Category: R

The use of severity of illness measures to estimate the risk to which a patient is subject.  

The legal right to refuse life-saving or life-sustaining treatment. A competent adult has the legal right to refuse medical treatment, even if that treatment is essential to sustain life. Some refer to this right as the “right to die.” The issue of the “right to die” arises in the situation where a person has a…

Increase in an organization’s assets or a decrease in its liabilities during an accounting period. This is in contrast with income, which refers to money earned during an accounting period.  

The date stipulated in a claims-made coverage policy as the earliest date an event may occur and be covered under that particular claims-made policy. For example, a policy for calendar year 1990 with a retroactive date of January 1, 1985, would cover an event occurring anytime on or after January 1, 1985, if the claim…

A facility which provides social activities to senior citizens, usually retired persons, who do not require health care. The provision of housing is not required for an institution or organization to be called a retirement center. A retirement center may furnish housing and may also have acute hospital and long-term care facilities, or it may…

A free-standing facility set up to provide care for patients who are unable to live independently, that is, who need assistance with the activities of daily living (ADL), and who may need occasional assistance from a professional nurse. Such professional nursing service is obtained from a visiting nurse. Regulations usually apply the designation of rest…

The individual or organization responsible for placing a patient in a health care facility and ensuring that adequate care is given to that patient there. For example, a parent is usually the responsible party in the case of a child; the parent is not only responsible for the child receiving care, but also for the…

A law which requires hospitals to develop programs for asking families of deceased patients to donate the organs of the deceased for transplantation.  

A generic term for performance statements pertaining to health care professionals and providers. Report cards are being issued increasingly by health care institutions, regulatory agencies, insurers, managed care organizations, accrediting bodies and others, giving information such as health care outcomes, costs, charges, severity of illness of patients, intensity of services, institution staffing, medical staff composition,…

The degree of accuracy of results over a period of time, a number of trials, or among different observers or investigators. Also, the probability that a system will perform its function properly for a given period of time. The numerical value given to each procedure or other unit of service in a “relative value scale.”…