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You are here > Home > Managed Care Terminology > A Words Glossary of Terms in Managed Health Care
This glossary can also be purchased
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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Search | A AAPCC - see Adjusted Average Per Capita Cost. ABC - see Activity-Based Costing.
Abuse - When used as a legal term
in the business of healthcare, it normally refers to actions that do not involve
intentional misrepresentations in billing but which, nevertheless, result in
improper conduct. Consequences can result in civil liability and administrative
sanctions. An example of abuse is the excessive use of medical supplies. (Also
see Fraud, OIG, FBI, and Compliance) Access - The patient's ability to obtain medical care.
The ease of access is determined by such components as the availability of
medical services and their acceptability to the patient, the location of health
care facilities, transportation, hours of operation and cost of care. An
individual's ability to obtain appropriate health care services. Barriers to
access can be financial (insufficient monetary resources), geographic (distance
to providers), organizational (lack of available providers) and sociological
(e.g., discrimination, language barriers). Efforts to improve access often focus
on providing/improving health coverage. Accountable Health
Plan (AHP) - AHPs can be
IDSs, MCOs, Health Networks, partnerships or joint ventures between
practitioners, providers or payers that would assume responsibility for
delivering medical care and managing the funds required to pay for the services
rendered. Physicians and other providers would work for, contract with or own
these health plans. When an IDS or hospital group or IPA operates one or more
health insurance benefit products, or a managed care organization acquires a
large scale medical delivery component, it qualifies as an Accountable Health
System or Accountable Health Plan. Accountable Health
Partnership - An
organization of doctors and hospitals that provides care for people organized
into large groups of purchasers. Accreditation - The process by which an organization
recognizes a provider, a program of study or an institution as meeting predetermined
standards. Two organizations that accredit managed care plans are the National
Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO). Accrete - The addition of new recipients to a health
plan; a Medicare term. Accrual - The amount of money that is set aside to cover expenses. The accrual is the plan's best estimate of what those expenses are, and (for medical expenses) is based on a combination of data from the authorization system, the claims system, lag studies, and the plan's prior history. ACR - see Adjusted Community Rate. Actively-at-Work - Describes insurer's policy requirement
indicating that coverage will not go into effect until the employee's first day
of work on or after the effective date of coverage. May also apply to dependents
disabled on the effective date. Activities of
Daily Living (ADL's, ADL) -
An individual's daily habits such as bathing, dressing and eating. ADLs are
often used as an assessment tool to determine an individual's ability to
function at home, or in a less restricted environment of care. Activity-Based
Costing (ABC) - Activity-based costing defines healthcare
costs in terms of a healthcare organization's processes or activities. The costs
are then associated with significant activities or events. It relies on the
following 3 step process: 1) Activity mapping, which involves mapping activities
in an illustrated sequence; 2) Activity analysis, which involves defining and
assigning a time value to activities; and, 3) bill of activities, which involves
generating a cost for each main activity. Actuarial - Refers to the statistical calculations used to determine the managed care company's rates and premiums charged their customers based on projections of utilization and cost for a defined population. Actuarial Equivalent - Relates to the statistical calculation of risk and used to describe a health plan that has an equivalent statistical calculation of risk as another plan. For example, under Medicare rules, A plan sponsor must offer a prescription drug plan that is actuarially (a term relating to the statistical calculation of risk) the same or better than the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Actuarial
Soundness - The requirement
that the development of capitation rates meet common actuarial principles and
rules. Actuary - In insurance, a person trained in statistics,
accounting and mathematics who determines policy rates, reserves, and dividends
by deciding what assumptions should be made with respect to each of the risk
factors involved (such as the frequency of occurrence of the peril, the average
benefit that will be payable, the rate of investment earnings, if any, expenses,
and persistency rates), and who endeavors to secure as valid statistics as
possible on which to base his assumptions. Professionally trained individual,
usually with experience or education in insurance, who conducts statistical
studies such as determining insurance policy rates, dividend reserves and
dividends, as well as conducts various other statistical studies. A capitated
health provider would not accept or contract for capitated rates, or agree to a
capitated contract without an actuarial determining the reasonableness of the
rates. Acute Care - A pattern of health care in which a patient
is treated for an acute (immediate and severe) episode of illness, for the
subsequent treatment of injuries related to an accident or other trauma, or
during recovery from surgery. Specialized personnel using complex and
sophisticated technical equipment and materials usually give acute care in a
hospital. Unlike chronic care, acute care is often necessary for only a short
time. Adjudication - Processing claims according to contract. Adjusted
Admissions - Adjusted
admissions are equivalent to the sum of inpatient admissions and an estimate of
the volume of outpatient services. This is a measure of all patient care
activity undertaken in a hospital, both inpatient and outpatient. This estimate
is calculated by multiplying outpatient visits by the ratio of outpatient
charges per visit to inpatient charges per admission. Adjusted Average
Per Capita Cost (AAPCC) - The
basis for HMO or CMP reimbursement under Medicare-risk contracts. The average
monthly amount received per enrollee is currently calculated as 95 percent of
the average costs to deliver medical care in the fee-for-service sector. CMS's
best estimate of the amount of money care costs for Medicare recipients under
fee-for-service Medicare in a given area. The AAPCC is made up of 122 different
rate cells; 120 of them are factored for age, sex, Medicaid eligibility,
institutional status, and whether a person has both part A and part B of
Medicare. Actuarial projections of per capita Medicare spending for enrollees in
fee-for-service Medicare. Separate AAPCCs are calculated - usually at the county
level - for Part A services and Part B services for the aged, disabled, and
people with ESRD. Medicare pays risk plans by applying adjustment factors to 95
percent of the Part A and Part B AAPCCs. The adjustment factors reflect
differences in Medicare per capita fee-for-service spending related to age, sex,
institutional status, Medicaid status, and employment status. A county-level
estimate of the average cost incurred by Medicare for each beneficiary in the
fee-for-service system. Adjustments are made so that the AAPCC represents the
level of spending that would occur if each county contained the same mix of
beneficiaries. Medicare pays health plans 95 percent of the AAPCC, adjusted for
the characteristics of the enrollees in each plan. Adjusted Community
Rate or Rating (ACR) - Health plans
and insurance companies estimate their ACRs annually and adjust subsequent year
supplemental benefits or premiums to return any excess Medicare revenue above
the ACR to enrollees. This are the estimated payment rates that health plans
with Medicare risk contracts would have received for their Medicare enrollees if
paid their private market premiums, adjusted for differences in benefit packages
and service use. ACR is a
rating by community influenced by certain group demographics. Estimated payment
rates that health plans with Medicare risk contracts would have received for
their Medicare enrollees if paid their private market premiums, adjusted for
differences in benefit packages and service use. Health plans estimate their
ACRs annually and adjust subsequent year supplemental benefits or premiums to
return any excess Medicare revenue above the ACR to enrollees. See Adjusted
Average Per Capita Cost, Medicare Risk Contract. See also Community Rating. Adjusted
Drug
Benefit List - A small
number of medications often prescribed to long-term patient. Also called a drug
maintenance list. A health plan, CMS or 3rd party administrator can modify it
from time to time. See also Drug Formulary, Formulary. Adjusted
Per
Capita Cost (APCC) -
Medicare benefits estimation for a person in a given county using sex, age,
institutional status, Medicaid disability, and end stage renal disease status as
a basis. Adjusted Payment Rate (APR) - The Medicare capitated payment to risk-contract HMOs. For a given health plan, the APR is determined by adjusting county-level AAPCCs to reflect the relative risks of the plan's enrollees. ADL - see Activities of Daily Living. Administrative Code Sets - Code sets that characterize a general business situation, rather than a medical condition or service. Under HIPAA, these are sometimes referred to as non-clinical or non-medical code sets. Compare to medical code sets. Administrative
Costs - Costs related to
utilization review, insurance marketing, medical underwriting, agents'
commissions, premium collection, claims processing, insurer profit, quality
assurance programs, and risk management. Administrative costs also refer to
certain allowable costs on hospital CMS cost reports, usually considered
overhead. Rules exist which disallow certain expenses, such as marketing. Costs
not linked directly to the provision of medical care. Includes marketing, claims
processing, billing, and medical record keeping, among others. Administrative
Services Organization (ASO) - An entity that contracts as an insurance company
with a
self-funded plan but where the insurance company performs administrative services
only and the self-funded entity assumes all risk. Administrative Services Only (ASO) - A relationship between an insurance company or other management entity and a self-funded plan or group of providers in which the insurance company or management entity performs administrative services only, such as billing, practice management, marketing, etc., and does not assume any risk. The client bears the financial risk for the claims. Clients contracting for ASO can include health plans, hospitals, delivery networks, IPAs, etc. A provider system wishing to capitate might contract with a TPA for ASO for certain services for which the provider group does not want to bring in house. This is a form of outsourcing. See also TPA. Administrative Simplification - Title II, Subtitle F, of HIPAA which authorizes HHS to: (1) adopt standards for transactions and code sets that are used to exchange health data; (2) adopt standard identifiers for health plans, health care providers, employers, and individuals for use on standard transactions; and (3) adopt standards to protect the security and privacy of personally identifiable health information. Administrative Supervision - A situation in which a health plan's operations are placed under the direction and control of the state commissioner of insurance or a person appointed by the commissioner. Admission
Certification - Methods of
assuring that only those patients who need hospital care are admitted.
Certification can be granted before admission (preadmission) or shortly after
(concurrent). Length-of-stay for the patient's diagnosed problem is usually
assigned upon admission under a certification program. Admissions Per
1,000 - Number of patients
admitted to a hospital or hospitals per 1,000 health plan members. An indicator
calculated by taking the total number of inpatient and/or outpatient admissions
from a specific group, e.g., employer group, HMO population at risk, for a
specific period of time (usually one year), dividing it by the average number of
covered members in that group during the same period, and multiplying the result
by 1,000. This indicator can be calculated for behavioral health or any disease
in the aggregate and by modality of treatment, e.g., inpatient, residential, and
partial hospitalization, etc. Adverse Event - An injury to a patient resulting from a
medical intervention. Adverse Selection
- The problem of attracting
members who are sicker than the general population, specifically, members who
are sicker than was anticipated when developing the budget for medical costs. A
tendency for utilization of health services in a population group to be higher
than average or the tendency for a person who is in poor health to be enrolled
in a health plan where he or she is below the average risk of the group. From an
insurance perspective, adverse selection occurs when persons with
poorer-than-average health status apply for, or continue, insurance coverage to
a greater extent than do persons with average or better health expectations.
Occurs when premium doesn't cover cost. Some populations, perhaps due to age or
health status, have a great potential for high utilization. Some population
parameter such as age (e.g., a much greater number of 65-year-olds or older to
young population) that increases the potential for higher utilization and often
increases costs above those covered by a payer’s capitation rate. Among
applicants for a given group or individual program, the tendency for those with
an impaired health status, or who are prone to higher than average utilization
of benefits, to be enrolled in disproportionate numbers and lower deductible
plans. Affiliated
Provider - A health care
provider or facility that is part of the HMO's network usually having formal
arrangements to provide services to the HMO member. Affiliation - An agreement between two or more otherwise independent entities or individuals that defines how they will relate to one another. Agreements between hospitals may specify procedures for referring or transferring patients. Agreements between providers may include joint managed care contracting. Agent - A person who is authorized by an MCO or an insurer to act on its behalf to negotiate, sell, and service managed care contracts. Age/Sex Factor - Underwriting measurement representing the
medical risk costs of one population compared to another based on age and sex
factors. Age/Sex
Rates
(ASR) - Also called table
rates, they are given group products' set of rates where each grouping, by age
and sex, has its own rates. Rates are used to calculate premiums for group
billing and demographic changes are adjusted automatically in the group. Age-at-Issuance
Rating - A method for
establishing health insurance premiums whereby an insurer's premium is based on
the age of individuals when they first purchased health insurance coverage. This
is an older form of actuarial assessment. Age-Attained
Rating - Similar to the
above, this method for establishing health insurance premiums whereby an
insurer's premium is based on the current age of the beneficiary.
Age-attained-rated premiums increase in price, as the purchasers grow older. Agency for Health
Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) - The agency of the Public Health Service
responsible for enhancing the quality, appropriateness and effectiveness of
health care services. Aggregate Margin -
This is computed by
subtracting the sum of expenses for all hospitals in the group from the sum of
revenues and dividing by the sum of revenues. The aggregate margin compares
revenues to expenses for a group of hospitals, rather than one single hospital. Aggregate PPS
Operating Margin/Aggregate Total Margin - This is computed by subtracting the sum of
expenses for all hospitals in the group from the sum of revenues and dividing by
the sum of revenues. A PPS operating margin or total margin that compare revenue
to expenses for a group of hospitals, rather than a single hospital. Aggregate Stop Loss Coverage - The form of excess risk coverage that provides protection for the employer against accumulation of claims exceeding a certain level. A type of stop-loss insurance that provides benefits when a group's total claims during a specified period exceed a stated amount. This is protection against abnormal frequency of claims in total, rather than abnormal severity of a single claim. AHCPR - see Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. AHP - see Accountable Health Plan. Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) - The federal AFDC program provides cash
welfare to: (1) needy children who have been deprived of parental support and
(2) certain others in the household of such child. States administer the AFDC
program with funding from both the federal government and state. The Personal
Responsibility & Work Responsibility Act of 1996, enacted in August 1996,
replaced AFDC with a new program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF). All Inclusive
Visit Rate - Aggregate costs
for any one patient visit based upon annual operating costs divided by patient
visits per year. This rate incorporates costs for all services at the visit. Allowable Charge - The maximum charge for which a third party
will reimburse a provider for a given service. An allowable charge is not
necessarily the same as either a reasonable, customary, maximum, actual, or
prevailing charge. Allowed Amount - Maximum dollar amount assigned for a
procedure based on various pricing mechanisms. Also known as a maximum
allowable. Allowed Charge - This is the amount Medicare approves for
payment to a physician, but may not match the amount the physician gets paid by
Medicare (due to co-pay or deductibles) and usually does not match what the
physician charges patients. Medicare normally pays 80 percent of the approved
charge and the beneficiary pays the remaining 20 percent. The allowed charge for
a nonparticipating physician is 95 percent of that for a participating
physician. Non-participating physicians may bill beneficiaries for an additional
amount above the allowed charge. The CMS intermediary in each state publishes
these rates. Allowable Costs - Covered expenses within a given health
plan. Items or elements of an institution's costs, which are reimbursable under
a payment formula. Both Medicare and Medicaid reimburse hospitals on the basis
of only certain costs. Allowable costs may exclude, for example, luxury travel
or marketing. CMS publishes an extensive list of rules governing these costs and
provides software for determining costs. Normally the costs which are not
reasonable expenditures, which are unnecessary, which are for the efficient
delivery of health services to persons covered under the program in question are
not reimbursed. The most common form of cost reimbursement is the "cost
report" methodology used for DRG-exempt services, such as many out-patient
hospital based programs, long-term care and skilled nursing units, physical
rehab, psychiatric and substance abuse inpatient programs. Some specialty
hospitals receive all of their CMS reimbursement as cost based reimbursement. All Patient
Diagnosis Related Groups (APDRG) - An enhancement of the original DRGs, designed
to apply to a population broader than that of Medicare beneficiaries, who are
predominately older individuals. The APDRG set includes groupings for pediatric
and maternity cases as well as of services for HIV-related conditions and other
special cases. All-Payer System -
A system in which prices for
health services and payment methods are the same, regardless of who is paying.
For instance, in an all-payer system, federal or state government, a private
insurer, a self-insured employer plan, an individual, or any other payer could
pay the same rates. The uniform fee bars health care providers from shifting
costs from one payer to another. See cost shifting. Alternate Delivery
Systems - Health services
provided in other than an inpatient, acute-care hospital or private practice. A
phrase used to describe all forms of health care delivery except traditional
fee-for-service, private practice. The term includes HMOs, PPOs, IPAs, and other
systems of providing health care. Examples within general health services
include skilled and intermediary nursing facilities, hospice programs, and home
health care. Alternate delivery systems are designed to provide needed services
in a more cost-effective manner. Most of the services provided by community
mental health centers fall into this category. Ambulatory Care - Health services provided without the patient being admitted. Also called outpatient care. The services of ambulatory care centers, hospital outpatient departments, physicians' offices and home health care services fall under this heading provided that the patient remains at the facility less than 24 hours. No overnight stay in a hospital is required. American National Standards Institute - see ANSI. Ancillary Services
(Ancillary Charges) -
Supplemental services, including laboratory, radiology, physical therapy, and
inhalation therapy that are provided in conjunction with medical or hospital
care. Anniversary Date -
The beginning of an employer
group's benefit year. The first day of effective coverage as contained in the
policy Group Application and subsequent annual anniversaries of that date. An
insured has the option to transfer from an indemnity plan (which may have
maximum benefit levels) to an HMO. Anonymized Data - Previously identifiable data that
have been deidentified and for which a code or other link no longer exists. A
provider, third party or investigator would not be able to link anonymized
information back to a specific individual. Anonymous Data – Under HIPAA, this refers to data that
were collected without identifiers and that were never linked to an individual.
Coded data are not anonymous. ANSI - The American National Standards Institute. A national organization founded to develop voluntary business standards in the United States. Antiselection - The tendency of people who have a greater-than-average likelihood of loss to seek healthcare coverage to a greater extent than individuals who have an average or less-than-average likelihood of loss. Also known as Adverse Selection. Antitrust - A legal term encompassing a variety of
efforts on the part of government to assure that sellers do not conspire to
restrain trade or fix prices for their goods or services in the market. Any Willing
Provider (or Any Willing
Doctor or Hospital) - A requirement
that a health plan contract for the delivery of health care services with any
provider in the area who would like to provide such services to the plan's
enrollees. Any Willing Provider Laws - Laws that require managed care plans to contract with all health care providers that meet their terms and conditions. APCC - see Adjusted Per Capita Cost. APDRG - see All Patient Diagnosis Related Groups. APR - see Adjusted Payment Rate. Appeal - This is a process that a patient and provider begin to demand that a payer or health plan actually pay for a service that has been denied payment. A special kind of complaint a patient or provider may make if they disagree with certain kinds of decisions made by Medicare, insurers or health plans. Patients can appeal if they request health care services, supplies or prescriptions that they think they should be able to get paid for by their health plans, or for requested payment for health care already received, or whenever Medicare or health plans denies these requests. Patients can also appeal when they are already receiving coverage and Medicare or the plan stops paying. There are specific processes your Medicare Advantage Plan, other Medicare Health Plan, Medicare drug plan, or the Original Medicare plan must use. Each insurer, HMO, or health plan has their own policies that patients must follow when they ask for appeals. Normally, appeals involve deadlines, timelines, paperwork and require tenacity. Appeals Review Committee - The MCO committee that reviews member appeals related to medical management or coverage determinations. Application
Integrators - Software that
transparently provides application-to-application functionality, primarily
through data conversion and transmission, while eliminating the need for custom
programming. Also referred to as application integration gateway, application
interface gateway, integration engine, and intelligent gateway. This type of
software is key to developing networks of information systems, making
client-specific information available in real time to all members of an IHDS. Appropriateness - Appropriate health care is care for which the
expected health benefit exceeds the expected negative consequences by a wide
enough margin to justify treatment. This term is not to be confused with
"usual and customary" or "approved" service. The extent to
which a particular procedure, treatment, test, or service is clearly indicated,
not excessive, adequate in quantity, and provided in the setting best suited to
a patient's or member's needs. See also Medically Necessary. Approval - A term used extensively in managed care
and, to many, implies the primary process of "managing" managed care.
Approval usually is used to describe treatments or procedures that have been
certified by utilization review. Can also refer to the status of certain
hospitals or doctors, as members of a plan. Can describe benefits or services,
which will be covered under a plan. Generally, approval is either granted
by the managed care organization (MCO), third party administrator (TPA) or by
the primary care physician (PCP), depending on the circumstances. Approved Charge - Limits of expenses paid by Medicare in a
given area of covered service. Charges approved by payment by private health
plans. Items that are likely to be reimbursed by the insurance company. Approved Health Care Facility, Hospital or Program - A facility or program authorized to provide health services and allowed by a given health plan to provide services stipulated in contract. ASO - see Administrative Services. ASR - see Age/Sex Rates. Assignment of
Benefits - Method used when
a claimant directs that payment be made directly to the health care provider by
the health plan. Assisted Living - Broad range of residential care services, but does not include nursing services. Normally lower in cost than nursing homes. At-Risk - Term used to describe a provider organization that bears the insurance risk associated with the healthcare it provides. Attestation - The requirement that the attending physician
certify, in writing, the accuracy and completion of the clinical information
used for DRG assignment. See also Physician Attestation. Audit of Provider Treatment or Charges - A qualitative or quantitative review of services rendered or proposed by a health provider. The review can be carried out in a number of ways: a comparison of patient records and claim form information, a patient questionnaire, a review of hospital and practitioner records, or a pre- or post-treatment clinical examination of a patient. Some audits may involve fee verification. Something we had better get used to being subjected to since this is usually first type or "first generation" managed care approach. Autoassignment or Auto Assignment - A term used with Medicaid mandatory managed care enrollment plans. Medicaid recipients who do not specify their choice for a contracted plan within a specified time frame are assigned to a plan by the state. Authorization – Any document designating any permission.
In health care, authorization may refer to "authorization to disclose" private
information, "authorization to treat" or "authorization to pay", as in
"pre-authorization" required by many insurance companies and health plans. In
the case of pre-authorization, the managed care organization may require
approval prior to the receipt of care. (Generally, this is different from a
referral in that, an authorization can be a verbal or written approval from the
MCO whereas a referral is generally a written document that must be received by
a doctor before giving care to the beneficiary.)
The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires authorization or waiver of authorization
for the use or disclosure of identifiable health information for research (among
other activities). The authorization must indicate if the health information
used or disclosed is existing information and/or new information that will be
created. The authorization form may be combined with the informed consent form,
so that a patient need sign only one form. An authorization must include the
following specific elements: a description of what information will be used and
disclosed and for what purposes; a description of any information that will not
be disclosed, if applicable; a list of who will disclose the information and to
whom it will be disclosed; an expiration date for the disclosure; a statement
that the authorization can be revoked; a statement that disclosed information
may be redisclosed and no longer protected; a statement that if the individual
does not provide an authorization, s/he may not be able to receive the intended
treatment; the subject's signature and date. Autoassignment - A term used with Medicaid mandatory
managed care enrollment plans. Medicaid recipients who do not specify their
choice for a contracted plan within a specified time frame are assigned to a
plan by the state. Auto-Enrollment - The automatic assignment of a person to a
health insurance plan, typically done under Medicaid plans. Autonomy - An ethical principle which, when applied to managed care, states that managed care organizations and their providers have a duty to respect the right of their members to make their own decisions about the course of their own lives. Average Length of
Stay (ALOS) - Refers to the
average length of stay per inpatient hospital visit. Figure is typically
calculated for both commercial and Medicare patient populations. Average Wholesale
Price (AWP) - Commonly used
in pharmacy contracting, the AWP is generally determined through reference to a
common source of information. Average cost of a non-discounted item to a pharmacy
provider by wholesale providers. Drug manufacturers commonly publish suggested
wholesale prices. A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Home This glossary can also be purchased in printed book format if you would like to have a copy for your briefcase or desk. Copyright© 1997 - Present Date, Pam Pohly, All Rights Reserved. |
