Patient Health Dictionary

Any activities by a health professional involving direct interaction, treatment, administration of medications or other therapy or involvement with a patient.... direct patient care

Standardized tools to determine patient characteristics and abilities, what assistance they need and how they may be helped to improve or regain abilities. Patient assessment forms are completed using information gathered from medical records, interviews with the patient, other informants (e.g. family members) and direct observation.... patient assessment (resident)

See “care plan”.... patient care planning

See ETHICS.... patient choice

See ETHICS.... patient consent

At a personal level, the engagement of individuals in decisions about their health and about the diagnosis, treatment and after-care of their illness, injuries and other disorders. At a public level, the engagement of all members of the public in the planning, provision and performance of their health-care services. Traditionally, at both personal and public levels, the patient has generally been regarded as naturally subordinate to the politicians and managers who plan and run the health-care system(s), and to health professionals and medical institutions who provide personal health care. The public and patients are increasingly unwilling to accept this traditional model and are asserting themselves, for example through patient help groups, complaints, litigation and local political action with the aim of securing changes in how health care is organised and a much greater say in their own care.... patient empowerment

An approach to care that consciously adopts a patient’s perspective. This perspective can be characterized around dimensions such as respect for patients’ values, preferences and expressed needs; coordination and integration of care; information, communication and education; physical comfort, emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety; involvement of family and friends; or transition and continuity.... patient-centred care

A technique whereby a patient can deliver an analgesic substance (see ANALGESICS) in amounts related to the extent of the PAIN that he or she is suffering. For example, to combat post-operative pain, some hospitals use devices which allow patients to give themselves small intravenous amounts of opiates when they are needed. Pain is more e?ectively controlled if it is not allowed to reach a high level, a situation which tends to happen when patients receive analgesics only on ward drug rounds or when they ask the nursing sta? for them.... patient-controlled analgesia

A study, generally undertaken by an individual health programme or health planning agency to determine the geographic distribution of the residences of the patients served by one or more health programmes. Such studies help define catchment and medical trade areas and are useful in locating and planning the development of new services.... patient-origin study

A set of rights, privileges, responsibilities and duties under which individuals seek and receive health care services. As patients’ rights are often not explicit, the composition of the set varies from country to country and over time.... patients’ rights

in the USA, very low-income patients who receive health care free or at reduced prices; criteria for eligibility differ from state to state, hospital to hospital, and physician to physician. Providers of charity care may be reimbursed through *Medicaid, *Medicare, or other government programmes. So-called medically indigent patients may also be eligible for help. These are patients who earn too much to qualify for charity care but not enough to afford health insurance, and who may incur medical bills that are far beyond their means. The *Affordable Care Act 2010 was intended largely to help those in this position.... charity patients

the route that a patient takes through the health-care system, from first admission to a hospital or treatment centre to final discharge. This may consist of one or more *spells in particular hospitals and one or more *finished consultant episodes. For example, a patient admitted to a district general hospital, transferred to a tertiary hospital for a specialist procedure, and then transferred back to the district general hospital for recovery would experience one continuous patient pathway but three spells.... continuous patient pathway

n. a patient who is admitted to a bed in a hospital ward and remains there for a period of time for treatment, examination, or observation. Compare out-patient.... in-patient

see charity patients.... medically indigent patients

(NPSA) formerly, a special health authority that led and coordinated work to improve all aspects of patient safety in England. The NPSA comprised three divisions: the National Reporting and Learning Service, the National Research Ethics Service, and the National Clinical Assessment Service. It closed in 2012, with its key functions transferred to *NHS England. In 2016 the same functions were transferred from NHS England to the newly formed *NHS Improvement.... national patient safety agency

n. a patient who receives treatment at a hospital, either at a single attendance or at a series of attendances, but is not admitted to a bed in a hospital ward. Large hospitals have *clinics at which out-patients with various complaints can be given specialist treatment. Compare in-patient.... out-patient

(PALS) (in England) a confidential service provided by each NHS trust to support patients, their families, and carers by giving advice and information in response to questions and concerns about local NHS services. See also advocacy.... patient advice and liaison service

see PHQ-9.... patient health questionnaire

(PPACA) see Affordable Care Act 2010.... patient protection and affordable care act