Category: S

A mandatory or voluntary program calling for second opinions for elective (non-emergency) surgery prior to authorization of the performance of the surgery.  

A term used in connection with legislative budgeting in estimating the effects on revenue of tax policy changes, depending on their influence on behavior. Static scoring is used when no effect on behavior is expected from the change in tax policy; dynamic scoring is used when behavior is expected to change. Also called “cost estimating”.…

A term used with two, opposite meanings: (1) a kind of permission or support; and (2) discipline, punishment, or prohibition. Only by the context can one determine which meaning is intended.  

Systems whose failure can cause injury or death or damage to life-sustaining qualities of the earth. For example, a control system for radiation therapy dosage is a safety-critical system; its failure may result in radiation burns or death. A control system for a washing machine is likely to be mission-critical; its failure is likely to…

Regulations which describe certain acts or behaviors which will not be illegal under a specific law, even though they might overwise arguably be illegal. Federal safe harbor regulations specify certain joint ventures and other arrangements concerning hospitals and/or physicians which will not violate federal Medicare fraud and abuse laws.  

An unusually long stay. Also called day outlier.  

An increased response to drugs and endogenous compounds caused by an increase in the number and /or sensitivity of receptors for that drug.  

A desired effect of antineoplastic and anti-infectious agents, wherein the drug kills the pathogenic organism or cells without damaging healthy tissues.  

The term applied to compounds formed within the cell such as cyclic AMP’ The second messenger initiates a series of biochemical changes within the cell following stimulation of a receptor on the cell’s outer surface by drugs, hormones, and so on. Molecules and ions that exist inside cells, and are under the influence of neurotransmitters…

A type of learning style that focuses on the various aspects of a skill or concept first and then on the general concept or rule.