| HHA | health hazard appraisal; hereditary hemolytic anemia; home health agency; home health aid; hypothala... |
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| HPA | Health Care Practice Act; Health Policy Agenda for the American People; health promotion advocates; ... |
| IHS | idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome; inactivated horse serum; Indian Health Service; integrated he... |
| ICD | I-cell disease; immune complex disease; implantable cardioverter defibrillator; impulse-control diso... |
| ASHA | American School Health Association; American Social Health Association; American Speech and Hearing ... |
D factor
| prepaid health plans | Contracts between an insurer and a subscriber or a group of subscribers whereby a specified set of health benefits is provided in return for a periodic premium. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| preventive health services | Services designed for promotion of health and prevention of disease. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health | 1. The state of being hale, sound, or whole, in body, mind, or soul; especially, the state of being free from physical disease or pain. "There is no health in us." (Book of Common Prayer) "Though health may be enjoyed without gratitude, it can not be sported with without loss, or regained by courage." (Buckminster) 2. A wish of health and happiness, as in pledging a person in a toast. "Come, love and health to all." Bill of health. See Bill. Health lift, a machine for exercise, so arranged that a person lifts an increasing weight, or moves a spring of increasing tension, in such a manner that most of the muscles of the body are brought into gradual action; also called lifting machine. Health officer, one charged with the enforcement of the sanitary laws of a port or other place. To drink a health. See Drink. Origin: OE. Helthe, AS. Hlp, fr. Hal hale, sound, whole. See Whole. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 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 evaluation mechanisms | Methods and techniques used in evaluating the quality of health care, its planning, and delivery. (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 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) |
| health care sector | Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products. (12 Dec 1998) |