Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

An obligation of a managed care plan under its benefit structure which the patient has received, but which has not been reported to the plan. Distinguish from reported but not incurred (RBNI).  

Anything going to establish guilt, an admission of guilt. For example, if a defendant in a medical malpractice trial testified that she forgot to scrub before surgery, that statement would be inculpatory. Distinguished from exculpatory.  

A term applied to an individual who is considered unable to perform a task in an acceptable manner.  

Lacking the ability to make decisions. Competency is relative, and standards of legal competency will vary according to the type of decision to be made. For example, competency to make decisions about one’s own health care treatment requires the ability to understand one’s condition, the options available, and the potential consequences of the various alternatives.…

An event in the hospital which does not comport with the standards of the hospital, or which is unexpected and undesirable. For example, a patient leaving against medical advice (AMA) or a patient’s adverse reaction to administration of a drug might be classified by a hospital as “incidents.” Sometimes “incident” is used more narrowly to…

A health benefits plan which provides a built-in incentive for its beneficiaries to reduce their use of the plan’s services. The incentive may consist of monetary or other rewards.  

A cell taken from a culture of cells which is being reproduced outside the body. A cell taken directly from a living organism is called a primary cell.  

A term which covers the variety of technologies which result in pictures (images) of body structures or functioning. The first imaging technology was, perhaps, medical illustration. Then came conventional radiology (x-ray). The next technology to gain prominence was computed tomography (CT) scanning. To these have been added magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnostic ultrasound, single photon…

A new use of the term “imaging” by the archiving industry. The term had already been well established to include a number of technologies which produce pictures of body structures or functioning, see” imaging (diagnostic)”. The archiving industry uses it to mean, primarily, storing analog images and digital images of documents (including text, x-rays, electrocardiograph…