Category: A

A body organized in 1973 with 36 Charter Fellows designated by the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) board of directors. The objectives of the AAN include advancing new concepts in nursing and health care, and exploring issues in health, the nursing profession, and society, as they affect and are affected by nurses and nursing. AAN members…

A national association of specialists in family practice (primary care physicians), with about 60,000 members.  

A medical organization encouraging specialization in the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism and drug dependency.  

A counterpart of the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) classification (scheme), but designed for use for ambulatory care rather than hospital care. Patients, as in DRGs, undergo classification (process) into diagnosis groups (in this case, AVGs rather than DRGs) for which a predetermined or prenegotiated fee can be established.  

A facility which provides health and allied services to patients who do not require overnight lodging in an inpatient facility. To be designated an ambulatory care center, the facility is expected to have an organized professional staff.  

Methods of settling claims and disagreements other than by the traditional method-a lawsuit. Any of the methods of dealing with disputes and avoiding trial or litigation that are less threatening, less costly, and less time-consuming. Examples include arbitration, facilitation, negotiation, and mediation.  

An alternative to the traditional arrangements of health care providers into solo practice or group practice. Examples include the independent/integrated physician association (IPA), preferred provider organization (PPO), health maintenance organization (HMO), and health care organization (HCO). The method of purchase of service or payment of physicians (fee-for-service (FFS) or capitation, for example) does not govern…

An alternative to traditional inpatient care, such as substitution of ambulatory care, home health care, hospice, or ambulatory surgery (same-day surgery). Synonym(s); alternative delivery mode.  

A general term which covers any kind of alternative organizational arrangement for the delivery of health care, such as a health maintenance organization (HMO), in which payment for physician services is other than fee-for-service (FFS). Thus, an ADFS is a combination of an alternative delivery system (ADS) and an alternative financing system (AFS).  

A string of characters containing both letters of the alphabet and numerals. The term is usually applied to codes, which are typically either alphabetic (letters only), numeric (numerals only), or alphanumeric (both).