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Health Care Glossary

Posted February 5, 2008

Glossary

A

Acute long-term care (hospital type): A hospital that specializes in caring for critically ill patients who have many complications and need specialized treatment over a long period, typically several weeks or longer.
Acute long-term care (key service): Care of critically ill patients who have many complications and need specialized treatment over a long period, typically several weeks or longer.
Alzheimer center: A facility for Alzheimer's patients and their families offering clinical services, research, and cation.
American Osteopathic Association: Represents osteopathic physicians and accredits colleges of osteopathic medicine and osteopathic healthcare facilities. A doctor of osteopathy (D.O.) is trained in modern medicine. In addition, D.O.'s use what is called osteopathic manipulative treatment, a technique in which the D.O.'s use their hands to diagnose injury and illness, giving special attention to the joints, bones, muscles, and nerves.
Angioplasty: A nonsurgical procre that reopens blocked blood vessels by inflating a small balloon.
Arthritis center: A facility dedicated to diagnosing and treating arthritis and other joint disorders.
Assistance with government services: Helps eligible patients enroll in public health insurance programs, Medicaid, local and state programs, and other government aid programs.

B

Bariatric/weight control services: Offers advice and customized programs of weight loss.

C

Cardiac catheterization laboratory: A facility that diagnoses and treats heart disease through a tube, or catheter, inserted through an artery and passed into the heart or its vessels.
Cardiology department: Diagnoses and treats diseases and disorders of the heart and circulatory system.
Cardiac intensive care: Provides specialized support for patients who because of heart attack, open-heart surgery, or other life-threatening conditions need intense, comprehensive care.
Chemotherapy: Offers treatment at an outpatient facility to cancer patients receiving drugs or chemicals.
Chiropractic services: Clinic or center offering such services as spinal manipulation and related diagnostic and therapeutic services.
Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF): Sets standards for facilities that provide rehabilitation following injury or illness.
Complementary/alternative medicine: Treatment including acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, osteopathy, diet and lifestyle changes, herbal medicine, massage therapy, or other practices not based solely on traditional western medicine.
Council of Teaching Hospitals: Approximately 400 hospitals and health systems, including 64 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, that sponsor or participate in at least four approved residency programs, two of which must be in medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, family practice, or psychiatry.
CT scanner: Computed tomographic scanner that creates detailed images by generating multiple X-rays.

D

Diagnostic radioisotope facility: Uses radioactive chemicals to detect disease or abnormalities.

E

Electron beam computed tomography (EBCT): An imaging technology employed to identify very small abnormalities, such as tumors and coronary calcifications. It uses beams of magnetically steered electrons. The images are produced faster and are more detailed than conventional CT scans.
Emergency department: Provides immediate, unschled outpatient care.
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter: A device that disintegrates kidney stones from outside the body by beaming sound waves at them.

F

Fertility clinic: A facility offering infertility cation and counseling, as well as advanced reproductive techniques such as injectable therapy, in vitro fertilization, treatment for endometriosis, male factor infertility, and donor eggs to help bring about successful pregnancies.

G

Gamma knife: A noninvasive, bloodless technology that delivers concentrated gamma radiation to targets in the brain such as tumors and other abnormalities.
Genetic testing/counseling: A service equipped with a laboratory and directed by a qualified physician to advise parents and prospective parents concerning the potential and implications of genetic defects. The laboratory is capable is analyzing human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, and certain other genetic material in order to detect possible genetic defects.
General medical and surgical care: Provides broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services, including surgery.
General intensive care: Provides more intensive care than ordinary across a range of services.
Geriatric services: Medicine dealing with the process and diseases of aging. Could include adult day care, Alzheimer's services, and other specific treatment of older people.

H

Home health services: Nursing, therapy, and health-related homemaker or social services provided at home.
Hospice: Care for terminally ill patients, focusing on relief from pain and symptoms. Can be at home, in the hospital, or in a separate facility. Addresses emotional, social, financial, and spiritual needs of patients and their families.
Hospitalists: Physicians whose main responsibility is to provide continuity of care to hospitalized patients.

I

Infection isolation room: Environmentally controlled room to minimize the possibility that infection will be spread because of breathing, coughing, or sneezing.
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): A type of 3-dimensional radiation therapy that offers increased precision at varying intensities, rcing the chances of damaging normal tissue.
Intermediate nursing care: Medical and nursing services, including therapy and social services, that do not require the level of care provided by a skilled nursing facility or hospital.

J

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO): Nonprofit, independent organization that evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations and programs.

K

Kidney dialysis: Inpatient or outpatient use of a dialysis machine to clean the blood of people whose kidneys have failed.

M

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): Use of a magnetic field along with radio frequency waves to create images of tissue and body parts. Unlike CT scanning and X-rays, it does not utilize ionizing radiation.
Multislice spiral computer tomography (MSCT): An imaging technology that is a special type of CT scan. It provides 3-dimensional images and shows more detail than conventional CT scans can provide.

N

Neonatal intensive care: A unit that cares for the sickest newborns, including very low birth-weight babies, who can be placed on ventilators or treated surgically.
Neonatal intermediate care: A unit that can provide intermediate and some specialized care to newborns such as resuscitation, IV therapy, and oxygen.
Neurology department: Diagnoses and treats disorders of the brain and nervous system. Includes surgery.

O

Obstetrics: Unit providing various degrees of care for mothers and newborns-Level 1 for uncomplicated cases, Level 2 for most complicated problems and offers special neonatal services, and Level 3 for serious illnesses and abnormalities, with supervision by a full-time maternal-fetal specialist.
Oncology services: Various inpatient and outpatient services for cancer patients and their families, such as support and guidance, counseling, and patient cation and prevention.
Open-heart surgery: Generally, procres in which the chest is opened, the heart stopped, and blood is oxygenated through the use of a heart-lung machine.
Organ transplantation: Transfer of organs and tissue, including bone marrow, from a cadaver or sometimes from a living person.
Orthopedics department: Treats or prevents injuries and disorders of the bones and associated muscles, joints, and ligaments.

P

Pain management: A formal program that teaches caregivers how to manage chronic and acute pain based on existing guidelines and protocols.
Palliative care: Specially trained physicians and other caregivers provide pain relief, control ongoing symptoms, and offer counseling for patients with advanced disease.
Partial psychiatric hospitalization program: Intensive outpatient care for patients with mental illness, lasting three hours or more rather than the usual one-hour visits.
Patient representative (ombudsman): A person or office that assists patients who have complaints.
Pediatric medical and surgical care: Provides broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services, including surgery, to children.
Pediatric intensive care: Unit staffed with specially trained caregivers and containing specialized support equipment to treat children with life-threatening conditions.
Physical/occupational rehabilitation: Variety of inpatient services for the disabled to help patients attain or retain the highest possible function.
Physical/occupational therapy: Outpatient services to help people who don't need to stay in the hospital attain or retain the highest possible function.
Positron emission tomography (PET): Uses radioisotopes to produce images of the activity of the brain and heart by tracking metabolism or blood flow and not anatomy.
Psychiatric emergency services: Immediate, 24-hour care for people with emotional or mental emergencies.

R

Radiation therapy: The use of radioactive substances to diagnose and treat disease.
Reproductive health/fertility center: Facility for providing information and counseling about fertility problems, including laboratory and surgical tests and procres. May provide in vitro or other fertilization.

S

Single-photon computed tomography (SPECT): Combines the technology of CT scanning and the gamma camera to produce images that are more precise and clear.
Skilled nursing care: Medical and nursing services, including therapy and social services, provided 24 hours a day under the supervision of a registered nurse.
Sleep center: Facility for diagnosing and treating sleep-related disorders.
Substance-abuse programs: Diagnostic and therapeutic services to people dependent on alcohol or drugs. Includes inpatient or residential program for patients needing intensive care or supervision.

T

Trauma center: Hospital department capable of providing emergency care and specialized intensive care to critically injured or ill patients. Level 1 centers are certified to treat the most serious conditions and may serve a whole region. Level 2 centers are certified to care for all but the most seriously injured or ill patients. Level 3 centers are rural; they are certified to treat large numbers of injury victims and stabilize them for transfer to level 1 or 2 facilities.

U

Ultrasound: The use of high-frequency sound waves to see internal body structures.
Urgent-care center: Facility for treating problems that are not life threatening but need attention quickly. Similar to emergency room but separate from the hospital.

W

Women's health center: A facility for treating women and cating them about their health. This may include obstetrics but also covers other areas of women's health.
Wound management services: Management and treatment of long-term unhealed wounds from conditions such as diabetes and poor circulation. May be inpatient or outpatient.