| AHCA | Agency for Health Care Administration; American Health Care Association |
|---|---|
| AHF | acute heart failure; American Health Foundation; American Hepatic Foundation; American Hospital Form... |
| AHP | accountable health plan or partnership; acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis; after hyperpolarization; air... |
| AHS | Academy of Health Sciences; African horse sickness; alveolar hypoventilation syndrome; American Hear... |
| ASHA | American School Health Association; American Social Health Association; American Speech and Hearing ... |
| health and human services | See HHS. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| health behaviour | Behaviours expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Lifestyle is closely associated with health behaviour and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health benefit plans, employee | Health insurance plans for employees, and generally including their dependents, usually on a cost-sharing basis with the employer paying a percentage of the premium. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care | Services provided to individuals or communities by agents of the health services or professions for the purpose of promoting, maintaining, monitoring, or restoring health. (05 Mar 2000) |
| health care coalitions | Voluntary groups of people representing diverse interests in the community such as hospitals, businesses, physicians, and insurers, with the principal objective to improve health care cost effectiveness. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care costs | The actual costs of providing services related to the delivery of health care, including the costs of procedures, therapies, and medications. It is differentiated from health expenditures, which refers to the amount of money paid for the services, and from fees, which refers to the amount charged, regardless of cost. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care economics and organizations | The economic aspects of health care, its planning, and delivery. It includes government agencies and organizations in the private sector. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care evaluation mechanisms | Methods and techniques used in evaluating the quality of health care, its planning, and delivery. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care facilities, manpower, and services | The services provided in the delivery of health care, associated facilities in health care, and attendant manpower required or available. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care finance administration | See: HCFA. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Health Care Financing Administration | The federal agency that determines reimbursement for federal programs. (05 Mar 2000) |
| health care proxy | 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 healthcare 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) |
| health care quality, access, and evaluation | The concept concerned with all aspects of the quality, accessibility, and appraisal of health care and health care delivery. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health care rationing | Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources. (12 Dec 1998) |
| 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) |