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MEDICAL L&E
Medical Law & Ethics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Bioethicist | Specialists who consult with physicians, researchers, and others to help them make difficult ethical decisions regarding patient care. |
| Bioethics/Medical Ethicists | A discipline dealing with the ethical implications of biological research methods and results, especially in medicine. |
| Code of Ethics | A list of principles intended to govern behavior—here, the behavior of those entrusted with providing care to the sick. |
| Common Sense | Sound practical judgment. |
| Compassion | The identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives. |
| Courtesy | The practice of good manners. |
| Critical Thinking | The ability to think analytically, using fewer emotions and more rationality. |
| Defendant | The person or party against whom criminal or civil charges are brought in a lawsuit. |
| Ethics | Standards of behavior, developed as a result of one’s concept of right and wrong. |
| Ethics Committees | Committee made up of individuals who are involved in a patient’s care, including health care practitioners, family members, clergy, and others, with the purpose of reviewing ethical issues in difficult cases. |
| Ethics Guidelines | Publications that detail a wide variety of ethical situations that professionals (in this case, health care practitioners) might face in their work and offer principles for dealing with the situations in an ethical manner. |
| Etiquette | Standards of behavior considered to be good manners among members of a profession as they function as individuals in society. |
| Fraud | Dishonest or deceitful practices in depriving, or attempting to deprive, others of their rights. |
| Health Care Practitioner | Those who are trained to administer medical or health care to patients. |
| Hippocratic Oath | A pledge for physicians, influenced by the practices of the Greek physician Hippocrates. American Medical Association Principles A code of ethics for members of the American Medical Association, written in 1847. |
| Law | Rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority. |
| Liable | Legally responsible or obligated. |
| Litigious | Prone to engage in lawsuits. |
| Moral Values | One’s personal concept of right and wrong, formed through the influence of the family, culture, and society. |
| Plaintiff | The person bringing charges in a lawsuit. |
| Precedent | Decisions made by judges in the various courts that become rule of law and apply to future cases, even though they were not enacted by a legislature; also known as case law. |
| Protocol | A code prescribing correct behavior in a specific situation, such as a situation arising in a medical office. |
| Summary Judgement | A decision made by a court in a lawsuit in response to a motion that pleads there is no basis for a trial. |
| Autonomy | The capacity to be one’s own person and make one’s own decisions without being manipulated by external forces. |
| Beneficence | Acts performed by a health care practitioner to help people stay healthy or recover from illness. |
| Categorical Imperative | A rule that is considered universal law binding on everyone and requiring action. |
| Confidentiality | The act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals. |
| Deontological or Duty-Oriented Theory | Decision-making theory that states that the rightness or wrongness of the act depends on its intrinsic nature and not the outcome of the act. |
| Fidelity | Being faithful to the scope of practice for your profession. |
| Health Disparity | A particular type of health difference that is closely linked with economic, social, or environmental disadvantage. |
| Health Equity | Striving for the highest possible standard of health for all people and giving special attention to the needs of those at greatest risk of poor heath, based on social conditions. |
| Justice | Providing what is due to an individual. role fidelity Being faithful to the scope of the services for which you are licensed, certified, or registered. |
| Needs-Based Motivation | The theory that human behavior is based on specific human needs that must often be met in a specific order. Abraham Maslow is the best-known psychologist for this theory. |
| Nonmaleficence | The duty to do no harm. |
| Principle of Utility | Used in utilitarianism; requires that the rule used in making a decision must bring about positive results when generalized to a wide variety of situations. |
| Social Determinants of Health | Living conditions that affect health, such as shelter, food, income, education, a stable environment, sustainable resources, social justice and equity. |
| Teleological or Consequence-Oriented Theory | Decision-making theory that judges the rightness or wrongness based on the outcomes or predicted outcomes. |
| Utilitarianism | A consequence-oriented theory that states that decisions should be made by determining what results will produce the best outcome for the most people. |
| Veracity | Truth telling. |
| Virtue Ethics | Refers to the theory that people who have moral virtues will make the right decisions. |
| Accountable Care Organization (ACO) | A health care payment and delivery model that could reward doctors and hospitals for controlling costs and improving patient outcomes by allowing them to keep a portion of what they save if standards of quality are met. |
| Accreditation | Official authorization or approval for conforming to a specified standard, for health care education programs, health care facilities, and managed care plans. |
| Certification | A voluntary credentialing process whereby applicants who meet specific requirements may receive a certificate. |
| Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) | A managed care plan that pays for health care services only within the plan’s network of physicians, specialists, and hospitals (except in emergencies). |
| Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) | A health plan that combines coverage of health care costs and delivery of health care for a specific payment. |
| Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) | An employer-funded, tax-advantaged employer health benefit plan approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that reimburses employees for out-of-pocket medical expenses and individual health insurance premiums. |
| Health Savings Account (HSA) | Offered to individuals covered by high-deductible health plans, these accounts let these individuals save money, tax free, to pay for medical expenses. |
| High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) | A plan with a higher deductible than a traditional insurance plan. The monthly premium is usually lower. |
| Independent Practice Association (IPA) | A type of HMO that contracts with groups of physicians who practice in their own offices and receive a per-member payment (capitation) from participating HMOs to provide a full range of health services for members. |
| Licensure | A mandatory credentialing process established by law, usually at the state level, that grants the right to practice certain skills and endeavors. |
| Managed Care | A system in which financing, administration, and delivery of health care are combined to provide medical services to subscribers for a prepaid fee. |
| Managed Care Organization (MCO) | A corporation that links health care financing, administration, and service delivery. |
| Medical Services Organization (MSO) | A physician group purchases a hospital, which then contracts with employers to provide full health care services. |
| Open Access Plan (OAP) | Subscribers may see any in-network health care provider without a referral. |
| Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) | A form of managed care with a primary care provider developing a team-based approach to health care with an emphasis on preventive services, care coordination, and access to care. The primary care provider receives higher reimbursement if goals are met. |
| Physician-Hospital Organization (PHO) | A health care plan in which physicians join with hospitals to provide a medical care delivery system and then contract for insurance with a commercial carrier or an HMO. |
| Point of Service Plan (POS) | A primary care physician determines necessary services for the patient within a network. |
| Practice Acts | State laws written for the express purpose of governing the practice of specific health care professions. |
| Preferred Provider Organization/Association (PO/PPA) | A network of independent physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers who contract with an insurance carrier to provide medical care at a discount rate to patients who are part of the insurer’s plan. |
| Primary Care Physician (PCP) | The physician responsible for directing all of a patient’s medical care and determining whether the patient should be referred for specialty care. |
| Professional Boards | Bodies established by the authority of each state’s practice acts for the purpose of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of health care consumers through proper licensing and regulation of health care practitioners. professional corporation |
| Reciprocity | The process by which a professional license obtained in one state may be accepted as valid in other states by prior agreement without reexamination. |
| Registration | Similar to certification, individuals must meet certain educational requirements, as well as possibly successfully completing a national exam. |
| Scope of Practice | The determination of the duties/procedures that a person may or may not perform under the auspices of a specific health care professional’s license. |
| Administrative Law | Enabling statutes enacted to define powers and procedures when an agency is created. |
| Breach of Contract | Failure of either party to comply with the terms of a legally valid contract. |
| Case Law | Law established through common law and legal precedent. |
| Civil Law | Law that involves wrongful acts against persons. |
| Common Law | The body of unwritten law developed in England, primarily from judicial decisions based on custom and tradition. |
| Constitutional Law | Law that derives from federal and state constitutions. |
| Contract | A voluntary agreement between two parties in which specific promises are made for a consideration. |
| Criminal Law | Law that involves crimes against the state. |
| Executive Order | A rule or regulation issued by the president of the United States that becomes law without the prior approval of Congress. |
| Felony | An offense punishable by death or by imprisonment in a state or federal prison for more than one year. |
| Jurisdiction | The power of a court to hear and decide a case before it. |
| Legal Precedents | Decisions made by judges in various courts that become rule of law and apply to future cases, even though they were not enacted by legislation. |
| Minor | Anyone under the age of majority: 18 years in most states, 21 years in some jurisdictions. statute of frauds State legislation governing written contracts. |
| Misdemeanor | Crime punishable by fine or by imprisonment in a facility other than a prison for less than one year. |
| Negligence | An unintentional tort alleged when one may have performed or failed to perform an act that a reasonable person would or would not have done in similar circumstances. |
| Procedural Law | Law that defines the rules used to enforce substantive law. |
| Prosecution | The government as plaintiff in a criminal case. defendant The person or party against whom charges are brought in a criminal or civil lawsuit. |
| Statute of Frauds | State legislation governing written contracts. |
| Statutory Law | Law passed by the U.S. Congress or state legislatures. |
| Substantive Law | The statutory or written law that defines and regulates legal rights and obligations. |
| Tort | A civil wrong committed against a person or property, excluding breach of contract. |
| Tortfeasor | The person guilty of committing a tort. |
| Void | Without legal force or effect. |
| Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) | Without legal force or effect. |
| Consent | Permission from a person, either expressed or implied, for something to be done by another. |
| Damages | Court-ordered monetary awards to patients, given as a result of legally recognized injuries to patients. |
| Deposition | Sworn testimony given and recorded outside the courtroom during the pretrial phase of a case. |
| Doctrine of Informed Consent | The legal basis for informed consent, usually outlined in a state’s medical practice acts. |
| Duty of Care | The legal obligation of health care workers to patients and, sometimes, nonpatients. |
| Good Samaritan Acts | Someone who renders aid in an emergency to an injured person on a voluntary basis. |
| Interrogatory | A written set of questions requiring written answers from a plaintiff or defendant under oath. |
| Law of Agency | The law that governs the relationship between a principal and his or her agent. |
| Malfeasance | The performance of a totally wrongful and unlawful act. |
| Misfeasance | The performance of a lawful act in an illegal or improper manner. |
| Nonfeasance | The failure to act when one should. |
| Reasonable Person Standard | That standard of behavior that judges a person’s actions in a situation according to what a reasonable person would or would not do under similar circumstances. |
| Res Ipsa Loquitur | “The thing speaks for itself”; also known as the doctrine of common knowledge. A situation that is so obviously negligent that no expert witnesses need be called. |
| Respondeat Superior | Literally, “Let the master answer.” A doctrine under which an employer is legally liable for the acts of employees, if such acts were performed within the scope of the employees’ duties. |
| Standard of Care | The level of performance expected of a health care practitioner in carrying out professional duties. |
| Subpoena | A legal document requiring the recipient to appear as a witness in court or to give a deposition. |
| Subpoena Duces Tecum | A legal document requiring the recipient to bring certain written records to court to be used as evidence in a lawsuit. |
| Summons | A written notification issued by the clerk of the court and delivered with a copy of the complaint to the defendant in a lawsuit, directing the defendant to respond to the charges brought in a court of law. |
| Testimony | Statements sworn to under oath by witnesses testifying in court and giving depositions. |
| Wrongful Death Statutes | State statutes that allow a person’s beneficiaries to collect for loss to the estate of the deceased for future earnings when a death is judged to have been due to negligence. |
| Affirmative Defenses | Defenses used by defendants in medical professional liability suits that allow the accused to present factual evidence that the patient’s condition was caused by some factor other than the defendant’s negligence. |
| Assumption of Risk | A legal defense that holds that the defendant is not guilty of a negligent act because the plaintiff knew of and accepted beforehand any risks involved. |
| Claims-Made Insurance | A type of liability insurance that covers the insured only for those claims made (not for any injury occurring) while the policy is in force. |
| Comparative Negligence | An affirmative defense claimed by the defendant, alleging that the plaintiff contributed to the injury by a certain degree. |
| Contributory Negligence | An affirmative defense that alleges that the plaintiff, through a lack of care, caused or contributed to the injury. |
| Denial | A defense that claims innocence of the charges or that one or more of the four Ds of negligence are lacking. |
| Emergency | A type of affirmative defense in which the person who comes to the aid of someone in an emergency is not held liable under certain circumstances. |
| Liability Insurance | Contract coverage for potential damages incurred as a result of a negligent act. |
| Occurrence Insurance | A type of liability insurance that covers the insured for any claims arising from an incident that occurred or is alleged to have occurred during the time the policy is in force, regardless of when the claim is made. |
| Prior Acts Insurance Coverage | A supplement to a claims-made insurance policy that can be purchased from a new carrier when health care practitioners change carriers. |
| Quality Improvement (QI) or Quality Assurance (QA) | A program of measures taken by health care providers and practitioners to uphold the quality of patient care. |
| Release of Tortfeasor | A technical defense that prohibits a lawsuit against the person who caused an injury (the tortfeasor) if the person was expressly released from further liability in the settlement of a suit. |
| Res Judicata | “The thing has been decided.” Legal principle that a claim cannot be retried between the same parties if it has already been legally resolved. |
| Risk Management | The taking of steps to minimize danger, hazard, and liability. |
| Self-Insurance Coverage | An insurance coverage option whereby insured subscribers contribute to a trust fund to be used in paying potential damage awards. |
| Statute of Limitations | That period of time established by state law during which a lawsuit may be filed. |
| Tail Coverage | An insurance coverage option available for health care practitioners: When a claims-made policy is discontinued, it extends coverage for malpractice claims alleged to have occurred during those dates that claims-made coverage was in effect. |
| Technical Defenses | Defenses used in a lawsuit that are based on legal technicalities. |
| American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) | A 2009 act that made substantive change to HIPAA’s privacy and security regulations. |
| Breach | Any unauthorized acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of personal health information that compromises the security or privacy of such information. |
| Business Associates (BA) | Individuals and/or organizations that provide certain functions, activities, or services on behalf of covered entities that involve access to, or the use of, disclosure of protected health information. |
| Covered Entities (CE) | Health care providers and clearinghouses that transmit HIPAA transactions electronically, and must comply with HIPAA standards and rules. |
| Criminal Healthcare Fraud Statute | A section of the U.S. Code that prohibits fraud against any health care benefit program. |
| De-identify | To remove from health care transactions all information that identifies patients. |
| Federal Anti-Kickback Law | Prohibits knowingly and willfully receiving or paying anything of value to influence the referral of federal health care program business. |
| Federal False Claims Act | A law that allows for individuals to bring civil actions on behalf of the U.S. government for false claims made to the federal government, under a provision of the law called qui tam (from Latin meaning “to bring an action for the king and for oneself”). |
| Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) | A section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that strengthened certain HIPAA privacy and security provisions. |
| Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 | A federal law passed in 1996 to protect privacy and other health care rights for patients. |
| Limited Data Set | Protected health information from which certain patient identifiers have been removed. |
| Notice of Privacy Practices | A list provided by all covered entities that demonstrates adherence to HIPAA's privacy practices rules. quarantine |
| Permission | A reason under HIPAA for disclosing patient information. |
| Privacy | Freedom from unauthorized intrusion. |
| Privileged Communication | Information held confidential within a protected relationship. |
| Protected Health Information (PHI) | Information that contains one or more patient identifiers. |
| Stark Law | Prohibits physicians or their family members who own health care facilities from referring patients to those entities if the federal government, under Medicare or Medicaid, will pay for treatment. |
| State Preemption | If a state’s privacy laws are stricter than HIPAA privacy standards, state laws take precedence. |
| Administer | To instill a drug into the body of a patient. |
| Autopsy | A postmortem examination to determine the cause of death or to obtain physiological evidence, as in the case of a suspicious death. |
| Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act | A federal law passed in 1974 requiring physicians to report cases of child abuse. |
| Coroner | A public official who investigates and holds inquests over those who die from unknown or violent causes; the coroner may or may not be a physician, depending on state law. |
| Dispense | To deliver controlled substances in some type of bottle, box, or other container to a patient. |
| Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) | A branch of the U.S. Department of Justice that regulates the sale and use of drugs. |
| Federalism | The sharing of power among national, state, and local governments. |
| Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | A federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees drug quality and standardization and must approve drugs before they are released for public use. |
| Forensics | A division of medicine that incorporates law and medicine and involves medical issues or medical proof at trials having to do with malpractice, crimes, and accidents. |
| Medical Examiner | A physician who investigates suspicious or unexplained deaths. |
| National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act | A federal law passed in 1986 that created a no-fault compensation program for citizens injured or killed by vaccines, as an alternative to suing vaccine manufacturers and providers. |
| National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) | A no-fault federal system of compensation for individuals or families of individuals injured by childhood vaccinations. |
| Prescribe | To issue a medical prescription for a patient. |
| Quarantine | To separate and restrict the movement of people with infectious disease if they are a threat to public health. A court order is required. |
| Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act (SEPPA) | A no-fault program to provide benefits and/or compensation to certain individuals, including health care workers and emergency responders, who are injured as a result of the administration of smallpox countermeasures, including the smallpox vaccine. |
| Unborn Victims of Violence Act | Also called Laci and Conner’s Act, a 2004 federal law that provides for the prosecution of anyone who causes injury to or the death of a fetus in utero. |
| Vital Statistics | Numbers collected for the population of live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces, induced terminations of pregnancy, and any change in civil status that occurs during an individual’s lifetime. |
| Affirmative Action | Programs that use goals and quotas to increase the representation of underrepresented groups as a way to remedy the effects of past discrimination. |
| Background Check | The process of reviewing criminal and/or financial history to confirm information about an applicant for employment. |
| Chemical Hygiene Plan | The Standard for Occupational Exposures to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories that clarifies the handling of hazardous chemicals in medical laboratories. |
| Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) | Also called Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments. Federal statute passed in 1988 that established minimum quality standards for all laboratory testing. |
| Discrimination | Prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment. |
| Employment-at-will | A concept of employment whereby either the employer or the employee can end the employment at any time, for any reason. |
| General Duty Clause | A section of the Hazard Communication Standard stating that any equipment that may pose a health risk must be specified as a hazard. |
| Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) | An OSHA standard intended to increase health care practitioners’ awareness of risks, improve work practices and appropriate use of personal protective equipment, and reduce injuries and illnesses in the workplace. |
| Just Cause | An employer’s legal reason for firing an employee. |
| Medical Waste Tracking Act | The federal law that authorizes OSHA to inspect hazardous medical wastes and to cite offices for unsafe or unhealthy practices regarding these wastes. |
| Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens Standard | An OSHA regulation designed to protect health care workers from the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. |
| Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) | Established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the organization that is charged with writing and enforcing compulsory standards for health and safety in the workplace. |
| Public Policy | The common law concept of wrongful discharge when an employee has acted for the “common good.” |
| Right-to-know Laws | State laws that allow employees access to information about toxic or hazardous substances, employer duties, employee rights, and other workplace health and safety issues. |
| United Nations Globally Harmonized Systems of Classifications & Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) | Led to a 2012 revision of the Hazard Communication Standard in order to transform “right to know” to “right to understand,” in line with GHS. |
| Worker's Compensation | A form of insurance established by federal and state statutes that provides reimbursement for workers who are injured on the job. |
| Wrongful Discharge | A concept established by precedent that says an employer risks litigation if there is no just cause for firing an employee. |
| Artificial Insemination | The mechanical injection of viable semen into the vagina. |
| Chromosome | A microscopic structure found within the nucleus of all living cells that carries genes responsible for the organism’s characteristics. |
| Clone | An organism produced asexually, from a single ancestor, that has the same genetic makeup as the original. |
| Cloning | The process used to create an exact genetic replica of another cell, tissue, or organism. |
| DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) | The combination of proteins, called nucleotides, that is arranged to make up an organism’s chromosomes. |
| Emancipated Minors | Individuals in their mid- to late teens who legally live outside parents’ or guardians’ control. |
| Gene | A tiny segment of DNA found on a chromosome within a cell’s nucleus. Each gene holds the formula for making a specific enzyme or protein. |
| Gene Therapy | The insertion of a normally functioning gene into cells in which an abnormal or absent element of the gene has caused disease. |
| Genetic Counselor | An expert in human genetics who is qualified to counsel individuals who may have inherited genes for certain diseases or conditions. |
| Genetic Discrimination | Differential treatment of individuals based on their actual or presumed genetic differences. |
| Genetic Engineering | Manipulation of DNA within the cells of plants, animals, and other organisms through synthesis, alteration, or repair to ensure that certain harmful traits will be eliminated in offspring and that desirable traits will appear and be passed on. |
| Genetics | The science that accounts for natural differences and resemblances among organisms related by descent. |
| Genome | All the DNA in an organism, including its genes. |
| Heredity | The process by which organisms pass genetic traits on to their offspring. |
| Heterologous Artificial Insemination | The process in which donor sperm is mechanically injected into a woman’s vagina to fertilize her eggs. |
| Homologous Artificial Insemination | The process in which a man’s sperm is mechanically injected into a woman’s vagina to fertilize her eggs. |
| Human Genome Project | A scientific project funded by the U.S. government, begun in 1990 and successfully completed in 2000, for the purpose of mapping all of a human’s genes. |
| Infertility | The failure to conceive for a period of 12 months or longer due to a deviation from or interruption of the normal structure or function of any reproductive part, organ, or system. |
| In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) | Fertilization that takes place outside a woman’s body, literally “in glass,” as in a test tube. |
| Mature Minors | Individuals in their mid- to late teens who, for health care purposes, are considered mature enough to comprehend a physician’s recommendations and give informed consent. |
| Multipotent Stem Cells | Stem cells that can become a limited number of types of tissues and cells in the body. |
| Mutation | A permanent change in DNA. |
| Parens Patriae | A legal doctrine that gives the state the authority to act in a child’s best interest. |
| Pluripotent Stem Cells | Stem cells that can become almost all types of tissues and cells in the body. |
| Safe Haven Laws | State laws that allow parents to abandon newborns to designated safe facilities without penalty. |
| Stem Cells | Cells that have the potential to become any type of body cell. |
| Surrogacy | The process by which a woman becomes pregnant by artificial insemination or surgical implantation of a fertilized egg for the purpose of carrying a fetus to term for another couple. |
| Surrogate Mother | A woman who becomes pregnant, usually by artificial insemination or surgical implantation of a fertilized egg, and bears a child for another woman. |
| Xenotransplantation | Transplantation of animal tissues and organs into humans. cloning |
| Controlled Substances Act | The federal law giving authority to the Drug Enforcement Administration to regulate the sale and use of drugs. |
| Active Euthanasia | A conscious medical act that results in the death of a person who is dying. |
| Advance Directives | A written statement of a person's wishes regarding medical treatment, often including a living will or power of attorney or both. These documents help ensure that patients' health care wishes are carried out if they become uncommunicative. |
| Brain Death | Final cessation of bodily activity, used to determine when death actually occurs; circulatory and respiratory functions have irreversibly ceased, and the entire brain (including the brain stem) has irreversibly ceased to function. |
| Coma | A condition of deep stupor from which the patient cannot be roused by external stimuli. |
| Curative Care | Treatment directed toward curing a patient’s disease. |
| Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) Order | Order written at the request of patients or their authorized representatives that cardiopulmonary resuscitation not be used to sustain life in a medical crisis. |
| Durable Power of Attorney | An advance directive that confers upon a designee the authority to make a variety of legal decisions on behalf of the grantor, usually including health care decisions. |
| Health Care Power of Attorney | A legal document that specifically identifies a person to take responsibility for a patient's health care decisions when the patient is not able to do so. |
| Hospice | A facility or program (often carried out in a patient’s home) in which teams of health care practitioners and volunteers provide a continuing environment that focuses on the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of the patient who is dying. |
| Involuntary Euthanasia | The act of ending the person’s life by medical means without the person’s permission. |
| Living Will | An advance directive that specifies an individual’s end-of-life wishes. |
| National Organ Transplant Act | Passed in 1984, a statute that provides grants to qualified organ procurement organizations and established an Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. |
| Palliative Care | Treatment of a patient’s symptoms to make dying more comfortable; also called comfort care. |
| Passive Euthanasia | The act of allowing a patient to die naturally, without medical interference. |
| Patient Self-Determination of Death Act | A federal law passed in 1990 that requires hospitals and other health care providers to provide written information to patients regarding their rights under state law to make medical decisions and execute advance directives. |
| Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) | Severe mental impairment characterized by irreversible cessation of the higher functions of the brain, most often caused by damage to the cerebral cortex. |
| Terminally Ill | Referring to patients who are expected to die within 6 months. |
| Uniform Anatomical Gift Act | A recommendation of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws allowing individuals to donate their bodies or body parts, after death, for use in transplant surgery, tissue banks, or medical research or education. |
| Uniform Determination of Death Act | A proposal that established uniform guidelines for determining when death has occurred. |
| Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act | A 1989 recommendation of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws that all states construct laws to address advance directives. |
| Voluntary Euthanasia | The act of ending a patient’s life by medical means with the person’s permission. |
| Access | The availability of health care and the means to purchase health care services. |
| Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) | The lead federal agency responsible for tracking and improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for Americans. |
| Birth Rates | Total number of live births per 1,000 women in a specific age group. |
| Cost | The amount individuals, employers, state and federal governments, HMOs, and insurers spend on health care in the United States. |
| Fertility Rate | The total number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years. |
| Gross Domestic Product (GPD) | The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during 1 year. |
| Health Disparities | A particular type of health difference that is closely linked with economic, social, or environmental disadvantage. |
| Individual Mandate | A requirement by law for people to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. |
| Life Expectancy | The number of years an individual can expect to live, calculated from birth. |
| Life Span | The number of years an individual actually lives. |
| Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) | A federal law enacted in 2010 to expand health insurance coverage and otherwise regulate the health insurance industry. |
| Quality | The degree of excellence of health care services offered. |
| Stakeholders | Those who have a vested interest in the health care industry in the United States, and in any efforts to reform the industry. |
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