Glossary

a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w

Click one of the letters above to be taken to a page of all terms beginning with that letter.

Safety net organization/provider: According to the Institute of Medicine, health care institutions that organize and deliver a significant level of health care and health-related services to Medicaid, uninsured, and other vulnerable patients. (See also Community Health Center).
Safety/incident-reporting systems: A manual or computerized system to identify occurrences that did or could have led to an adverse outcome (e.g., medical error and/or "near misses"). Reports usually come from personnel directly involved in the incident or events leading up to it (e.g., the nurse, pharmacist, or physician caring for a patient when a medication error occurred).
Sample Survey of Registered Nurses: A quadrennial survey conducted by the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Professions that provides data for projecting future nursing-workforce issues.
Second order effects: Effects that are less powerful or important than the original, intended effects.
Section 1115 waiver: Section 1115 of the Social Security Act provides the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) broad authority to authorize experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects. Some states expand Medicaid eligibility, provide services that are not typically covered, or use innovative service delivery systems. Projects are generally approved to operate for a five-year period; states may submit renewal requests. Demonstrations must be budget neutral.
Section 1915(c) waiver: Also known as a home and community-based waiver (HCBS), the Social Security Act provides the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to approve requests from states for a waiver to provide a continuum of services to disabled and/or elderly populations. Under such waivers states can provide long-term care services in a managed care environment or use a limited pool of providers.
Secular trend: The underlying long term upward or downward trend in a time series analysis. In statistical analysis it is critical to differentiate secular trends from changes that can be attributed to another cause (e.g., changes in economic circumstances or policies).
Selection bias: When there are systematic differences between those who are chosen for a study and those who are not chosen, so that the chosen sample is not representative of the target population.
Selective contracting: Contracting with health care providers to provide services at pre-agreed prices; a means by which health insurers control costs.
Self-insurance/self-insured: Payment of employee health care expenses through a special fund established by an employer; although the employer may contract with a third party administrator (TPA) to handle administrative tasks (such as claims processing).
Self-pay: Payment of either all or part of the hospital bill from the patient's own resources.
Self-reported health status: Measures of the health status of an individual that are solicited through a questionnaire or survey (such as the SF-36), rather than through clinical procedures (such as blood-pressure measurements) or clinical judgment.
Sensitivity analysis: Mathematical calculations to determine how robust the findings are; how sensitive the findings are to changes in how the analysis was done. To determine the degree of influence each factor has on the outcome of the entire analysis.
Setting of care: The type of health care environment (e.g., hospital, doctor's office, clinic) in which care is received.
Seventh (7th) Scope of Work: The set of tasks required of Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), a collection of independent, nonprofit groups that review quality issues for health care facilities participating in Medicare, by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 7th Scope of Work for the QIOs included a number of quality-measurement and quality-improvement initiatives that were implemented before more recent pay for performance efforts.
Severity of illness: The gravity of a patient's condition. Patients with the same diagnosis often vary from being mildly ill to being extremely ill, or even dying. This factor is an important consideration in interpreting performance data.
SF-36 (Short Form 36 Health Survey): The SF-36 is a short health survey (36 questions) that yields an 8-scale profile of functional health and well-being scores, as well as physical and mental health summary measures and a health utility index. The SF-36 has been used in surveys of general and specific populations.
Single-payer plan/single-payer health care system: A type of universal health care financing system in which one entity, such as the federal government, would collect all fees and pay for all health care services.
Six Sigma: A set of practices originally developed at Motorola to systematically improve processes by eliminating defects in those processes. The name derives from the Greek letter sigma, often used to refer to the standard deviation of a normal distribution. Six Sigma targets a defect rate 6 standard deviations from the population average. Loosely, such practices aim for near perfection in the performance of a process or production of a product.
Skill mix: In nursing care, the type and skill level of nurses that constitute a particular workforce.
Skilled Nursing Facility: An institution or part of an institution that is primarily engaged in providing skilled nursing care for residents who require medical or nursing care; or rehabilitation services for the injured, sick or disabled; and meets the requirements for participation in -1819 of the Social Security Act.
Specialty care: Care provided by physicians practicing particular specialties or subspecialties (as opposed to generalists such as family practitioners or general internists). Such physicians may provide specific services or procedures (e.g., anesthesiology, radiology); or treat particular age categories of patients (e.g., pediatrics, gerontologists), body systems (e.g., orthopedics, cardiology), or types of conditions or diseases (e.g., allergy).
Specialty mix: In physician services, the type of physician specialties represented in a particular workforce.
State Children's Health Insurance Program: A public insurance program, jointly funded by the federal government and administered by states, that provides health insurance coverage for uninsured children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but who do not have sufficient income to purchase private insurance. Some states have received Section 1115 waivers to use SCHIP funds to cover the parents of children receiving benefits from SCHIP and/or Medicaid.
Statin: A group of drugs that reduces blood cholesterol levels in people who have or are at risk of cardiovascular disease.
Statistically significant: In statistics, a result that is unlikely to have occurred by chance suggesting that a systematic relationship exists. A relationship that is statistically significant may not have practical significance (that is, be large enough to be important) or in health care be clinically significant (that is, be large enough to be associated with a different health outcome).
Statute of limitations: Sets out the maximum period of time, after a particular event, for bringing a cause of action related to that event or the injured person's legal claim will be barred and his or her right to sue will be lost forever.
Statute of repose: Cuts off the right of action after a specified time, and may therefore bar a remedy even before a cause of action has arisen. Different from statutes of limitation but has a similar effect.
Step-therapy: A feature of pharmacy benefit design that requires the use, and failure, of a specific preferred drug before an alternative (more costly) drug will be covered.
Stop-loss coverage: See reinsurance
Structural measure: A measure of whether organizational resources are in place to deliver health care (such as the number, type, and distribution of medical personnel, equipment, and facilities). Assumes that the presence of such resources is a predictor that a health care provider will perform well.
Subsidy: The financial support given by a government to specified businesses, groups, or individuals (for example, payments or tax credits) to help underwrite the costs of private health insurance.
Substitution: To use in the place of another. In economics, the effect on the demand for a good or service of a change in its relative price, holding all else constant.
Surgical specialties: A branch of surgery, such as general surgery, neurological surgery, plastic surgery, and thoracic surgery.
Surplus area: Geographic regions (often urban settings) with a high ratio of health care workers to the population; in contrast to Medically Underserved Areas (MUA), which have insufficient health care workers to meet the population's needs.
Surveillance: Ongoing monitoring to detect changes in the trend or distribution of communicable diseases in order to initiate investigative or control measures using methods distinguished by their practicability and rapidity, rather than by their complete accuracy.
Survey of Income and Program Participation: A U.S. Census Bureau survey that collects individual-level information about the source and amount of income, labor force information, program participation and eligibility data, and general demographic characteristics to measure the effectiveness of existing federal, state, and local programs; estimates future costs and coverage for government programs, such as food stamps; and provides statistics on the distribution of income and measures of economic well-being.
Sustainable Growth Rate: Section 1848(f) of the Social Security Act, as amended by section 4503 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, replaced the Medicare Volume Performance Standard (MVPS) with a Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) provision. Section 1848(f)(2) specifies the formula for establishing yearly SGR targets for physician services under Medicare. The use of SGR targets is intended to control the growth in aggregate Medicare expenditures for physician services.
Synthetic population: Used in microsimulation to refer to the population that is constructed from one or more data sources to represent the population of interest for testing policy interventions.

Top