Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The title given an individual from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) who performs on-site inspection and examination of hospitals and other institutions as a part of the accreditation process.  

An allied health professional for whom the American Medical Association’s Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation (CAHEA) has accredited education programs. A technologist who assists in many operating room functions, including preparing the patient for surgery, ensuring the sterility of the operating room, operating equipment during surgery, and, in some instances, working as a…

The treatment of disease, injury, or deformity by means of operation, which usually involves the use of instruments, and the removal of body tissues or the rearrangement, rebuilding, or replacement of body structures. Treatment by manipulation is also included under the term “surgery.”  

The head of an office within the Public Health Service (PHS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Surgeon General is responsible for administering the quasimilitary corps of commissioned health officers in the PHS, and being a spokesperson for national health concerns. The position dates back to the 1870’s when Congress wished…

A service which is necessary for the operation of the institution, but for which direct charges are inappropriate. Heating, for example, is essential, but is not itemized on the patient’s bill. The cost of support services is recovered by allocating the costs to the revenue-producing services, using an appropriate accounting method.  

A system (model) for developing objective estimates of the probable survival over a 180-day period of seriously ill hospitalized adults. The acronym comes from the name of the study which developed the method: “Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatment”. The model uses each patient’s diagnosis, age, number of days…

A term applied to giant, vertically integrated health care firms which some have predicted will appear in the U.S. Such firms are envisioned as national in scope, market-driven, capitalizing on their “brand names,” and specializing in contractual services to large nationwide industries.  

A legal rule, applied by some courts, which requires a guardian or other person making treatment decisions on behalf of an incompetent person to base that decision on what the incompetent person himself would want under the circumstances, as distinguished from what the decision-maker believes would be in the best interests of the incompetent patient.…