Patient Rights

Disease management is an approach to health care that teaches patients how to manage a chronic disease. Patients learn to take responsibility for understanding how to take care of themselves. They learn to avoid potential problems and exacerbation, or worsening, of their health problem. Example: One step in teaching disease management to a diabetes patient is … Read more

The standard of care is a benchmark used in medicine to determine whether the professional obligations to patients have been met by a healthcare provider. Failure to deliver the standard of care may be deemed medical negligence.1 Standard of care is a legal term—not a medical one—defined by law and regulated by state administrative agencies. … Read more

The word “ambulatory” refers to walking. It is used quite often in medical settings to refer to a variety of healthcare concerns. It’s also used often in medical research, as a factor that influences medical outcomes, quality of life, and how treatment decisions are made.1 If you’re having outpatient surgery, it’s ambulatory. Once you’re able … Read more

Determining Who Needs Emergency Attention First The term “triage” means sorting out. Medically, it’s a process used to prioritize who needs emergency medical attention first, whether injured or sick people or disaster survivors. Patients are triaged or prioritized according to their need for emergency care. Resource availability is also taken into account during this process. … Read more

Payment to Healthcare Providers, Hospitals, or Others Who Provide Medical Services Healthcare reimbursement is the payment that your hospital, healthcare provider, diagnostic lab, or other provider receives for providing you with a medical service. The most common method is fee-for-service (FFS) in which the reimbursement is made for each individual service performed.1 Reimbursement is often made by … Read more

Pharmacy Benefit Managers Help Fill Your Prescriptions A pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is a company that administers, or handles, the drug benefit program for your employer or health plan. PBMs process and pay prescription drug claims and are responsible for creating and updating your health plan’s drug formulary. Because these companies can buy medications in large … Read more

Capitation is a type of healthcare payment system in which a physician or hospital is paid a fixed amount per patient for a prescribed period by an insurer or physician association. The cost is based on the expected healthcare utilization costs for a group of patients for that year. With capitation, the physician—otherwise known as … Read more

Secret recording is increasingly common and many times legal According to the Pew Research Center, in 2016, a whopping 77% of Americans owned a smartphone.1 This number is more than double what it was when the Pew Research Center first started tracking smartphone ownership in 2011. Back then, 35% of Americans owned smartphones. Furthermore, in 2016, … Read more

The Declaration of Helsinki is a statement outlining the ethical principles for medical research. It provides a foundation for scientific efforts worldwide, protecting those who participate in medical research for their own benefit as well as the benefit of other people with similar medical conditions. The ethical principles and protections outlined in the Declaration of … Read more

Understanding the Advantages and Limitations Table of Contents The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law in 2015. Its purpose is to provide high-quality K-12 education to all students in the United States while shifting decision-making authority to the states, rather than the federal government.1 ESSA replaced the previous No Child Left Behind … Read more