| AERP | antegrade effective refractory period; atrial effective refractory period |
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| ESP | early systolic paradox; echo spacing; effective sensory projection; effective systolic pressure; end... |
| MEC | median effective concentration; middle ear canal; middle ear cell; minimum effective concentration |
| AHCA | Agency for Health Care Administration; American Health Care Association |
| HCPCS | Health Care Financing Administration common procedural collecting system; Health Care Financing Admi... |
| health care reform | Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| health care sector | Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care surveys | Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care. (12 Dec 1998) |
| primary health care | Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (jama 1995;273(3):192) (12 Dec 1998) |
| proxy, health care | A health care proxy is one form of advance medical directive. Advance medical directives preserve the person's right to accept or reject a course of medical treatment even after that person becomes mentally or physically incapacitated to the point of being unable to communicate those wishes. There are two basic forms of advance directives: 1. A living will, in which the person outlines specific treatment guidelines that are to be followed by health care providers. 2. A health care proxy (also called a power of attorney for health-care decision-making) in which the person designates a trusted individual to make medical decisions in the event that he or she becomes too incapacitated to make such decisions. Advance directive requirements vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another and should therefore be drawn up in consultation with an attorney who is familiar with the laws of the particular jurisdiction. (this entry is based upon material from the national ms society). (12 Dec 1998) |
| national centre for health care technology | A centre in the public health service which coordinates and administers a program of research, demonstrations, and evaluations of medical technologies and assessments of health care technology. (12 Dec 1998) |
| delivery of health care | The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population. (12 Dec 1998) |
| delivery of health care, integrated | A health care system which combines physicians, hospitals, and other medical services with a health plan to provide the complete spectrum of medical care for its customers. In a fully integrated system, the three key elements - physicians, hospital, and health plan membership - are in balance in terms of matching medical resources with the needs of purchasers and patients. (coddington et al., integrated health care: reorganizing the physician, hospital and health plan relationship, 1994, p7) (12 Dec 1998) |
| quality assurance, health care | Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps. (12 Dec 1998) |
| quality indicators, health care | Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determinng the quality of health care. (12 Dec 1998) |
| quality of health care | The levels of excellence which characterise the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality. (12 Dec 1998) |
| International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care | A classification of diseases, conditions and problems arranged for use in primary care where diagnostic precision is seldom possible. (05 Mar 2000) |
| united states agency for health care policy and research | An agency of the public health service established in 1990 to "provide indexing, abstracting, translating, publishing, and other services leading to a more effective and timely dissemination of information on research, demonstration projects, and evaluations with respect to health care to public and private entities and individuals engaged in the improvement of health care delivery.." it supersedes the national centre for health services research. (12 Dec 1998) |
| united states health care financing administration | A component of the department of health and human services to oversee and direct the medicare and medicaid programs and related federal medical care quality control staffs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| aperture, effective | <microscopy> The diameter of the entrance pupil: it is the apparent diameter of the limiting aperture measured from the front. (05 Aug 1998) |