Paul M. Insel,
Stanford University School of Medicine
Walton T. Roth,
Stanford University School of Medicine
| false positive | A test result that incorrectly detects a disease or condition in a healthy person.
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| false negative | A test result that fails to correctly detect a disease or condition.
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| over-the-counter (OTC) medication | A medication or product that can be purchased by the consumer without a prescription.
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| generic drug | A drug that is not registered or protected by a trademark; a drug that does not have a brand name.
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| endoscopy | A medical procedure in which a viewing instrument is inserted into a body cavity or opening. Specific procedures are named for the area viewed: inside joints (arthroscopy), inside airways (bronchoscopy), inside the abdominal cavity (laparoscopy), and inside the lower portion of the large intestine, or sigmoid colon (sigmoidoscopy).
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| antibiotic | A substance derived from a mold or bacterium that inhibits the growth of other microorganisms.
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| elective surgery | A nonemergency operation that the patient can choose to schedule.
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| mortality rate | The number of deaths occurring in a population of a given size in a given time period.
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| morbidity rate | The number of illnesses or injuries occurring in a population of a given size in a given time period.
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| outpatient | A person receiving medical attention without being admitted to the hospital.
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| managed-care plan | A health care program that integrates the financing and delivery of services by using designated providers, utilization review, and financial incentives for following the plan's policies; HMO, PPO, and POS are examples of managed-care plans.
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| health maintenance organization (HMO) | A prepaid health insurance plan in which patients receive health care from designated providers.
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| capitation | A payment to health care providers according to the number of patients they agree to serve, rather than the amount of service rendered.
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| preferred provider organization (PPO) | A prepaid health insurance plan in which providers agree to deliver services for discounted fees; patients can go to any provider, but using nonparticipating providers results in higher costs to the patient.
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| point-of-service (POS) plan | A managed-care plan that covers treatment by an HMO physician but permits patients to seek treatment elsewhere with a higher copayment.
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| Medicare | A federal health insurance program for people 65 or older and for younger people with certain disabilities.
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| Medicaid | A federally subsidized state-run plan of health care for people of low income.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education