments,…

A system designed to monitor the functioning of basic quality control processes and to respond quickly when they are found to be failing to operate properly.  

A retirement community which offers lifetime independent living and various health care services to residents.