Category: A

A nonprofit scientific and educational individual membership organization of researchers and practitioners including physicians, pharmacists, economists, and other professionals who are concerned with the study of health-related interventions and their cost.  

A national, nonprofit, tax-exempt, membership organization formed to promote the field of health services research and to strengthen the users and producers of research. Membership is open to any individual or organization with an interest in the field.  

An academic degree (associate degree (AD)) awarded by a community or junior college, usually after a two-year program. The holder of this degree is eligible to become a registered nurse (RN). The degree is not offered in Canada.  

Those insurance benefits which a policyholder has authorized to be paid directly to a provider.  

A term used by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Facilities (JCAHO) to describe the process used by a hospital to obtain information about “each individual seeking entry into a health care setting or service,” so that the individual’s needs may be matched with appropriate care.  

A transaction (such as a sale or purchase) in which both parties have approximately equal bargaining power, and which is not influenced by any conflict of interest.  

A person chosen by the parties to a dispute to make a final, binding decision concerning the dispute.  

The process of selling overvalued assets and buying undervalued assets to bring about an equilibrium where all assets are properly valued. One who engages in arbitrage is an arbitrager.  

The development by a microorganism of the ability to resist the effect of an antibiotic. Antibiotic resistance is generally specific to an individual antibiotic, so that often another antibiotic may be used effectively against that microorganism. However, an increasing number of microorganisms have become resistant to a number of antibiotics, and there is a constant…

A nonprofit, privately funded organization whose mission is the development of U.S. national standards on a voluntary basis. Standards are developed in a variety of fields, including health care, occupational safety, medical devices and medical informatics, and are referred to as American National Standards. Since members who agree on these standards are typically the major…