Fee paid by a potential consumer of services in anticipation of services that may be required.
Method of billing for health services under which a medical practitioner or other practitioner charges separately for each patient encounter or service rendered. Under a fee-for-service payment system, expenditures increase if the fees themselves increase, if more units of service are provided, or if more expensive services are substituted for less expensive ones. This system contrasts with salary, per capita, or other prepayment systems, where the payment to the medical practitioner is not changed according to the number of services actually used.... fee for service (ffs)
An organized system providing health care in a geographic area to an enrolled group of persons who pay a predetermined fixed, periodic prepayment made by, or on behalf of, each person or family unit enrolled, irrespective of actual service use.... health maintenance organization (hmo)
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