Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

An individual in an institution who has responsibility for coordinating inservice trainingprograms.  

A tort in which someone wrongfully interferes with a business relationship and causes someone else an economic loss, such as a broken contract, loss of job or position, or suspension from the medical staff.  

A term used in connection with health care financing. The first and second parties are the patient and the provider. The third party is a payer who is neither of these. Examples are Blue Cross and Blue Shield, commercial insurance, and government. Third parties are increasingly employers, who try to save the money paid to…

A test, published in 1995 by Parker et al, which measures an adult’s ability to read and understand medical instructions and health care information when that information is presented in written form such as prescription bottle labels and appointment slips.  

Evaluation of a product to see whether and how well it serves its intended purpose. The term is often used in referring to evaluation of questionnaires or software, for example. Such products are usually subjected to two rounds of testing after their initial development. These two rounds are referred to as “alpha testing” and “beta…

Relating to or at the end. A terminal illness is one expected to cause death, and for which there is no known or available cure.    

A conference held via telecommunication equipment among individuals who are physically separated (perhaps by thousands of miles). Ordinarily the individuals all participate in the “conversation” interactively, that is, each in response to the input of the others. Telecommunication equipment includes computers (or computer terminals), telephones, and television. In the health care field, one of the…

A person who is in charge of telecommunications.  

The hospital department responsible for telecommunications.  

Pertaining to the technical aspects of telephones, computer wiring (intra- and inter-building), intercommunication radio, paging, and other communications systems and networks (excluding computer networks). Traditionally thought of as dealing with voice communications, an increasing amount of computer data (including faxes and multimedia) now flows over telephone lines, blurring any possible distinctions between voice and data.…