Health Journalism Glossary

Welcome to the Health Journalism Glossary, your essential tool for deciphering the complex language of health reporting.

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“Antigenic” drift and shift – Before COVID-19, this term was often used when discussing the influenza virus because flu is among the fastest mutating viruses…

7 pillars of aging – Interwoven processes that promote aging and progression of age-related diseases and disabilities which include: stress adaptation, epigenetics, inflammation, macromolecular damage,…

A priori – This term describes knowledge or assumptions made based only on what one already knows before collecting data. It’s typically used…
Absolute risk – The chance that something will happen within a given amount of time, stated in raw numbers. In medical studies, it’s…
Access to care – The landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly called Obamacare, centered anew the reality that not everyone had access…
Accountable Care Organization (ACO) – There is no single definition for an ACO because models are continuing evolving. Medicare has many models, and Medicaid has…
Accountable Care Organization (ACO) – The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) defines an ACO as a group of doctors, hospitals, and other…
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) – ACOs are payment models similar to health maintenance organizations but with more financial incentive to improve quality and outcomes while…
ACO investment model – A Medicare initiative for provider organizations in accountable care organizations (ACOs) that is designed to test the use of pre-paid…
ACO participants – Organizations that participate in Medicare’s accountable care organization (ACO) investment model program (called AIM ACOs) can be physician practices, federally…
ACO Transformation Track – This track is one of two under Medicare’s Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model for rural hospitals. Under…
Action – The central mechanism of a firearm, generally applied to rifles. It consists of the receiver, a short hollow tube of…
Active aging – A global movement to support continued participation by older adults and population groups in social, economic, spiritual and cultural opportunities,…
Active vs. passive surveillance – Surveillance is the process or system for tracking cases of risk factors, medical conditions, disease cases, adverse events, etc. It’s…
Activities of daily living – Activities performed by a person in the course of a normal day include bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, walking, taking medications,…
Actual acquisition cost (AAC) – When a drug manufacturer sells a medication to a pharmacy, the AAC is the net cost the pharmacy pays. The…
Actuarial equivalent – When a health plan has similar coverage to that of a standard benefit plan, the two plans are described as…
Actuarial value – The average share of medical costs that a health plan will cover for a beneficiary population. The covered individual pays…
Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) – AFI is the medical term for a rapid onset of fever and symptoms such as headache, diarrhea, chills or muscle…
Acute vs. chronic conditions – In the simplest terms, acute conditions are short-term while chronic conditions are long-term. However, these two ways of categorizing an…
Adenovirus – An adenovirus is a common virus that causes a range of diseases, including a cold, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea,…
Administrative costs – In health care, the term “administrative costs” refers to the back-office functions that are separate from delivering care, including medical…
Administrative services only (ASO) – Administrative services only (ASO) is an arrangement an employer makes with a third party to administer the employer’s health insurance…
Admissions per 1,000 – To measure and compare the disease burden of certain populations, health insurers use the admissions per 1,000 metric to show…
Adult care home – Also known as board and care homes, group homes, or adult foster care, adult care homes are private residences that…
Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) – An ABN is a notice that a hospital, physician or other provider gives to a Medicare beneficiary before delivering the…
Advance directive – Advance directives are legal documents that allow a person to spell out their decisions about end-of-life care ahead of time.…
Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC) – The ACA provides subsidies to some consumers who buy health insurance on the federal or state-based Marketplace exchanges through tax…
Advance premium tax credits (APTCs) – APTCs help consumers lower their monthly health insurance premium payments when buying health insurance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA)…
Advanced alternative payment models (Advanced APMs) – Under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), Congress allowed physicians to earn incentive payments by participating…
Adverse Event – Any medical intervention such as a test, treatment, hospitalization or surgery can result in an undesirable outcome that is not…
Adverse event vs. side effect – Any incident that occurs following a drug, vaccine, surgery, procedure or other medical intervention. If the adverse effect was actually…
Adverse selection – When more sick people—or those who have a high risk of becoming ill—purchase health insurance than healthier people, this trend…
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) – ACIP is the CDC committee which reviews all the evidence about vaccines and makes recommendations to the CDC on which…
Affordable Care Act – Also known as Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare,” the ACA became law on March 23, 2010. The…
Affordable Care Act (ACA) – Also known as Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare,” the ACA became law on March 23, 2010. The…
Age band – The Affordable Care Act bans insurers from charging older people more than three times as much as younger people in…
Age-friendly Health System (AFHS) – An initiative by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the John A. Hartford Foundation, the American Hospital Association and the…
Ageism – Ageism refers to prejudice and discrimination against people who share a common characteristic – in this case, old age. The…
Agents and brokers – Agents and brokers are trained, state-licensed professionals who can help consumers enroll in health plans. As a general rule, agents…
Aging and Disability Resource Centers – The Aging and Disability Resource Center Program (ADRC), a collaborative effort of Administration on Aging and the Centers for Medicare…
Aging network – The Aging Network is the partnership between federal, state, tribal and local agencies which supports the work of those who…
Airborne/aersolized transmission spread – The term for spread of a contagious disease from a respiratory droplet that is small enough to float in the…
Alert fatigue (also called alarm fatigue) – Because of poor design of electronic health records and medical systems, doctors, nurses and other clinicians routinely have to override…
Algorithm – A process or set of rules to follow in calculations or other problem solving, typically in computing.
Algorithmovigilance – Algorithmovigilance refers to scientific methods and activities relating to the evaluation, monitoring, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of algorithms…
All-Payer Claims Databases – APCDs collect data from all payers in a given region, including state and federal health players, health insurers, employers and…
All-payer system – A health care payment system in all payers, including state and federal health programs, private insurers, employers and individuals, all…
Allostatic load – The theory that the accumulated burden of chronic stress creates a common pathway to the onset and progression of many…
Allowed amount – The allowed amount is the maximum that a health insurer will pay for covered health care service, leaving the insured…
Alpha-gal syndrome – Alpha-gal syndrome is a red meat allergy caused by the bite of certain ticks. The allergy is known as Alpha-gal…
Alternative payment models – Under the ACA and The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, APMs for physicians and other providers…
Alternative payment models (APMs) – The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says physicians participating in alternative payment models would be eligible for financial…
Amalgam Separator – A device designed to capture particles of dental amalgam from dental office wastewater therefore reducing the amount of mercury and…
Ambulatory care sensitive condition – ACSCs are those for which good outpatient or primary care could prevent the need for hospitalization, or for which early…
Amelogenesis Imperfecta – A group of hereditary disorders that result in the abnormal development of the tooth enamel.
Analgesics – A broad range of drugs used to relieve pain, including mild analgesics such as aspirin and ibupropen and more potent…
Annual limit – Before the ACA, many health plans had a yearly limit on what they would pay, either in total costs or…
Anosognosia – A condition that prevents some people’s brains from recognizing and accepting that they are ill. It is especially common in…
Antibiotic resistance/anti-microbial resistance – When an antibiotic or antimicrobial has lost its ability to effectively control or kill a bacteria, fungi, or parasite, it…
Antibiotic stewardship – Antibiotic stewardship is a public health effort to work with health providers to ensure the judicious use of antibiotics prescribing.…
Antibiotic stewardship – The responsible use of antibiotics.
Any willing provider – Some states require managed care organizations to accept any provider, such as a doctor or hospital, into their networks. This…
Aphasia – Aphasia is a communication disorder that results from damage to the parts of the brain that contain language in the…
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) – APIs are systems of tools and resources in an operating system that enable developers to create software applications. So-called “open…
AR-15 – Commonly called “America’s rifle” by gun enthusiasts. This is the civilian version of the standard rifle of the American military…
Arbitration or independent dispute resolution – Under the federal No Surprises Act of 2020, the first step in resolving disputes over surprise bills is negotiations between…
Area Agency on Aging (AAA) – A public or private nonprofit agency designated by a state to address the needs and concerns of all older persons…
Arthritis – Arthritis is a catchall term for a complex family of musculoskeletal disorders, consisting of more than 100 different diseases or…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – AI is the ability of a computer or robot controlled by a computer to perform tasks usually done by intelligent…
Aseptic retrieval – The process of picking up an instrument or other item without contaminating its container or any other surface. The goal…
Assault rifle – A cross between a carbine (a short rifle firing a pistol caliber cartridge) and a “full-power” battle rifle. It is…
Assisted living facilities – A senior living option for those with minimal needs for help with daily living and care. Its purpose is to…
Assistive technology – Any device that helps older people negotiate their lives at home, work or in the community can be classified as…
Asymptomatic carrier – A healthy person who is infected by a pathogen and showing no symptoms of disease. People can become infected with…
Asymptomatic carrier – A healthy person who is infected by a pathogen and shows no symptoms of disease. People can become infected with…
Attributable risk – Attributable risk is a way of measuring prevalence of a disease or condition and refers to how many cases in…
Attrition – Attrition is the loss of participants in a study over time. All studies have individuals who may drop out for…
Attrition bias – Attrition bias is the potential skewing of data/results that arises due to the attrition, or dropout rate, in a study.…
Augmented reality – Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of an immersive, simulated real-world environment in which objects that reside in the…
Augmented video analysis – The application of artificial intelligence to video recordings made in hospital patient rooms to help health care staff better understand…
Auto-renewal – Health care plan enrollees are automatically signed up again for the next year, unless they opt out or choose a…
Automatic – A firearm which fires continuously while the trigger is depressed like a machine gun or submachine gun.
Automatic retention – A policy a health insurance exchange uses to prevent coverage interruptions among low-income enrollees. Rather than disenroll people who fail…
Automatic speech recognition (ASR) – Also known as voice recognition technology, ASR allows a person to converse with computers using normal speech and be reasonably…
Average manufacturer price (AMP) – When a drug retailer or wholesaler buys a medication directly from a manufacturer, the AMP is the average price paid.…
Average sales price (ASP) – The average sales price is what all purchasers pay to drug manufacturers. ASP includes practically all discounts but is available…
Average wholesale price (AWP) – The AWP is what pharmacies pay to buy drugs from wholesalers.
Avulsed tooth – A tooth that has been knocked out – completely displaced from its socket.

Background rate – The background rate of a particular condition refers to how often it typically occurs in a particular population or in…
Bacteria – Single-celled microorganisms that don’t require living hosts. They come in many different shapes and thrive in diverse environments including extreme…
Bacteriophages – Phages are viruses that are the natural enemies of bacteria. The word ‘bacteriophage’ means “bacteria eater.” Phages exist anywhere bacteria…
Balance and vertigo – Balance disorders affect about 40% of older adults and can often lead to falls. Balance problems may manifest as feeling…
Balance billing – This occurs when a hospital, physician or other health care provider sends a bill to a patient after the patient’s…
Balance billing – When a health care provider bills the patient for the difference between what the provider charges and what the insurer…
Barrel – A steel tube through which a bullet travels after discharge in the action. The tube compresses gases from the ignition…
Baseline – The measurements/assessments taken at the beginning of a study before any interventions have begun represent the baseline. Outcomes assessed during…
Basic Health Plan (BHP) – Under ACA, consumers whose annual income is less than 133% of the federal poverty level would be absorbed into Medicaid,…
Basic science – Also called basic, fundamental, or bench research, basic science involves pre-clinical research (research not performed in humans) that focuses on…
Behavioral hazard – When used in reference to health insurance, the concept of behavioral hazard defines the behavior that some insured individuals may…
Behavioral health disorders – Chronic habits that erode everyday quality-of-life and normal functioning on the job, in school, within families, within an individual. Behavioral…
Behavioral modification therapy – A therapeutic counseling practice that employs positive and negative reinforcements to encourage patients to voluntarily change or eliminate problematic behaviors…
Benchmark plan – The Affordable Care Act has two definitions for the benchmark plan. In one definition, a benchmark plan is the second-lowest-cost…
Benchmarks – When hospitals, doctors or other provider groups measure quality, they do so against a benchmark, which can be a starting…
Bending the curve – This phrase refers to efforts to change the trajectory of health care cost growth by slowing or stopping the growth.
Best practice alert (BPA) – A programmed notification in an electronic health record (EHR) that occurs at a specific point in patient charting or documentation.…
Bias – Biases are systematic errors in the design or reporting of medical studies that produce a false pattern of differences between…
Bidirectional – When two things are associated, such as a condition and an outcome, researchers often seek to find out whether one…
Big data – Big data is a massive volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that is too large to be…
Bioavailability – Bioavailability refers to quantifying the ability of the human body to extract from a substance the nutrients or other chemicals…
Bioequivalence – Two different pharmaceutical products are bioequivalent if they contain the same chemical compounds in the same proportions (ideally) and are…
Biometrics – Unique physical characteristics such as fingerprints, voice recognition or iris scans that can be used for automated recognition of people.…
Biosafety labs and standards – Scientists have developed standards for biosafety labs to enable researchers to study contagious pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes…
Bioterrorism – A form of terrorism involving the deliberate release of biological agents, such as a virus or bacteria, or toxins to…
Bisphenol-A – A chemical most commonly found in plastic that can leach through containers, receipts and other plastic items. It impacts human…
Blind vs limited/low vision – The American Foundation for the Blind defines legally blind as a person with 20/200 visual acuity or less. Blind or…
Blinding (or masking) – Blinding, also called masking, refers to concealing from participants and/or study teams who are and are not receiving an intervention…
Block grant – A lump sum usually given to a state or local government for a specific health care purpose. There can be…
Block grant – A type of funding in the form of a lump sum payment that confers responsibility for Federal programs to individual…
Blockchain – Most commonly associated with digital currency such as Bitcoin, blockchain is a data structure that can be timed-stamped and signed…
Blood borne pathogens – Blood borne pathogens are bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that live in the bloodstream and can cause disease. They are…
Blue zones – What began as a National Geographic expedition led by Dan Buettner to uncover the secrets of longevity evolved into the…
Bone mineral density (BMD) – The amount of bone tissue in a segment of bone. The general premise is that the heavier the bones, the…
Bonferroni correction – A Bonferroni correction is a calculation intended to reduce the likelihood of a false positive in study results by accounting…
Bore – The inside face of the barrel which contacts the bullet during its travel. Source: UC Davis Campus Community Book Project
Brain plasticity – Brain plasticity refers to the ability of the brain to modify its own structure and function following changes within the…
Brain-computer interface (BCI) – BCI is a technology system that collects and interprets brain signals, and transmits them to a connected machine—such as a…
Breakthrough infection – In vaccinology, a breakthrough infection means a person develops an infection from a pathogen after vaccination and may indicate the…
Breakthrough infections – In vaccinology, a breakthrough infection means a person develops an infection from a pathogen after vaccination and may indicate the…
Broken Windows effect – The so-called Broken Windows theory has led to initiatives that try to reduce violence by restoring deteriorating neighborhoods, removing or…
Bruxism – The grinding or clenching of the teeth, unrelated to normal functions such as eating, that can result in facial pain…
Bucchal region – The area of the head comprised of the soft tissues of the cheeks.
Budget reconciliation – A fast-track budget procedure in Congress that requires a simple majority and cannot be filibustered, but the president can veto…
Budget-neutral – This term means that a waiver, demonstration or other program cannot cost more than whatever would have been spent without…
Bullet – The projectile fired by a gun. Modern bullets are conical masses of lead, jacketed in copper and designed for aerodynamic…
Bullet button – A device to disqualify a gun as an assault rifle by removing one of the six “evil features” of the…
Bump fire – A means of manipulating semiautomatic weapons to achieve continual fire while keeping the trigger depressed. Source: UC Davis Campus Community…
Bump stock – A device to facilitate the process of bump firing wherein a semiautomatic gun is manipulated so as to simulate automatic…
Bundled payment – Bundled payment is different from fee-for-service payment. Under bundled payment, physicians, hospitals, and other providers assume the financial risk for…
Bur – A tiny bit that is used on a dental drill.
Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) – A painful condition marked by a range of symptoms that may include burning, tingling, numbness, or dryness in the mouth.…

Cadillac health plan – An employee health benefit plan in which coverage exceeds a certain dollar amount. Starting in 2018, the portion above a…
Calculus – Hardened or calcified plaque, which starts as a soft sticky bacterial buildup on the teeth.
Caliber – A measure of the size of a bullet. It corresponds to the largest diameter of its cross-section and is commonly…
Capitation or capitated payment – When a health care provider receives a fixed payment for each patient under care, such a payment is called capitation…
Capitation/capitated payment – When a health care provider is paid a fixed or per capita amount for each enrolled patient, regardless of how…
Carbine – Shortened rifle, firing a pistol cartridge. Source: UC Davis Campus Community Project
CARE Act – The Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable Act is legislation passed in more than 40 states that supports family caregivers when loved…
Care coordination – The ACA encourages care coordination, so that providers work together to avoid complications, recurrences, and rehospitalizations, particularly for patients with…
Caregiver – A person, either paid or voluntary, who helps an older person with the activities of daily living, health care, financial…
Cartridge – Package of gunpowder and a bullet that can be conveniently inserted into a firearm for firing. The cartridge consists of…
Case – Cylindrical brass container for holding the gunpowder and bullet. It is closed at one end (the case head) which holds…
Case control study – This type of retrospective study design identifies a group of individuals who have already experienced a particular outcome or who…
Case fatality rate (CFR) – This is an estimate of the risk of mortality from a contagious disease. The CFR is calculated by dividing the…
Case fatality rate vs. infection fatality rate – These are two ways of measuring the fatality rate (or risk or ratio) of a particular disease. The case fatality…
Case Mix Index (CMI) – Calculation that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses to reflect the clinical complexity, diversity and resource needs…
Case study – A qualitative, descriptive study that focuses on an individual patient (a case series includes multiple individuals) and a particular condition,…
Catastrophic plan – A catastrophic health plan is one with a high deductible that kicks in when medical expenses mount. The catastrophic plans…
Cementum – Dull and yellow, it is the external layer of the tooth root.
Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight – The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) is an office within CMS that oversees the implementation of various…
Centerfire – Refers to the placement of the primer on the case head. A primer in the form of a small disk…
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) – Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, this federal agency runs Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance…
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – Part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, CMS runs Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance program.…
Certificate of need laws – State certificate of need (CON) laws and regulations seek to limit the building of excess capacity or overbuilding of health…
Certified Health IT – Certified health IT includes products, programs or systems that meet standards set by the federal government on their security, privacy,…
Cesarean section (C-section) – Obstetricians and other physicians will perform a Cesarean section to deliver one or more babies when the providers fear that…
Chamber – The end of the barrel that meets the receiver and which holds the bullet when it is ready to be…
Chatbot – A computer program that conducts a conversation via text or auditory program. Chatbots are often used in customer service, and…
Chemical pollution – This refers to any chemicals that negatively interact with human health and are found in everyday products such as lotions,…
Cherry picking – Before the ACA, health insurers would seek to enroll healthy consumers over less-healthy individuals by “cherry picking: among certain populations.…
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – The federal CHIP program provides health coverage to children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but…
Chronic wasting disease – This is a potentially emerging disease for humans, though it has not yet jumped from animals to people. The disease…
Clinical decision support (CDS) – Computer programs and tools to assist physicians and other health professionals with care decisions. CDS uses databases of signs and…
Clinical decision support (CDS) systems – Health insurers use CDS systems to give clinicians and other providers patient- and condition-specific information about the treatment protocols insurers…
Clinical documentation improvement (CDI) – A specialty that involves creating and administering accurate, timely health care records to ensure improved patient outcomes, data quality and…
Clinical significance – Statistical significance measures how likely it is that a research finding occurred due to a real effect versus chance, but…
Clinical social workers – Provide therapeutic counseling, whether in private practice, in schools, health systems, child welfare agencies and other spheres. Social workers usually…
Clip – A metal rack that holds cartridges together to permit them to be loaded together instead of one at a time. …
Close contact – Close contact means proximity and duration to someone infected with a contagious disease. In the context of COVID-19, the CDC…
Cloud platform – Many hospitals have health IT systems, including electronic health records (EHRs), that are on the premises or client server, meaning…
Co-insurance – Co-insurance is a percentage that a consumer with health insurance would pay for a visit to a physician, hospital, or…
Co-Ops – Under the Affordable Care Act, Congress called for the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program (co-ops), that would serve as…
COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) – This law allows a consumer who loses a job to keep his or her group coverage under an employer-sponsored health…
Cognitive assessment testing – One or more exams commonly performed on Individuals with memory concerns or other cognitive complaints, such as personality change, depression,…
Cognitive computing – Cognitive computing is the simulation of human thought process in a computerized model. Cognitive computing is used in artificial intelligence…
Cognitive health – We often refer to the “cognitive health” of an older adult, but what does it encompass? According to Medscape, cognitive…
Cognitive skills – Include memory, problem-solving, reason, learning and paying attention. Cognitive skills can be impaired as a result of mental and/or behavioral…
Commercial determinants of health (CDoH) – The World Health Organization defines commercial determinants of health as “factors that influence health which stem from the profit motive.”…
Community Dental Health Coordinator – A community health worker model piloted by the American Dental Association to help address oral health disparities. CDHCs are trained…
Community mental health centers – CMS verifies that these clinics must provide outpatient services, including specialized care for children, the elderly, those with chronic mental…
Community rating – Under community rating, a health insurer would charge all people in a community who are covered under the same type…
Community transmission index/rate and hot spots – This rate is used to determine how quickly an infectious disease may be spreading within a geographic area. An index…
Community violence – Community violence is exposure to intentional acts of interpersonal violence committed in public areas. In the case of firearm violence,…
Comorbidity – A comorbidity refers to having two or more conditions or diseases at the same time in a person, such as…
Comparative effectiveness research – Research that looks at different approaches or treatments for a condition to determine which are most likely to have the…
Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) – This is the term for a diverse group of medical practices or products that fall outside the standard realm of…
Complexity of care charges – Emergency rooms often charge fees based on the complexity of care needed for each patient. These fees usually are ranked…
Composite endpoint – When researchers measure a combination of possible clinical events in a clinical trial, they have created a composite endpoint. Composite…
Comprehensive health record (CHR) – As the thinking and research around the social determinants of health evolves, some powerful people in health care think the…
Comprehensive risk-based plans – Comprehensive risk-based plans or managed care organizations (MCOs) are the most common type of Medicaid managed care arrangement. States using…
Concealed carry laws – “Concealed carry” has a lot of meanings under different types of state law. It generally means that a person can…
Concierge medicine – Concierge medicine is a method of care in which an individual physician or group practice of physicians give patients longer…
Confidence interval – Confidence intervals are one way that researchers report statistical significance in a study. The other is the p-value. Deeper dive…
Conflict of interest – A set of circumstances that creates a real or perceived risk that professional judgment or actions concerning a primary interest…
Confounding – In observational studies, confounding variables are factors that confuse or obscure the association between a primary exposure of interest and…
Confounding by indication – One of the ways results can be skewed in an observational/epidemiological study is through confounding, when a factor affects both…
Congenital – A congenital disease, defect, abnormality, difference or other condition is one that has been present since birth. What’s important to…
Connected devices/smart devices – Any physical device that is embedded with sensors or network connectivity, enabling that device to “talk“ to other devices.
Conscious aging/Conscious eldering – The Conscious Aging movement, also known as Conscious Eldering, works to help older adults shift their attitudes and thinking away…
Consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) – The National Health Insurance Survey defines a CDHP as a high-deductible health plan linked to a special tax-advantaged account that…
Contact tracing – Contact tracing is a monitoring process used to stop the spread of an infectious disease outbreak. The process is a…
Contact tracing – Contact tracing is a monitoring process used to stop the spread of an infectious disease outbreak. The process is a…
Contagious – The term referring to a disease that is spread by contact between people or animals. Direct contact includes disease spread…
Containment versus mitigation in infections diseases – Containment and mitigation tools differ depending upon the kind of infection that is spreading, and the availability of medical treatments…
Containment versus mitigation in infectious diseases – Containment and mitigation tools differ depending upon the kind of infection that is spreading, and the availability of medical treatments…
Context – Context refers to the background information about a condition, treatment, and/or scientific question, and what the research to date has…
Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) – In a CCRC (also known as a life plan community), residents move between different levels of care on one health…
Convenience sample – A method of including participants (or data) that are convenient to reach but not randomly selected. It’s a type of…
Coordination of benefits – In the event of coverage from two sources — such as Medicare plus supplemental coverage, or when two people in…
Copay (or copayment) – A copay is a fixed fee for each health care service, such as $35 or more for a primary care…
Copay, co-insurance – A copay is a fixed fee that an individual pays for each health care service, such as $15 for primary…
Cordyceps fungus – A spore-producing organism (scientifically its full name is Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) that can invade the brains of ants and other insects,…
Coronavirus – Coronaviruses are a family of viruses, which cause respiratory illness in humans. It gets its name from the crown-like halo…
Coronavirus – Coronaviruses are a family of viruses, which cause respiratory illness in humans. It gets its name from the crown-like halo…
Correlation vs. causation – Correlation is a relationship between two variables, and causation occurs when one of those variables has an effect on the…
Cost sharing – Most Americans who have health insurance have a cost-sharing arrangement with their health insurers because the insured individual pays a…
Cost sharing subsidies – In addition to the advance premium tax credits (APTC) to help consumers pay premiums, many people can also get cost-sharing…
Cost shifting – This occurs when a hospital or other provider charges an insured patient more than it charges an uninsured or underinsured…
Covariate – A covariate is a variable particular to each participant in a study (or each subject being studied, if it’s not…
COVID-19 – On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially named the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, as COVID-19, a…
COVID-19 infection – This term means that someone has the symptomatic disease that is named COVID-19. There are numerous symptoms of COVID-19. To…
COVID-19 vaccine surveillance and misinformation – As more and more Americans are getting COVID-19 vaccines, the CDC is tracking side effects through a smart-phone based application…
Craniofacial complex – The bones and soft tissues of the face and cranium that house the organs of taste, vision, hearing and smell.
Crisis intervention teams & intervention training – Were created by the Memphis Police Department in 1988 after one of its officers fatally shot a man with a…
Critical access hospital – Certain small hospitals mostly in rural areas are designated as critical access hospitals. The staffing standards are less rigorous than…
Critical access hospital – A critical access hospital has 25 or fewer acute inpatient beds, and is located in a rural area and is…
Critical Access Hospital (CAH) – A rural hospital designation established by the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (MRHFP) enacted as part of the 1997 Balanced…
Cross-sectional study – A kind of observational study that lacks temporality, or a relationship with time. Cross-sectional studies gather data about their participants…
Crossover trial – In a crossover trial, both groups are exposed to the intervention and to the placebo at different times, or both…
Cultural competency – Cultural competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency or among…
Cultural competency – The ability of health care providers to deliver care and services that take into account the cultural needs of a…
Cyberattack – A cyberattack is an attempt by hackers to gain illegal access to a computer or computer network for the purpose…

Data and Safety Monitoring Board – Clinical trials are expected to be overseen by a Data and Safety Monitoring Board (also called Data and Safety Monitoring…
Data lake – A term for storage of data information by hospitals, health systems and other organizations. Deeper dive Data lakes are distributed…
Data stewardship – The responsibilities of collecting, managing, viewing, storing, sharing and otherwise using patient health information. Hospitals, health systems, payers, government entities…
De novo – The term “de novo” means “of new” in Latin, but it’s used most often in research to refer to the…
Death doula – A death doula is a non-medical person trained to care for someone holistically (physically, emotionally and spiritually) at the end…
Death spiral – When more sick or high-cost people buy health insurance than healthier members in the risk pool, premiums can rise. This…
Deciduous teeth – Also known as baby teeth. There are 20 of them, typically erupting between 6 months and two and three years…
Deductibles – An insurance deductible is an amount an insured individual or family owes for health care services before a health insurance…
Deep learning – A subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where computer networks are able to learn from data that is unstructured. Deep learning…
Defensive medicine – Too often, doctors and other health providers order tests, screening exams or treatments that may not be necessary because they…
Defined benefit vs. defined contribution – When a health plan, whether through a private employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid, promises specified…
Defined benefit vs. defined contribution – When a health plan promises specified guaranteed benefits, it’s called a defined benefit. A defined contribution plan pays only a…
Dementia – Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to…
Dementia-friendly communities – Dementia Friendly Communities (DFCs) offer an approach to community engagement to improve the lives of people living with dementia and…
Dental amalgam – A substance used for fillings which contains mercury predominantly bound to metals including silver, zinc, copper and tin. It has…
Dental caries – A chronic, progressive, largely preventable disease also known as dental decay. Caries is caused by a species of mutans streptococci…
Dental fluorisis – A change in the appearance of the tooth’s enamel, ranging, in mild forms as nearly invisible white spots, and in…
Dental fluorosis – Changes in the mineralization and appearance of the teeth due to long-term ingestion of fluoride at higher than optimal levels.…
Dental Health Aide Therapist (DHAT) – A dental auxiliary working in Alaskan tribal lands as part of the Community Health Aide Program, established in the 1950s…
Dental hygienist – A licensed health care professional. This model has existed for nearly a century since a dentist trained his assistant in…
Dental implant – A post, which is usually made of titanium, is surgically implanted into the jaw, replaces the root of a lost…
Dental sealant – A thin plastic coating applied to the chewing surface of a molar (a back tooth) to help prevent tooth decay.
Dental therapist – An oral health provider model in long use in many countries, only recently being piloted in the United States. Less…
Dental veneers – Thin shells made of porcelain or resin composite materials that are bonded to the fronts of the teeth for cosmetic…
Dentifrice – A paste, powder, liquid or gel used for cleaning the teeth.
Dentin – Hard yellowish tissue that makes up most of the inner portion of the tooth’s crown and root.
Denture stomatitis – This common form of oral candidiasis, a fungal infection, is caused when tissues inside the mouth are traumatized by ill-fitting…
Developmental origins of health and disease – From conception through infancy and early childhood, exposures to certain stresses can alter the trajectory of development in ways that…
Diabetic retinopathy – Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes and a leading cause of blindness. It occurs when diabetes damages the tiny…
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM) – First published in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association, this manual is a compilation of mental disorders, their symptoms and prescribed treatment.…
Diagnostic error – Estimates indicate most people in the United States might experience a meaningful diagnostic error at some point in their lives,…
Diagnostic test – A diagnostic test is a medical test or intervention used to establish whether a particular condition is or is not…
Diagnostic trial – A diagnostic clinical trial aims to identify better ways of diagnosing a condition, such as testing a new procedure, screening…
Differential diagnosis – A list of possible conditions that could be causing a patient’s symptoms. A differential diagnosis is a systemic process that…
Digital health equity – Using digital health tools to help make health care more accessible and affordable for everyone. Deeper dive With digital health…
Digital redlining – The practice of creating and perpetuating inequities between already marginalized groups, specifically through the use of digital technologies and content,…
Digital therapeutics – An emerging, rapidly evolving sector of the digital health market that uses data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to…
Digital twin – A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system that spans its lifecycle. It is updated from…
Dimensions of aging – Everyone ages differently. Numerical, or chronological, age is only one of the dimensions of aging. Getting older is also associated…
Direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) – Direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees allow health insurers or pharmacy benefit managers to claw back fees paid to pharmacies…
Direct contracting – Direct contracting is an arrangement between a purchaser and a provider to deliver health care services for a select group…
Direct primary care – Direct primary care (DPC) is a form of a bundled capitation payment model in which a primary care doctor or…
Disease elimination vs. eradication – Eradication refers to a disease being completely, literally eradicated from the earth: no cases occur at all, from any source.…
Disease elimination vs. eradication – Eradication refers to a disease being completely, literally eradicated from the earth: no cases occur at all, from any source.…
Disease elimination vs. eradication – Elimination of a disease occurs when the disease is no longer endemic to a particular geographical region. That is, the…
Disease X – Disease X is a placeholder name for an “unexpected” disease. The World Health Organization declared in 2018 that Disease “X”…
Disease X – Disease X is a placeholder name for an “unexpected” disease. The World Health Organization declared in 2018 that Disease “X”…
Disproportionate share hospital – A disproportionate share hospital (DSH) is one that has a higher share of low-income patients than other hospitals as defined…
DMFT index – In dental epidemiology, the “Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) Index” measures the number of teeth or tooth surfaces that are…
Domestic violence – Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behaviors in any relationship, familiar, romantic or otherwise, that is used by one…
Domiciliary care – The type of care provided to the elderly by a qualified home care worker at the senior’s own home. It…
Dose response – “Dose response” refers to the relationship between the amount of a substance or exposure and the extent or magnitude of…
Double burden of disease – The double burden of disease is a term researchers and public health officials use to describe the coexistence of undernutrition…
Doughnut hole (or Donut hole) – A coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit, during which beneficiaries pay all the costs until another level of coverage…
Downside risk – Hospitals, physicians, or other health care professionals have downside risk if they incur costs that are greater than the payments…
Droplet transmission/spread – A form of contagious disease spread that involves the spray of saliva or respiratory droplets, expelled when an infected person…
Dual eligibles – These older adults and some people under 65 with disabilities are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. They are sicker…
Dual eligibles – Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services seeks to improve the quality and efficiency…
Durable medical equipment (DME) – Items such as ventilators, wheelchairs, hospital beds or home oxygen systems are examples of durable medical equipment that a health…

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) Services – States must cover these services for all Medicaid-eligible children under age 21. These services include screening for vision, hearing, dental…
Ecologist – A scientist who studies how animals and plants interact with the environment. Disease ecologists study the interactions between pathogens (i.e.,…
Edentulism – The loss of all teeth. An estimated 22.9 percent of older Americans have lost all their teeth, according to the…
Effect size – Journalists covering medical research write about effect size all the time but may not recognize that’s the name for it.…
Effect vs. association – An association is a statistical link or pattern between two variables, but an effect can only result if one is…
Effectiveness vs. efficacy – At first glance, it would seem the only difference between “effectiveness” and “efficacy” is a handful of letters. But these…
Effectuate – Insurers use this word to describe the completion of an enrollment. Coverage has been effectuated once a consumer signs up,…
Elder abuse – Any intentional or negligent act that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. Abuse may…
Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) – The Elder Economic Security Standard Index (also known as the Elder Index) measures income adequacy for older adults, similar to…
Elder guardianship – Elder guardianship, or elder conservatorship, is a legal relationship created when a court appoints an individual to care for an…
Electroceuticals – Medical devices that use electrical impulses to provide therapy such as pain control. Deeper dive Tiny electrode devices implanted into…
Electronic health record (EHR) – Also known as an electronic medical records (EMR), this is a digital record of a patient’s medical information and health…
Elevator – A dental instrument used to loosen a tooth before extraction.
Embargo – A press embargo means that a journal article, research study content, announcement or other news item cannot be publicized in…
Embedded deductible – Health insurers embed deductibles when providing family coverage so that each family member has an individual deductible that is lower…
Employee choice – Small businesses using the SHOP exchange are supposed to decide how much they will contribute to workers’ health coverage, and…
Employee welfare benefit plan – The federal Department of Labor defines an employee welfare benefit plan as one that an employer or employee organization would…
Employer mandate – Under the Affordable Care Act, businesses employing more than 50 workers are required to offer affordable health care coverage that…
Employer-group waiver plans (EGWPs) – EGWPs (pronounced egg-whips) are customized health plans under the Medicare Advantage program that are developed exclusively for employers and union…
Employment-based insurance – Many Americans who are employed full time get health insurance for themselves and their family members through their employers. The…
Enamel – The protective white surface layer of the tooth crown; highly mineralized, it is the hardest substance in the body.
Enamel fluorosis – The mottling of tooth enamel caused by excessive fluoride consumption during tooth development. The condition can range from a mild…
Encryption – The process of converting information or data into a code, particularly to prevent unauthorized access. Deeper dive Encryption is an…
Endemic – Endemic refers to an organism (or phenomenon) naturally occurring in a particular geographic region without having been artificially introduced. Deeper…
Endemic – In biology, an endemic species is one that is native to specific regions. In epidemiology, endemic refers to the circulation…
Endemic – In epidemiology, endemic refers to the circulation of a disease within a certain population or geographic area that continues without…
Endpoint – The endpoint of a study is an objective outcome the researchers measure when the study concludes to determine the level…
Enteric – The term for a disease of the intestine. It is commonly used in reference to pathogens that have been ingested…
Enteroviruses – A group of viruses that typically occur in the gastrointestinal tract, but on rare occasions, can spread to the central…
Environmental health – This is a part of Public Health that considers the relationship between the environment and human health. It includes both…
Environmental injustice – The disproportionate burden of pollution and other harmful environmental exposures falling mainly on disadvantaged neighborhoods and people with less wealth,…
Environmental racism – The term was defined by Robert Bullard in his book “Dumping in Dixie.” Bullard described it as “any policy, practice…
Epidemic – A group of cases of a specific disease or illness clearly more than what one would normally expect in a…
Epidemiological triangle – The components that contribute to the spread of a disease. Deeper diveTo understand how an infectious disease spreads, public health…
Epidemiologist – Scientists who study the causes, patterns, frequency, and locations of diseases, and use the information to prevent future outbreaks. Epidemiologists…
Epidemiology – Epidemiology is the study of disease behavior, particularly at the population level. Epidemiology includes study of both chronic and acute…
Epigenetics – Epigenetics refers to the study of how changes to genes during a person’s lifetime can then be passed on in…
Episode payment for a procedure – Under this form of bundled payment, an insurer makes a single payment for all services associated with delivering a procedure…
EPSDT – The acronym for Medicaid’s child health component. Established in 1967, the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program entitles…
Equipoise – Although the idea of equipoise is a philosophical concept, it’s important for reporters to understand because it underlies the bioethical…
EQUIPPED (Enhancing Quality of Provider Practices for Older Adults in the Emergency Department) – EQUIPPED is a multi-part quality improvement initiative that combines education, electronic clinical decision support and individual provider feedback to influence…
Eradication – While elimination of a disease occurs when the disease is no longer endemic to a particular geographical region, eradication refers…
ERISA – The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 sets requirements for employer-sponsored health plans, both self-insured and fully…
ERISA pre-emption – The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts state law, thwarting state efforts to regulate health insurance that…
Essential health benefits – Essential health benefits are a set of benefits established under the Affordable Care Act to ensure that all plans cover…
Essential health benefits – The essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act are designed so that every health plan covers a comprehensive list…
Ethnogeriatrics – Ethnogeriatrics is an evolving specialty in geriatric care focusing on health and aging issues in the context of culture for…
Etiology – Etiology refers to the cause of a disease or condition; most often etiology refers specifically to the biological mechanisms underpinning…
Etiology – The cause of a disease or condition; most often etiology refers specifically to the biological mechanisms underpinning a particular condition.
EVALI – E-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury.
Evidence-based medicine – Using evidence-based medicine, physicians and other providers make medical decisions according to the best available scientific research and practices.
Evil Features – A colloquial term used for the six defining features of an assault rifle in the AWB that are intended to…
Exchanges – See Health Insurance Exchanges
Exchanges or health insurance exchanges – The exchanges are marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act in which individuals and small businesses can purchase health insurance. Some…
Excluded services – Excluded services are those that a health insurer deems not to cover under the terms of its contract with an…
Exclusion criteria – These are demographic, health-related or other personal/individual factors that exclude a person from participating in a clinical study. They could…
Exposure – Though a common word in everyday language, exposure must be very precise in medical research, such that even entire papers…

Facilities fee – A charge for seeing a doctor at a hospital-owned facility (even if it looks like a regular outpatient doctor’s office…
Failure to rescue – Failure or delay in recognizing and responding to a hospitalized patient who is experiencing a complication after surgery. Failure to…
Fall risk assessment – Falls are among the most common and most serious problems for older adults. They’re associated with increased mortality, morbidity, reduced…
False balance – A lapse in responsible reporting referring to using outliers’ voices to state opinions that contradict the facts simply to provide…
False balance (false equivalence) – This lapse in responsible reporting refers to using outliers’ voices to state opinions that contradict the facts—or the currently accepted…
Family income level – Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government uses family income levels to set subsidies for health insurance bought on…
Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) – In the federal and state Medicaid program, the federal government pays each state for the medical services those states deliver…
Federal poverty level – The federal Department of Health and Human Services says the term federal poverty level (or FPL) is ambiguous and should…
Femtech – Software, diagnostics or products and services that use technology to support women’s health. This could include mobile applications for tracking…
Filovirus – Filoviruses are part of a virus family called Filoviridae and are the cause of severe hemorrhagic (internal bleeding) disease in…
Firearm violence – Firearm violence is any conflict, injury or fatality involving a firearm. That includes a wide variety of instances that aren’t…
First-episode psychosis/first psychotic break – The point in time when symptoms of severe mental illness, including a lack of reality, first appear. This initial psychotic…
Five wishes – This concept takes a holistic approach to discussing and documenting a person’s care and comfort choices. Documenting life choices has…
Flattening the Curve – It is a term used to refer to the curve in the projected number of people who will contract a…
Flattening the curve – It is a term used to refer to the curve in the projected number of people who will contract a…
Flavivirus – A kind of virus found primarily in ticks and mosquitos that can occasionally infect humans. Members of this virus family…
Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) – Some employers offer FSAs to allow employees to set aside pretax dollars of their own money for their use throughout…
Fluoride – The ionic form of fluorine, a common element. When consumed in water or in tablets, or applied to the teeth…
Forest plot – A forest plot is a graphic representation of data from a meta-analysis in which the researchers need to show the…
Formulary – A formulary can refer to an insurance formulary or a hospital formulary. A formulary in insurance terms is the list…
Formulary – A formulary (also called a drug list) is a list of prescription drugs that a health insurer or pharmacy benefit…
Frailty – Frailty is usually defined as an aging-related syndrome of physiological decline, characterized by increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Frail…
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) – Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) or Pick’s disease, is the most common form of dementia diagnosed in people under age 60. A…
Full Metal Jacket – A bullet design popularized as the title of a Stanley Kubrick movie about the Vietnam War (1987). (See Bullet.) These bullets,…
Full-time worker – Under the Affordable Care Act, an employee who works an average of at least 30 hours per week is considered…
Fully vaccinated/Up-to-date – The term for receiving the full dosages of vaccines that scientists have determined is the amount needed to build the…
Fungal infection – Fungi are spore producing organisms like yeast, molds, and mushrooms. They are common in the environment and are seen as…

Gain-of-function – The term refers to laboratory techniques used to enhance aspects of a pathogen to make it more deadly and transmissible. This is…
Gas operation – A system which uses the gases from gunpowder to cycle the action. Gas from a discharge is bled off from…
Gene expression – While most people understand that genes contain the DNA “instructions” for how any organism is put together and operates, those…
Generalizability – Generalizability refers to the extent to which findings in a particular study can be applied or extended to populations beyond…
Genotype – An organism’s genotype is the specific genetic material that gives rise to that organism’s characteristics. It usually refers to the…
Geriatric syndromes – Geriatric syndrome is a catch-all term used to describe clinical conditions in older adults that don’t fall into discrete disease…
Gerontechnology – An interdisciplinary field of scientific research combining gerontology (the study of aging) with technology. Gerontechnologists create technology to transform the…
Geropsychology – Geropsychology is a field within psychology devoted to the study of aging and providing clinical services for older adults. Geropsychology…
Geroscience – Geroscience is a research paradigm that connects the biology of aging and biology of age-related diseases. The biological processes of…
Gingival sulcus – An inflammation of the gums caused by an accumulation of dental plaque containing destructive bacteria.
Gingivitis – Related: Water fluoridation: Resources for reporters
Glass ionomer – The gap between the tooth and the surrounding gum tissue. Flossing the teeth helps remove the food debris and plaque…
Global payment – Global payment is a form of capitated payment in which health insurers pay physicians, hospitals and other providers a set…
Glock – A brand of handgun of revolutionary design that has taken military and law enforcement by storm and appears often in…
Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria – Bacteria are classified based on a chemical stain that can be seen through the microscope. Bacteria that turn purple under…
Grandfathered plans – When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the law allowed all group health plans that were started before…
Grandmothered or transitional health plans – Individual and small-group health insurance plans that became effective after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on…
Gray literature – In medical research, gray literature refers to studies that have been conducted but have not been published in a peer-reviewed…
Green Houses/Green House movement – Green Houses are more “homelike” alternatives to nursing homes or large, multi-unit assisted-living facilities. Green Houses, which have been around…
Group model HMO – A group model health maintenance organization (HMO) is one that contracts with a single multispecialty medical group to provide care…

Habilitation services – The essential benefits requirements of the Affordable Care Act include both habilitation and rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation helps a patient regain…
Hallmarks of Aging – The “hallmarks of aging” are the biochemical, genetic and physiological processes thought to contribute to the aging. These include: Epigenetic…
Hand hygiene – Washing one’s hands is among the most effective ways of reducing the spread of infections. Deeper dive In health care…
Hand, foot and mouth disease – This is a mild contagious viral infection that usually affects children younger than five. Hand foot and mouth disease is…
Handgun – A gun small enough to be operated with one hand. The category is divided into revolvers, with multiple chambers per barrel,…
Handpiece – A tooth colored, fluoride-releasing cement used to seal cavity-prone pits and fissures in healthy teeth and to treat decayed surfaces…
Hazard ratio – Hazard ratios, which are often abbreviated HR, are one way researchers report the relative effect of a drug, treatment, or…
Head-to-head trial – In a head-to-head clinical trial, researchers are not comparing an intervention against a placebo or sham control but instead are…
Health care common procedure coding (HCPC) – Is a five-digit numbering system that physicians, hospitals and other health care providers use to standardize professional and outpatient billing…
Health care sharing ministry – Health care sharing ministries are health plans that do not fully comply with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act…
Health care tax deductions – The IRS allows taxpayers to deduct medical expenses, such as copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, hospital and physician bills and medical care-related…
Health disparities – Differences in health status experienced by groups of people disadvantaged because of their race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, age,…
Health equity – An ideal envisioned by public health experts in which all people can achieve their best health without being disadvantaged by…
Health in all policies (HiAP) – This public health strategy emerged in Europe and is now gaining traction in the U.S. It calls upon political leaders…
Health Information Exchange (HIE) – Health information exchange is the action of sharing relevant health information electronically among trusted clinical partners regardless of physical location.…
Health insurance exchanges/marketplaces – Under the Affordable Care Act, new health insurance exchanges (called the federal and state marketplaces) were established for people and…
Health insurance tax – When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it included excise taxes on health insurance providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and importers,…
Health literacy – The definition of health literacy was updated in August 2020 with the release of the U.S. government’s Healthy People 2030…
Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) – An entity that offers prepaid, comprehensive health coverage for both hospital and physician services. HMOs typically have a closed network…
Health reimbursement arrangements – A health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or health reimbursement account is an employer-funded tax-free account that employees can use to pay…
Health Related Quality of Life – Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an individual’s or a group’s perceived physical and mental health over time, according to…
Health savings accounts (HSAs) – An HSA has tax advantages because the funds contributed (usually by an employer) are not subject to federal income tax…
Healthspan – A person’s health span is the length of time that the person is healthy—not just alive. Deeper dive It’s thought…
Healthy People 2020 – Health People 2020 is a U.S. federal initiative to improve the nation’s health. Key for health care journalists, though, is…
Healthy user effect – This kind of bias may be at work in studies that find an unexpected benefit associated with treatment. It refers…
Hearing Loss – Hearing loss is a decline in a person’s ability to hear speech and other sounds. Hearing loss can happen when…
Helminth-caused infections – Helminths are parasitic worms. Worms can be transmitted to humans in fecal material, from insects or from walking barefoot on…
Herd immunity – A means of protecting a whole community from the spread of an infectious disease. The more people (a herd) that…
High capacity magazine – The term is relative to the definition of “standard” which is not fixed. Hunting laws limit magazine capacity to three…
High out-of-pocket costs – When evaluating employer-sponsored insurance coverage, a household’s spending on out-of-pocket costs includes expenditures for deductibles, copayments and coinsurance for prescription…
High power – An ill-defined term with at least two distinct usages. The older usage was for rifle calibers of .30 or greater…
High premium contributions – When evaluating employer-sponsored coverage, a household’s contributions to the employer’s health insurance premium costs are defined as low or high…
High-risk pools – Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became effective in January 2014, states offered health insurance coverage to individuals through high-risk…
Hill Criteria for Evaluating Observational Studies – If there’s one phrase that most reporters who cover medical studies can repeat in their sleep, it’s the caution that…
HIPAA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a law intended to make it easier for people…
Hispanic Community Health Study (SOL Study) – The Hispanic Community Health Study (also known as the SOL Study) is an epidemiological project to study health of Hispanic…
Home and community-based waivers – Waivers are designed to meet certain specific needs or provide different benefits than traditional Medicaid. They’re called “waivers” because some…
Horizontal integration – Occurs in health care when companies acquire or merge with other similar companies such as when a health system acquires…
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) – The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a patient-satisfaction survey that the U.S. Centers for Medicare…
Hospital referral regions (HRRs) – A hospital referral region is a regional health care market for specialized medical care. Each of the nation’s 305 HRRs…
Hospital service areas (HSAs) – A hospital service area is a local health care market where residents get most of their hospital care. In the…
Hospital-acquired conditions – People too often suffer medical complications in hospitals that might have been avoided with better care. These include infections, sepsis,…
Human Growth Hormone – Growth hormone fuels childhood growth and helps maintain tissues and organs throughout life. It’s produced by the pituitary gland —…
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) – A virus that can cause upper and lower respiratory illness in people, especially in older adults, children and those with…
Hybrid health care – Hybrid health care describes the practices of physicians and other providers who offer both telehealth and in-person treatment. These practices…
Hypercementosis – A powered dental instrument that can be fitted with attachments for drilling, grinding and polishing teeth.
Hypodontia – An excessive formation of cementum, the dull yellow external layer of a tooth’s root. The formation, which appears around the…

Iatrogenesis – Iatrogenesis is a common and serious hazard of hospitalization associated with increased patient morbidity and mortality, prolonged hospital stays, and…
Iatrogenic diseases – Iatrogenic disease is a condition induced by a drug prescribed by a physician, after a medical or surgical procedure (excluding…
ICD-10 – ICD, the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, is a set of codes used by providers in clinical settings to…
ICD-9, ICD-10 and ICD-11 – The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Tenth Revision, and Eleventh Revision, are the systems used to assign diagnoses of…
Ideopathic – The developmental absence of one or more teeth.
Idiopathic – Idiopathic describes a condition or symptom that occurs without a known cause or explanation. It’s typically used to describe conditions…
Immunity – The ability of the body to respond to and resist bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites based on its ability to…
Immunology – The branch of biology that covers the study of the immune system in all organisms. Immunologists study the physiological function…
Impact factor – In the world of research publishing, a loose hierarchy of journals exists both overall and within individual fields. In science…
Impacted tooth – A term used to describe a disease or condition of unknown origin.
Implicit bias – Learned stereotypes and prejudices that operate automatically and unconsciously when interacting with others. Also referred to as unconscious bias. When…
Imputation – In biostatistics, the results of calculations are only as good as the data used to generate them. If too much…
In vitro vs. in vivo (and in silico) – Experimental research involving new drugs, environmental exposures, or other chemicals or interventions will occur in one of three environments: in…
Incidence – Incidence is one of two key epidemiological terms that refers to how many new cases of a disease, injury, or…
Incidence and prevalence – Incidence is the rate of newly diagnosed cases of a disease. Prevalence is the total number of cases of a…
Inclusion criteria – These are the factors that participants in a clinical trial or other medical study must have in order to enroll…
Income inequality – Also known as the wealth gap, the divide between the rich and the poor has come to broadly define income…
Index of disparity – Used in statistical analysis. The index is developed based on using the usual categories of social determinations such as education or…
Indication – This is the reason a drug, therapy, surgery or other intervention is recommended or prescribed by a doctor. A sign,…
Individual behavior – One of the key factors in the social determinant of health, decisions that a person makes and how they act…
Individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs) – In 2019, the Trump administration established ICHRAs to allow employers of any size to reimburse employees for some or all…
Individual mandate – The individual mandate is a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (and some state laws) that requires individuals to…
Individualized Education Program – An instruction plan for student with disabilities, including mental and/or behavioral disorders. Mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act…
Infection fatality rate – This is one of two ways of measuring the fatality rate (or risk or ratio) of a particular disease. The…
Infection-to-fatality rate (IFR) – An epidemiology term that quantifies the chances that a person who contracts an infection from a pathogen, will die from…
Infection-to-fatality rate (IFR) – An epidemiology term that quantifies the chances that a person who contracts an infection from a pathogen, will die from…
Infections diseases as cancer cause – Cancer is a set of diseases characterized by abnormal cell growth triggered by a genetic defect. Sometimes an infectious agent…
Infectious – A disease that can be transmitted to other individuals. An infectious disease is a disease that is caused by the…
Infectious disease modeling – Despite great strides in medication, sanitation, hygiene and in animal and pest control, infectious diseases remain an enormous threat to…
Infectious dose – Infectious diseases spread when a healthy person encounters a pathogen expelled by someone sick, such as through a cough, sneeze,…
Infectious dose – Infectious diseases spread when a healthy person encounters a pathogen expelled by someone sick, such as through a cough, sneeze,…
Influenza (flu) – Influenza is a respiratory disease caused by the influenza virus, and is endemic to humanity. The virus is always around,…
Informatics – Health informatics is the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of information technology-based innovations in health care…
Information blocking – Information blocking is a practice by a health provider or IT vendor, for example, willingly or knowingly interferes or “blocks”…
Informed consent – Informed consent is required for receiving any type of medical intervention, including drugs, surgeries or therapies, and for involvement in…
Ingelfinger rule – This refers to the New England Journal of Medicine submission policy outlined in 1969 by then-editor Franz J. Ingelfinger. He…
Inpatient Prospective Payment System – The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) to pay for health care…
Institutional Review Boards – An institutional review board (IRB) is an administrative body that is charged with protecting the rights, privacy, and welfare of…
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) – Activities of daily living are classified into basic ADLs [link to ADLs] and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) IADLs…
Intent-to-treat population – In a randomized, controlled trial, the intent-to-treat (ITT) population represents all the study subjects who were randomized to the different…
Interim therapeutic restoration – A tooth that remains embedded in bone or tissue because its eruption is blocked or prevented.
Internet of Things (IoT) – The internetworking of physical devices, including household appliances, cars and buildings that are embedded with sensors and network connectivity. These…
Interoperability – Interoperability describes the extent to which systems and devices can exchange data, and interpret that shared data. For systems to…
Invisible risk pool – A program that reimburses insurers for especially high-risk beneficiaries (based on an annual cost threshold or set of diagnoses determined…
IRS Form 8962 – Some consumers buying health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are offered advance premium tax credits (APTCs) to lower…
Isolation – This policy involves separating people known or suspected to be infected with a contagious disease from those who are not…
Isolation – This policy involves separating people known or suspected to be infected with a contagious disease from those who are not…

Jackson Heart Study – The Jackson Heart Study is a longitudinal project to study heart and stroke risk among Black adults; it has been…

Kaplan-Meier curves – These graphs plot the proportion of individuals surviving without an event over the study period. Time is typically depicted on…

Lab-developed tests (LDTs) – The FDA defines a laboratory developed test as an in vitro diagnostic test (meaning a test of human blood or…
Large group health plan – The federal government defines a group health plan as one that covers workers in an employer-sponsored health plan that has…
Lead time bias – Lead time bias is a common phenomenon to watch out for in screening studies, though it can be relevant in…
Lead toxicity – Sustained exposure to lead can cause long-term health problems, most notably neurological damage. While no level of lead in the…
Life course perspective – The life-course perspective recognizes that aging takes place within a socio-historical context that provides different resources to individuals based on…
Life expectancy – The average number of years that a person can expect to live. This figure is often adjusted for an individual’s…
Life span – The amount of time that someone survives between birth and death. Deeper dive A key question for aging researchers is…
Lifestyle drift – Initiatives that set out to tackle health inequalities often pay lip service to the social determinants of health (quality education,…
Lifetime limit – Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers cannot set a dollar limit on what they spend on essential health benefits…
Limited benefit plans – These are a type of health insurance coverage that limits coverage to certain specified health care services or treatments or…
Locked and Loaded – Refers to locking the bolt closed on a round that is loaded into the chamber. It generally means “ready to…
LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) – LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) is a worldwide standard for identifying health measurements, observations and documents. This system,…
Loneliness – Feeling alone can have both psychological and physical impacts, from causing aggression or social anxiety to sleep loss, changes in…
Loneliness vs. social isolation – While the terms are often used interchangeably, they’re not the same. Loneliness is the distressing feeling of being alone or…
Long-hauler – A term for a person who is experiencing new, returning or ongoing health problems after COVID-19, the disease caused by…
Long-term services and supports (LTSS) – Long-term services and supports (LTSS) refers to both institutional care and home- and community-based services (HCBS). They are used by…
Longarm – A rifle size firearm designed to be hoisted to the shoulder. Much of the length and weight comes from the…
Longevity – The amount of time a person can expect to live under ideal circumstances – ideal nutrition, health care, physical activity,…
Longevity Gene – These so-called “longevity genes.”, are part of a class of proteins known as sirtuins, which help stem cells cope with…
Longitudinal study – A kind of observational study that follows study participants over time. These studies take repeated measurements of the variables of…
Low-income pool (LIP) – This is a revenue stream, currently (mid-2015) in nine states. It’s federal and state dollars that help hospitals that treat…
Luxation – A temporary restoration for a decayed tooth. The treatment, which does not require a drill or local anesthetic, typically employs…
Lyme disease – Lyme disease, in the U.S., is caused by the bacteria B. burgdoreri, and is transmitted through the bite of a…

Machine learning – The science of teaching computers to learn on their own without being programmed to perform specific tasks. Machine learning incorporates…
MACPAC – The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) is an advisory committee established in 2009 to review state and…
MACPAC – An advisory committee on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, MACPAC was established in a 2009 law and expanded…
Magazine (firearms) – A metal container for holding cartridges for rapid reloading. It differs from a clip in that it also contains a…
Malocclusions – The dislocation of a tooth from its socket.
Mandated benefits – These are benefits state or federal laws require of all health insurance policies to provide to insured individuals. The Marketplace…
Mandible – The crowding or misalignment of the teeth. These include such conditions as overjet, where the front teeth project far forward;…
Market Basket (MB) – CMS uses “market baskets” – a defined set of health expenditures in a defined time period – to measure price…
Market exclusivity – Drug manufacturers use patent protections that the federal Food and Drug Administration grants to market brand-name drugs exclusively in the…
Mastication – The lower jaw bone; it holds the lower teeth.
Maternal mortality rate – The number of women who die each year per every 100,000 live births. To classify as maternal-related, the death must…
Maternal mortality ratio – Maternal mortality ratio is reported as the number of maternal mortality deaths per 100,000 live births when such a death…
Maxilla – The process of chewing. After food is placed in the mouth, it is moved into position by the cheeks and…
Mean – The average of numbers, calculated by adding all the numbers together and dividing the sum by the number of items.…
Meaningful use – Meaningful Use is the use of certified electronic health record or EHR software in practices, hospitals, clinics, and by other…
Median – The middle number (midpoint) in a series of numbers. If the median age of breast cancer diagnosis is 62, that…
Medicaid – Created in 1965, Medicaid is a health care program for those who have low income or are disabled. The states…
Medicaid best-price rule – Medicaid’s best-price rule requires that state Medicaid programs pay the lowest price at which a drug is sold, meaning the…
Medical device tax – A 2.3% sales tax on medical devices went into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, as part of the Affordable Care…
Medical error/preventable adverse event – Medical error is commonly defined as “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use…
Medical loss ratio (MLR) – The MLR is the amount a health plan spends on delivering actual health care services to members, administration and marketing…
Medicare – Medicare is a federal health program for all Americans starting at age 65 and for some people with disabilities. Medicare…
Medicare/Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) – The Medicare and Medicaid programs make payments under the DSH program to boost payment for hospitals serving a significantly disproportionate…
Medication therapy management – Health insurers and health systems use medication therapy management (MTM) to ensure that patients, particularly the elderly, take appropriate medications.…
MEDPAC – The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is an independent agency established in 1997 to advise Congress on Medicare payment issues, including…
Mental breakdown/nervous breakdown – This happens when anxiety, depression, worry and other often stress-related mental conditions prevent a person from doing their normal, everyday…
Mental health conditions (some of the most common) – These conditions can impair a person’s mood, behavior and emotions. Mental disorders (or mental illnesses) can be short-lived or long-lasting, affecting…
Mental Health First Aid – Mental Health First Aid is a nationwide effort to train the broad public to identify mental illness and substance use disorder. The myriad…
Merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) – Under MIPS, Medicare will give participating physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and other eligible clinicians a composite…
Meta-analysis – A meta-analysis is a statistical technique for combining the results from independent studies that have all looked at the same…
Metaverse – The metaverse is a shared virtual environment that people can access through the Internet. It combines aspects of social media,…
Microbiome – The microbiome refers to the community of microbes — bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and fungi — that live on and in…
Mild cognitive impairment – Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious decline…
Mild COVID-19 – The CDC classified someone who has COVID-19 symptoms but isn’t sick enough to need hospitalization as having ‘mild’ COVID-19. Deeper…
Military weapon – Ill-defined term that attempts to distinguish between weapons used specifically for military purposes and those for other uses such as…
Millennial – Members of this generation of young adults include those born between 1992 and 2000. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there…
Minimal essential coverage – To meet the individual mandate requirement under the Affordable Care Act, a health insurance plan must meet the minimum of…
Minimally clinically important difference (MCID) – Also called “minimally important difference” or in a slightly different form, “minimally clinically important improvement.” This term refers to the…
Minimum essential coverage – A health plan that meets the individual mandate requirement, including exchange plans, employer-sponsored insurance, or a government plan like Medicaid.…
Mobile health (mhealth) – This refers to health services supported by mobile devices. The emergence of low-cost smartphones and tablets and the proliferation of…
Modern sporting rifle – A term used for weapons which have all the features of assault rifles without automatic fire. The term implicitly contrasts…
Monotherapy – Monotherapy means a person is taking only one medication to treat a particular condition. It generally refers only to the…
Mood disorders – Widely fluctuating emotions are the symptoms of mood disorders. These are among the most common mood disorders: Major depressive disorder is…
Moral hazard – When used in reference to health insurance, the term moral hazard describes how a person’s behavior changes once that person…
Moral injury – The manifestation of life events that are “extreme and unprecedented” that cross a moral line and can cause harm to…
Mortality ratio – When assessing a hospital’s mortality rate, researchers will evaluate the number of patient deaths (mortality) as a ratio that compares…
Mouth mirror – The upper jaw bone.
Mpox – On Nov. 28, the World Health Organization renamed monkeypox disease as ‘mpox’ to remove the ‘racist and stigmatizing’ language that…
Multiple-employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) – Also known as a multiple employer trust (MET), a MEWA allows a group of employers to combine their contributions to…
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) – This is a rare and potentially life-threatening inflammatory response associated with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus.…
Mutations – All viruses, including coronaviruses, replicate by attaching themselves to a living cell and subvert the cell’s DNA (the blueprint that…

National Drug Code – Prescription drugs sold in the United States are identified using a three-segment number called the National Drug Code (NDC) that…
National Family Caregiver Support Program – The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) provides grants to states and territories to help family and informal caregivers care…
Nationwide Health Information Network – A set of common standards, services and policies that allow for secure exchange of information over the Internet. Deeper dive…
Natural history study – These medical papers aim to explain the etiology, or origin, of a condition, its natural course and progression, and the…
Natural immunity – This term refers to someone who has gotten sick and developed an immune defense against the disease-causing pathogen. Vaccines help…
Natural language processing (NLP) – Natural language processing is the capability of computers to understand human language. If you’ve ever gotten into an automated phone…
Naturalistic study – Instead of creating an intervention or designing an observational study in which there is interaction with the participants (surveys, measurements,…
Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities – NORCs are communities or buildings where a large proportion of residents are older, and live independently. They are not comprehensive…
Navigators – https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Marketplaces/assistance Health insurance navigators provide in-person assistance to consumers, small businesses and their employers when enrolling in insurance plans under…
Near miss – Incidents that would have led to an adverse event if it hadn’t been for luck or early detection far outnumber…
Negative predictive value – This is a measure of accuracy for screening tests that refers to true negatives — the probability that subjects with…
Neglected tropical diseases – Diseases that could be controlled or even eliminated through mass administration of medication or vaccination but haven’t been because of…
Net neutrality – Net neutrality protects equal treatment of all data that travels over internet networks fairly, with no discrimination and no blocking…
Network adequacy – Insurers, consumer advocates and insurance regulators evaluate the adequacy of a physician or hospital network based on the ability of…
Networks – Health plans make a distinction between in-network coverage and out-of network coverage. When health plans contract with doctors, hospitals, clinical…
Networks – Health insurance plans contract with hospitals, physicians, clinical laboratories and other health care providers to supply in-network care at rates…
Never event/serious reportable event – Some adverse events do serious harm and are considered to be entirely preventable. Examples are surgery on the wrong site…
Nocebo effect – The opposite of the placebo effect, a nocebo effect describes side effects or increased symptoms, rather than symptom improvement, that…
Noma – An instrument, also called a dental mirror, that is fitted with a handle and used in the examination of the…
Non-cavitated lesion – A disfiguring, often fatal gangrenous disease that begins with ulcers in the mouth. Its chief victims are young children living…
Non-claims costs – Non-claims costs are what health insurers pay for cost containment strategies, claims adjustment, sales department salaries and benefits, fees and…
Non-communicable diseases – Non-communicable diseases are usually chronic illnesses that aren’t physically transmissible from person to person and last three months or longer.…
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – NCDs are often called lifestyle diseases because their origins stem from behaviors humans may be able to control such as…
Non-embedded deductible – Health insurers offer non-embedded deductibles when providing family coverage. A non-embedded deductible means the total family deductible must be paid…
Non-inferiority – Non-inferiority refers to a characteristic of a drug indicating that it works at least as well as another drug, often…
Non-participating provider – A non-participating provider is an out-of-network physician, hospital, or other health care provider that can charge whatever the market will…
Non-preferred drugs – Non-preferred drugs are usually brand-name medications (although in rare instances, there are non-preferred generic drugs). As a result of not…
Nosocomial – This term is usually used in reference to an infection acquired while under medical care, usually at a hospital. A…
Note bloat – Patient progress notes have become long and overwrought due to cut-and-paste functions and expandable templates in electronic health records (EHRs),…
Number needed to harm – This number is similar to the number needed to treat (NNT) in the opposite direction: It is the number of…
Number needed to treat – The number needed to treat, or NNT, is a way to sum up treatment effect, and unlike some statistical concepts,…
Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) – NICHE is a widely adopted nurse-driven program that helps hospitals and healthcare organizations improve the care of older adults. The…
Nutrigenomics – This up-and-coming field looks at how nutrients from food can impact how one’s individual genes are expressed. This field of…

Objective – An objective is the reason for doing a study, what the researchers want to accomplish. The objective could be to…
Objective vs. outcome vs. endpoint – These three terms are often confused, particularly outcome and endpoint, which are sometimes synonyms and other times separated by a…
OBRA – An early stage in the tooth decay process. At this stage, a fluoride treatment or sealant may stop or reverse…
Observation care – Observation care is meant to apply to patients who aren’t sick enough to be admitted to inpatient wards but who…
Observational study – In observational studies, researchers look for differences between exposed and unexposed groups, after people have already made their own lifestyle…
Observed-to-expected (O/E) mortality ratio – The observed mortality rate is divided by the expected mortality rate to create the observed-to-expected mortality (O/E) ratio. A lower…
Off-exchange enrollment – Enrollment in the individual market in plans outside the exchange. Most meet ACA requirements. However, starting in late 2018, the…
Off-label – When a clinician prescribes a drug for any purpose or to a population other than what the U.S. Food and…
Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) – The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) leads the administration’s health IT efforts and is charged…
Older Americans Act – This groundbreaking legislation, enacted in 1965, was the first national initiative to address a widespread lack of community-based services for…
Older Americans Independence Centers (OAIC) – The program was established in honor of the late Congressional Representative Claude D. Pepper, to create centers of excellence in…
One Health – One Health is a growing field within public health that embraces the connection between animals, humans and the environment and…
One Health – One Health is a growing field within public health that embraces the connection between animals, humans and the environment and…
Open label studies – In an open label study, both the study participants/patients and the researchers/providers know what drug or treatment the participants are…
OpenNotes – OpenNotes is an international movement that advocates for transparent communication in health care and studies the effects of shared notes…
OpenNotes – OpenNotes is a national effort designed to give patients access to the visit notes written by their doctors, nurses, or…
Opportunistic infection – An infection caused by pathogens — a bacteria, fungi, parasite, or virus — that has taken advantage of a person’s…
Oral and pharyngeal cancers – The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, along with subsequent federal regulations, aimed to improve standards in nursing home care…
Oral bullae – A diverse group of tumors of the lips, tongue, pharynx and oral cavity. Usually squamous cell carcinomas, they are counted…
Oral flora – Oral blisters
Oral health literacy – The bacteria that colonize the mouth.
Oral mucosa – The ability to obtain, process and understand the basic information needed to make appropriate oral health decisions. Beyond basic reading,…
Oral mucositis – A mucous membrane that covers the tissues within the oral cavity. It serves as a protective barrier against chemical irritants,…
Organogenesis – The inflammation and ulceration of the mucosal lining of the mouth; a common and painful complication of radiation and chemotherapy…
Oropharyngeal Cancers – The formation and differentiation of organs and their systems within a developing embryo.
Osteonecrosis of the jaw – Cancers of the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils.
Osteopenia – Osteopenia is a loss of bone mineral density that weakens bones, but bone mass is not low enough to be…
Osteoporosis – Osteoporosis is low bone mineral density caused by altered bone microstructure, ultimately predisposing people to low-impact, fragility fractures. Osteoporotic fractures…
Out-of-network billing – This occurs when a patient goes out-of-network for care. Sometimes bills from out-of-network providers can be much higher than what…
Out-of-pocket limit (or out-of-pocket cap or maximum) – This limit is the most a consumer would pay during a policy period (usually a year) before health insurance would…
Outbreak – A disease outbreak is the occurrence of cases of a disease more than what would normally be expected in a…
Outbreak culture – Outbreak culture is a term to describe the collective mindset that develops within communities and by public health and humanitarian…
Outcome – An outcome is any measure of the patient’s health, such as a score on a pain or disease severity scale,…
Overall survival – Overall survival refers to how long a person lives from the time they were diagnosed with a condition until the…
Overdiagnosis, Overtreatment – There’s been growing awareness in recent years of the risk posed to patients from exposure to tests and treatments that…

P-hacking – P-hacking is data diving, data fishing, data mining, or any other term (dredging, snooping, etc.) that describes manipulating or rearranging…
Palliative care – Palliative care is a unique medical specialty that takes a holistic, integrated approach to provide patients with relief of symptoms…
Pandemic – The definition is subject to debate among public health officials and scientists, but generally it is an epidemic extending over…
Partial Medicaid expansion – Several states are seeking permission from CMS to do a partial Medicaid expansion – up to 100 percent of poverty,…
Participating provider – A participating provider is a physician, hospital, or other health care provider that a health insurer designates as in-network in…
Patent protections – Pharmaceutical companies use patents from the federal Food and Drug Administration to gain market exclusivity on their medications and other…
Pathogen – Any organism that causes disease. Pathogens include bacteria, virus, and fungi. The body comes in contact constantly with pathogens, but…
Pathogenesis – In the simplest terms, pathogenesis describes how a disease begins and develops. In medical studies, researchers may discuss pathogenesis in…
Patient dumping – A statutorily imposed liability that occurs when a hospital capable of providing the necessary medical care transfers a patient to…
Patient harm – This is a blanket term for harm to a patient that results from medical care or a failure to provide…
Patient matching – An umbrella term used to describe the processes involved in correctly identifying a patient and linking that patient’s electronic medical…
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – See Affordable Care Act
Patient registry – A computer database of confidential patient information, usually on a specific disease or condition, used to conduct population health management.…
Per-protocol population – The per-protocol population is the group of subjects in a randomized-controlled trial that most closely stuck to their treatment regimens.…
Periapical abscess – An oral lesion involving exposed bone in the jaw.
Periodontal disease – A pocket of pus at the apex of the root of a tooth, caused by an infection.
Permanent teeth – or adult teeth – Bacterially-caused infections of the oral surfaces, including gingivitis, an inflammation of the gums; and periodontitis which may involve both the…
Person-centered care – Person centered care (PCC) is a process that “moves decision-making directly to the individual despite frailty, cognitive impairment or the…
Pertussis – Pertussis is also known as whooping cough. It is a contagious respiratory disease, spread by air droplets in breath, and…
PET scan – Positron emission tomography, a type of medical imaging test that uses a radioactive dye that doctors can see moving through…
PFAS – These are per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemical substances that are made up of chemicals that accumulate over time in people, animals…
Pharmacotherapy – Use of medications to treat a condition is pharmacotherapy. Two types of pharmacotherapy are polypharmacy — use of more than…
Pharmacy benefit rebates – To control the cost of prescription drugs, pharmacy benefit managers negotiate rebates with drug manufacturers and say they pass these…
Pharmacy gag orders – Under the contracts pharmacies have with pharmacy benefit managers, neither side can disclose the actual amounts pharmacies pay or how…
Pharynx – There are 28 to 32 of them, depending upon whether the four wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, are…
Phases of Clinical Testing – New drugs and devices typically go through four, and sometimes five, phases of clinical testing. Three of these happen before…
Phenotype – This term refers to the physical or otherwise observable characteristics of an organism or some aspect of an organism, such…
Phishing – A “lure” that entices an unwitting user to grant a thief remote access to proprietary data. For instance, a victim…
Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) – This is a reporting program from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for physicians and other providers.
Physician-assisted death – Physician-assisted death (PAD) refers to the practice of a physician providing a potentially lethal medication to a terminally ill, suffering…
Pistol – A handgun with one chamber per barrel. A common design is a semiautomatic pistol fed by a magazine located in…
Pistol brace – A brace similar to a crutch design in which stabilizing metal bands surround the user’s arms. Such bands are used…
Placebo effect – A placebo is a “fake” medicine or treatment intended to substitute for the real one, most commonly used for the…
Plan Year – The date that a health plan begins. Some of the new rules under the health law may go into effect…
Poison bullet – A bullet design to produce maximum damage through tumbling and/or fragmentation. This is done by creating an empty space inside…
Political determinants of health – Some health policy experts say politics has such a strong influence on social conditions that affect health outcomes that the…
Polygenic risk score – Polygenic risk score is a mathematical formula based on genetic test results that reflect the cumulative effect of many different…
Polypharmacy – Polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple drugs, whether to treat a single condition or to treat multiple conditions (related…
Polyvictimization – This term refers to people 60 and older who are harmed through multiple co-occurring or sequential types of elder abuse…
Population health – A term used in the health assessment of an entire group of people. “Population” often refers to those in a…
Population health management – This is the aggregation of patient data across multiple health IT resources, analyzing that data, and using that data to…
Portal/patient portal – An access point to an online system. The word “portal“ is frequently used by hospitals and insurers as shorthand for…
Positive aging – This concept has many definitions but one from The New Zealand Ministry of Social Development may best summarize the idea:…
Positive predictive value – This is a measure of accuracy for screening tests that refers to true positives — the probability that subjects with…
Positivity rate – This refers to the percent of COVID-19 tests with positive results over a seven to 14-day period. As part of…
Post hoc analysis – A post hoc analysis refers to analyzing data for reasons that differ from the reason the data was originally collected.…
Post-acute sequelae COVID (P.A.S.C) – This is new terminology used by the CDC to describe long COVID, long-haul COVID or chronic COVID. Deeper dive Sequelae means the aftereffect of…
Post-claims underwriting – When a health insurer investigates a consumer’s health history after selling that consumer a health plan and usually after a…
Post-vaccination infection – No vaccine is 100% effective, as some people don’t mount an immune response and pathogens mutate to evade vaccines, but…
Practice guideline – Practice guidelines are developed by a panel of experts, frequently convened as a group within a professional medical society, that…
Pragmatic study – Pragmatic trials have a different purpose than explanatory trials, which typically include the usual randomized controlled trials, epidemiological studies and…
Pre-authorization or prior approval – Health insurers often require physicians or patients to get prior approval pre-authorization for expensive diagnostic tests or procedures. Failing to…
Preadmission certification – An authorization from a health insurer to a patient for a hospital admission before the patient is admitted. Failing to…
Preadmission testing – Health insurers often require patients to get any necessary diagnostic testing done before a non-emergency hospital admission.
Predictive analytics – Predictive analytics is the branch of advanced analytics, and is used to make predictions about future events. Predictive analytics applies…
Preferred drugs – A preferred drug is usually a brand-name medication that a health insurer has clinically reviewed and approved for use based…
Pregnancy-associated mortality – Pregnancy-associated mortality is a death while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy, regardless of cause.The pregnancy-related…
Pregnancy-related mortality – Pregnancy-related mortality is a death during pregnancy or within a year of the end of pregnancy from a pregnancy complication,…
Premature mortality – An alternative way to compare the health of different populations is to add up the potential years life lost (PYLL)…
Premium deficiency reserve (PDR) – This is the amount an insurer would need if the expected premiums to be collected would not cover future claims…
Premium rate review – State insurance departments use the premium rate review to review and accept, revise or reject health insurers’ rate requests.
Premium shock – Critics of the Affordable Care Act use the term premium shock to describe the rising cost of health insurance premiums…
Premium stabilization – When the Affordable Care Act became effective on Jan. 1, 2014, the law included three tools to encourage health plans…
Premium support – Proposal to give people a voucher or coupon to help pay for health insurance. At the moment, it’s most often…
Premium surplus – Premium surplus is the amount insurers report as profit or reserved capital and calculated by subtracting costs for paying medical…
Premolar – The throat
Preprint – A preprint is a full draft of a research study shared online before it goes through the peer review process.…
Prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) – A state-run electronic database used to track patient prescriptions of controlled substances, especially opioids. Physicians and pharmacists (and sometimes law…
Presumptive positive – This is a term used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention related to the diagnostic testing process for…
Presumptive positive – This is a term used in the early days of the pandemic by the CDC related to the diagnostic testing…
Prevalence – Prevalence is one of two key epidemiological terms that refers to the total existing cases of a disease, injury, or…
Prevalence – A bicuspid, or double-cusped tooth, located between the sharp incisor teeth in front of the mouth and the larger molar…
Price transparency – Price transparency refers to a movement to provide consumers with the cost of the individual services of health care, such…
Priming – This phenomenon is particularly important for psychology, sociology and other social science studies, though it can also sometimes be relevant…
Principal investigator – Think of a principal investigator (PI) of a clinical trial as similar to the producer of a film. The PI,…
Prion diseases – Prion diseases, also called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a family of rare brain disorders. The disease agent is believed…
Prior authorization – Insurers sometimes ask doctors and other clinicians to provide more information about intended treatments and medicines for patients before agreeing…
Private equity – Private equity companies invest in businesses that turn a profit or have strong cash flow or both. Often, these investors…
Private health insurance – The federal government defines private health insurance as that which an individual would get through a comprehensive private insurance plan,…
Private option – Remember the debate over the “public option” in the health law? Some states have pursued what’s been dubbed the “private…
Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) – PACE is a Medicare and Medicaid program that helps people meet their health care needs in the community instead of…
Progression-free survival – Progression-free survival is an endpoint used in cancer studies. It measures how much time passes (usually measured in months) from…
Prospective payment – Used in some payment models when an insurer pays a provider before care is delivered. The amount of payment does…
Prospective study – A prospective study follows people forward in time. The advantage of prospective research is that researchers can pose a question…
Prostate cancer – Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States, behind only skin cancer. It is…
Protected Health Information (PHI) – This term, first mentioned in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, refers to any identifiable information…
Psychoneuroimmunology – Sometimes referred to as psychoendoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is the study of the interaction of the brain and the body. More…
Public health – Although sometimes used interchangeably with the term population health, “public health” is increasingly used to reference a narrower set of…
Public option – Early versions of the Affordable Care Act included a public option, in which a government-run health insurer would serve to…
Public option – A public option refers to a health insurance program that a state or the federal government would make available to…
Publication bias – Publication bias refers to differences between studies that get published in medical journals and those that do not. A 1991…
Pulp – In epidemiology, the measure of how many existing cases of a disease or condition are found in a population at…

QHP-eligible uninsured population – This is a number that federal health authorities calculate based on the number of uninsured individuals ages 0 to 64…
Qualified Health Plan (QHP) – An insurance plan that is certified by the exchange/marketplace. It has to meet all the legal requirements such as providing…
Qualified health plans (QHPs) – These are certified health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act that meet certain criteria allowing them to be offered…
Qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements (QSEHRAs) – These were established under the Cures Act of 2016 to allow small employers with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees…
Qualifying life event – See Special Enrollment Period.
Quality Adjusted Life Years – Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) measures the value and benefit of health outcomes. It’s used to guide and inform health…
Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) process – The Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) process is one of the two types of CMS-approved surveys (along with the traditional standard…
Quality of life trial – Instead of testing how well a particular intervention treats a disease or its symptoms, a trial focused on quality of…
Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) – A measure used to quantify the value of treatment by measuring the time a patient lives and the quality of…
Quality-adjusted life-year – A quality-adjusted life-year, abbreviated as QALY, is a mathematically derived measurement intended to capture both quality and quantity of life.…
Quarantine and isolation – These are terms that are often confused by the public. A quarantine involves restricting the moment of a healthy person…
Quarantine and isolation – These are terms that are often confused by the public. A quarantine involves restricting the moment of a healthy person…

R-naught/R0 – R0 (pronounced R-naught) is a number epidemiologists use to determine the infectiousness of a disease and a community’s susceptibility to…
R-naught/R0 – R0 (pronounced R-naught) is a number epidemiologists use to determine the infectiousness of a disease and a community’s susceptibility to…
Randomization – Trials that compare an intervention to two groups usually require randomization, where participants enrolled in the trial are randomly assigned…
Randomized controlled trial – A randomized controlled trial, or RCT, is a specific kind of scientific experiment in which researchers screen and recruit people,…
Ransomware – A type of malware (malicious software) that attempts to deny access to a user’s own data by encrypting the data…
Rate review – The process through which state insurance officials review proposed premium increases. Some states can approve or disapprove rates while others…
RE-AIM Framework – This is a model for planning, executing, and evaluating efforts to implement population-level changes in the health and well-being of…
Readmission – This is usually used as shorthand for when a patient returns to the hospital within 30 days. Patients can of…
Readmission rates – Beginning in 2012, the federal Medicare program reduced what it pays hospitals with high readmission rates for patients discharged (and…
Recall bias – This type of bias refers to a research participant’s difficulty in accurately remembering information they are asked for in a…
Red flag laws – Red flag laws, also called gun violence restraining orders or extreme risk protection orders, allow loved ones or law enforcement…
Reference pricing – Employers and health plans sometimes set a certain price limit (the reference price) when reimbursing employees or plan members for…
Regenerative Medicine – Regenerative medicine (RM) encompasses an emerging field of specialty medicine with the goal of replacing, engineering, or regenerating human cells,…
Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) – A Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) (pronounced “Rio“) is an entity that provides health information exchange services to participating stakeholders…
Rehabilitation services – The essential benefits requirements of the health law include both habilitation and rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation helps a patient regain an…
Reinsurance – This is what it sounds like – insurance for the insurers. Reinsurance provides a backstop so an insurer doesn’t end…
Reinsurance – During the first three years under the Affordable Care Act (2014 through 2016), the law called for a temporary reinsurance…
Relative risk – Relative risk, usually abbreviated RR, is a comparison of risk levels between two groups in a study, usually the treatment…
Relative value units (RVUs) – The federal Medicare program makes payments to physicians based on their relative value units (RVUs), which reflect a relative level…
Remote patient monitoring – Remote patient monitoring is the use of technology to monitor the health of patients outside of conventional clinical settings. This…
Repeater – A gun with a magazine that can hold more than one cartridge at a time. Source: UC Davis Campus Community…
Reporting Biases – According to the Cochrane Collaboration, reporting biases arise when the dissemination of information is skewed by the “nature and direction”…
Rescission – Retroactive cancellation of health insurance policy, usually after someone files a claim. This is illegal under the Affordable Care Act…
Reserve capacity – Higher social standing may help people build psychological resources, or a reserve capacity, to cope with stressors more resiliently so…
Resilience – The ability to recover or “bounce back” from difficult situations or challenging circumstances. Such capacity could be at an individual…
Resilience – Resilience is generally defined as how people cope with and bounce back from stress, adverse events and major life changes…
Resource based relative value scale (RBRVS) – In 1992, the federal Medicare program introduced the Resource-based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) system to quantify physicians’ work and to…
Retrospective payment – A common form of payment used for fee-for-service payment is retrospective, meaning a provider delivers care, totals the costs for…
Retrospective study – Retrospective studies are observational studies that look back in time. In retrospective studies, researchers start with a population that’s already…
Reverse causality – Also called reverse causation, reverse causality becomes a possibility when the “effect” of something could actually be its cause. For…
Revolver – Used almost exclusively for handguns, this action contains a rotating cylinder that holds multiple cartridges (typically six). Each cycle of…
Rifling – Spiral grooves running down the length of the bore which engrave the bullet as it travels, imparting spin which stabilizes…
Rimfire – An older design for ammunition in which the primer is distributed around a rim, protruding outwardly around the case head…
Ring vaccination – This is a public health strategy aimed at halting the spread of a viral infection. It involves vaccinating all people…
Risk – The word “risk” often connotes danger: The risk of getting cancer. But in medicine, risk is a ratio that’s used…
Risk Adjustment – This is a way of spreading the financial risk that insurers bear – in and out of the exchanges –…
Risk adjustment – The risk adjustment program under the ACA is permanent and designed to reinforce rules that prohibit risk selection. Under the…
Risk Corridors – Given the uncertainty for insurers in the exchanges the first few years, risk corridors were established to enable the federal…
Risk pool – The risk pool is a group of individuals who get health insurance from one source, for example those who get…
Risk ratio – A commonly used effect size used to quantify research findings is a risk ratio, another word for relative risk. The…
Risk score – Health insurers assign a numeric value to patients when adjusting payment to providers based on the level of illness in…
Risk stratification – Health insurers use risk stratification to adjust payments based on differences in patient characteristics. Health plans assign patients to two…
Risk-adjusted mortality rate – In the plainest terms, a risk-adjusted mortality rate means that a mortality rate has been statistically adjusted to account for…
RNA vaccine – This is a class of vaccines that utilizes a piece of genetic information from a specific pathogen to produce an…
Round – Synonymous with cartridge. Its likely etymology is a reference to repetition (as in boxing round) or, possibly, ammunition for cannons consisting…
Route of exposure – In talking about exposure to drugs, supplements, environmental contaminants, etc., it’s important not only to consider the dosage/concentration and duration…
Run-in period/phase – A run-in phase or run-in period describes the period before the trial starts when all possible study participants are given…
Rural – In general, “rural” refers to places outside of a city, or as HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration puts it:…
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program – Enacted in 1990, this program is the largest federal program specifically for people with HIV/AIDS and serves more than half…

Safety (firearms) – A switch on a gun which renders it inoperative by blocking the trigger mechanism. Source: UC Davis Campus Community Book…
Safety signal – A safety signal is any trend, pattern, set of symptoms or other indicator that a drug or intervention may have…
Saliva – This fluid, produced by the salivary glands, aids digestion and protects the oral tissues.
Salivaomics – Technologies that employ saliva as a medium for detecting and monitoring disease.
Salivary glands – A complex of glands that surround the oral cavity and produce and secrete saliva. They include three major pairs of…
SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-CoV-2019 – On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially named the coronavirus causing illness, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 2,…
SARS-CoV-2 variants – A variant is a strain of SARS-CoV-2 with one or more mutations to its viral genome (genetic code). Deeper dive…
Scaling and root planing – A “deep cleaning” treatment for periodontal disease that removes bacteria and dental plaque from gum pockets and root surfaces.
Scoping review – Scoping reviews are not brand new, but for reasons that are unclear, they seem to be becoming more common. Reporters…
Screening – Screening is a medical intervention or strategy that looks for the possible presence of a condition that has not yet…
Second surgical opinion – Health insurers often require patients to get the opinion of a second doctor after one physician has recommended a non-emergency…
Secondary endpoint – In addition to the primary endpoint reported in a study, researchers may measure and report secondary endpoints as well. These…
Section 1115 Waiver – States can negotiate these waivers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to modify their Medicaid and CHIIP…
Section 1115A – Section 1115A of the Social Security Act was added to the Affordable Care Act to establish the Center for Medicare…
Selection bias – This bias is present in many studies and can sometimes completely invalidate the findings if the authors do not adequately…
Self-controlled case series – In a “controlled” study, the participants receiving an intervention are compared to a control group of participants who don’t receive…
Self-insured employer – A self-insured employer or purchaser (also called a self-funded employer or purchaser) sets funds aside to pay claims for health…
Self-insured plan – Usually involving larger businesses, in these plans the employer collects the premiums and pays the medical claims for workers and…
Self-pay patients – A self-pay patient pays a provider for his or her entire charge for a service from the patient’s own funds,…
Semiauto – Actions which fire one shot with each pull of the trigger. Most semiauto rifles use a gas piston. Most semiauto…
Sensitivity – A way of measuring the accuracy of a screening, diagnostic, monitoring or other test in terms of how many people…
Sensitivity analysis – Any time researchers calculate results in an observational study, they have to make certain assumptions about what does and does…
Sepsis – Sepsis is an extreme bodily response to an infection.
Sequelae – This is a fancy word for all the effects or complications, typically long-term, that occur as a result of a…
Sequestration – Automatic budget cuts. It can be across the board, or some programs or agencies can be exempted or partially shielded…
Serologic test – A blood test to detect the presence of antibodies against a microorganism.
Serologic test – A blood test to detect the presence of antibodies against a microorganism. Deeper dive Antibodies are proteins that the body…
SES-health gradient – Health and longevity tend to decrease with poverty and social isolation, and increase with wealth and social status. This link…
Sex vs. gender – Two of the most commonly confused concepts in everyday language are sex and gender. Most often, the confusion is a…
Sexual orientation – Sometimes confused with gender identity, sexual orientation refers to one’s attraction to other people based on their sex. Heterosexuals are…
Shadow pricing – Shadow pricing describes a practice pharmaceutical companies use to raise prices on prescription drugs by raising prices in lockstep with…
Shared decision making (SDM) – SDM is a process some health plans and provider groups use to help patients and physicians make health care decisions…
Shared risk – Under a shared-risk program, the providers would have some loss of funds when spending exceeds an established target. Capitated payment,…
Shared savings – In a shared savings program, an insurer will share the savings with a provider or a group of providers if…
Shared-savings ACO – A shared-savings accountable care organization (ACO) is a Medicare initiative for physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers seeking to…
Shingles in older adults – Shingles (also called herpes zoster, or just zoster) is a painful skin rash that usually has blisters. Although shingles can…
SHOP Exchanges – The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) is designed to help small businesses in every state provide health insurance coverage…
Side effect – A side effect is a health symptom or condition that occurs as a result of a drug, vaccine, surgery, procedure…
Sidearm – Synonym for a handgun. Source: UC Davis Campus Community Book Project
Silver diamine fluoride – A topical medicament that is used in the treatment of dental sensitivity and increasingly, as a minimally invasive treatment for…
Single-payer health care – Single-payer national health insurance is a system in which a single public agency would organize health care financing and replace…
Single-shot/action – An action without a magazine that can only load one cartridge at a time directly into the chamber. Single-action can…
Sjögren’s Syndrome – A topical medicament that is used in the treatment of dental sensitivity and increasingly, as a minimally invasive treatment for…
Skin changes, age-related – Aging means increased risk for skin injury, according to the National Library of Medicine. The skin is thinner, more fragile,…
Small business health options program (SHOP) exchanges – The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) provides health and/or dental insurance coverage for businesses in every state. They are…
Smishing and vishing – By now, most of us are familiar with phishing, the practice of sending emails that appear as if they are…
Snooping – Incidents where staff at hospitals access someone’s medical records without authorization or being directly involved in the patient’s care. In…
Social aging – Social aging refers to changes in a person’s roles and relationships, both within their networks of relatives and friends and…
Social capital – Unlike traditional wealth, social capital is a nod to the relationship connections in one’s life that cannot be given financial…
Social construction of aging – The creation of social norms and symbols that encapsulates the aging process. While aging itself is a biological process, what…
Social desirability bias – Social desirability bias is a type of bias that can commonly occur with any type of self-reported data. It refers…
Social determinants of health – The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age are mostly responsible for health inequalities—the unfair and…
Social determinants of health – Social determinants of health are factors not related to medicine that can influence a person’s health outcomes. That means the…
Social determinants of health (SDoH) – The federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion defines SDoH as conditions in the environment where people are born,…
Social epidemiology – Social epidemiology is a subset of epidemiology. It is the study of causes, patterns, frequency and locations of diseases to…
Social gerontology – Social gerontology is a subfield of gerontology that focuses on the social as opposed to the physical or biological aspects…
Social portfolio – A method of enhancing one’s pathway through mid to late life phases; Deeper Dive The social portfolio consists of an…
Socioeconomic status (SES) – A person’s social class, or place in the hierarchy of power and self-determination can be quantified using measures of socioeconomic…
Software bill of materials (SBOM) – A list of ingredients that make up software components. This is emerging as a key building block in software security.…
Specialty drugs – Specialty pharmaceuticals include bioengineered proteins, complex molecules and can be derived from blood.
Specialty pharmacies – These state-licensed pharmacies focus on providing medications for patients with serious health conditions such as bleeding disorders, cancer, cystic fibrosis,…
Specificity – A measure of a screening, diagnostic, monitoring or other lab test’s accuracy in terms of the true negative rate —…
Spontaneous vaginal delivery – A spontaneous vaginal delivery is a natural process that usually does not require significant medical intervention. Such a delivery at…
Staff model HMO – A staff model health maintenance organization (HMO) is a type of closed-panel HMO, meaning patients can receive services only through…
Staffing shortages – The stresses of the pandemic are considered likely to cause more doctors, nurses and other health professionals to retire early…
Stages of caregiving – Caregiving evolves through several stages–it may be referenced as four or five, depending on the source – and each brings…
Stand your ground laws – A stand your ground law allows someone to argue they shot someone out of self-defense. There are variations of these…
State-based marketplaces (SBMs) – Outside of the 33 states that use the federal marketplace at www.healthcare.gov, consumers in 17 states and the District of…
Statistical significance – Statistical significance is a test that researchers apply to their results to find out if their results represent real effects…
Stock (firearms) – An accessory of rifles that consists of two parts, the forestock and the buttstock. The forestock surrounds the barrel, allowing…
Stratification – Used in the context of clinical trials, stratification refers to dividing up study participants and/or outcomes into subgroups (also called…
Structural determinants – Social determinants of health (income, education, social class, etc.) are sometimes referred to as “structural determinants” by those who want…
Suicide – Firearm suicides represent over half of overall gun deaths in the U.S. And that ratio can be worse in certain areas —…
Sundowning – The National Institute on Aging defines sundowning as the restlessness, agitation, irritability or confusion experienced by some people with Alzheimer’s…
Super spreader – Someone who is infected with a particular disease and responsible for transmitting that bacteria or virus to many other people.…
Super spreader – Someone who is infected with a particular disease and responsible for transmitting that bacteria or virus to many other people.…
Supercentenarians/centenarians – They are the oldest of the old, an elite club of people who’ve lived to the age of 110 or…
Superiority trial – Superiority trials are similar to non-inferiority trials, but instead of trying to show that one drug is no less safe…
Superuser (or Super utilizer) – The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services define “super-utilizers” as a patient who often admits themselves to the hospital…
Supplemental poverty level – Unlike the official poverty measure, which is based solely on cash resources, the supplemental poverty measure uses cash resources and…
Surprise medical bills – Surprise medical bills are those that arise when a patient who has health insurance receives care from an out-of-network provider…
Surrogate endpoints – Clinical trials often rely on surrogate endpoints to determine whether treatments work. In medicine, surrogates are biomarkers (i.e. blood pressure,…
Surveillance – Surveillance refers to how researchers and public health officials identify, locate, count, and track a particular disease or other condition.…
Surveillance bias (Detection bias) – Surveillance bias, also called detection bias, is a type of selection bias that results when one population is more likely…
Survival analysis – Survival analysis is a statistical calculation assessing the duration of time that passes before death occurs. While survival is one…
Symptomatic case-fatality rate (sCFR) – An epidemiology term that quantifies the risk that a person who is infected with a pathogen, and showing signs of…
Symptomatic case-fatality rate (sCFR) – An epidemiology term that quantifies the risk that a person who is infected with a pathogen, and showing signs of…
Systematic review – A systematic review is a type of study that comprehensively review all other relevant studies on a specific research question…

Table 1 – In nearly every clinical trial or observational study, the researchers provide the baseline characteristics of the study participants in Table…
Targeting with universalism – Providing programs and services in a way that they will be available to everyone, including (and maybe especially) targeting higher-risk…
Tax reporting – Beginning with the W-2s for 2012, the year-end income tax forms include the value of the employer’s contribution to the…
Techquity – Techquity refers to the use of technology as a tool to make health and health care more equitable. Techquity as…
Teledentistry – A chronic autoimmune disease in which the white blood cells attack the body’s moisture-producing glands. Common symptoms include dry mouth,…
Telehealth/telemedicine – Although they are sometimes used interchangeably, the terms telehealth and telemedicine have slightly different meanings. Telehealth is a broad term…
Telescopic sight (scope) – A telescope, with markings (reticle), such as a crosshair, that mounts over the barrel of a gun and extends its…
Telestroke – Telestroke is a form of telemedicine that allows providers to consult with on-call neurologists in other physical locations to better…
Telomeres – Social disadvantage appears to accelerate aging at the cellular level as indicated by the length of telomeres, the protective sections…
Tempromandibular joint and muscle disorders (TMJ) – The use of electronic information transfer technologies and/or mobile electronic devices to provide remote provider-patient assessments, diagnoses, consultations and referrals…
Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – A group of conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the joint that connects the lower jaw (or mandible) and…
The Birthday rule – The birthday rule dictates which health insurance company would be the primary source of insurance coverage for a newborn when…
The Two-Midnight rule – The Two-Midnight rule for hospital admissions for Medicare patients was enacted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS)…
Third-party administrator – A third-party administrator (TPA) is an organization that pays claims for a self-insured (or self-funded) employer or other purchaser, but…
Third-party administrator – See “self-insured plan.”
Third-party payer – An insurer or government program that pays medical bills for a patient or “first party” given care by a hospital,…
Tiered network – In a tiered network, health insurers offer financial incentives to encourage health plan members to choose providers in the lowest-cost…
Traditional health plan – A traditional health plan is defined as a private health plan that has an annual deductible that is less than…
Translational research – In translational or applied scientific studies, researchers use a body of scientific knowledge to solve a practical problem. For example,…
Transmission – Infectious diseases are commonly spread through the transfer of bacteria, viruses or other germs from one person to another. This…
Trauma-informed care – A method of care or treatment that seeks to examine a person’s past history of trauma and focus on how…
Traumatic stress injury – Some military experts, psychiatrists and other advocates have been pushing for the renaming of post-traumatic stress disorder to post traumatic…
Treatment Emergent Adverse Event (TEAE) – A category of adverse events that can particularly occur with cancer or autoimmune condition treatments during a clinical trial is…
Treatment-naïve – Being treatment-naive means that an individual has not yet received any treatment for a particular condition. A treatment-naive person who…
Tricare – This federal health care program has almost 9.5 million members worldwide. It covers active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve…
Two-sided risk – The term “two-sided risk” refers to arrangements that physicians, hospitals and other providers have with health insurers in which the…

Uncompensated care – When clinics, hospitals or doctors provide care without pay – from an insurer, the patient or a government program such…
Uncontrollable risk factor – While there are some things people can do that can either increase or decrease their risk for disease, there are…
Underinsured – People who have insurance but either face very high deductibles and out of pocket costs or skimpy benefits (or both)…
Underserved – Medically underserved populations are those who lack access to health care services such as low-income people, the homeless or other…
Underwriting – Health insurers in the small group and individual markets use “underwriting” – weighing an individual’s health status, “pre-existing conditions” and…
Unerupted tooth – The main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis (marijuana).
Unique device identification (UDI) – A unique device identification system established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to adequately identify medical devices sold…
Universal coverage – Universal health insurance coverage is a goal of the most ambitious health insurance reform plans, particularly single-payer initiatives.
Unstructured data – This is information that is not easily organized and located often in disperse locations. Examples include information collected from physician…
Upside risk – Hospitals, physicians or other health care providers have upside risk if they are paid more for services they deliver than…
Upstream medicine – The U.S. health care system is really more of a “sick care” system. Recognizing this, some health professionals have started…
Urban – Cities in America have sprawled so much that researchers call them “metropolitan statistical areas,” or MSAs. Urban areas are less…
Usual, customary and reasonable (UCR) – This rate is the amount an insurer pays for a certain medical service, and it often varies geographically. It is…
Usual, Customary and Reasonable (UCR) – This is the amount paid for a certain medical service, and it often varies geographically. It’s based on what providers…
Utilization review – Health insurers conduct utilization review (UR) to evaluate the appropriateness of care that physicians or other providers recommend for patients.…

V-safe after vaccination – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created V-safe, a smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to…
Vaccine – Vaccines are agents (usually dead or weakened microorganisms, or a genetic piece of the organism) that elicit a specific immune…
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) – The COVID pandemic drew new attention to the system the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for…
Vaccine effectiveness – Vaccine effectiveness means how well the vaccine performs in everyday life for a broad range of people. Deeper dive Data…
Vaccine efficacy – Efficacy refers to how well a vaccine performs under ideal conditions. Vaccine efficacy can only be determined in clinical trials,…
Vaccine hesitancy – Vaccine hesitancy is a term that has emerged as a more neutral way to discuss attitudes toward vaccines, without identifying…
Vaccine platform – A method of manufacturing vaccines for broad use and multiple pathogens.
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) – The FDA committee responsible for reviewing and evaluating scientific data on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and similar products…
Value-based hospital purchasing – A Medicare initiative that rewards hospitals with incentive payments for the quality of care they provide.
Value-based insurance or value-based insurance design (V-BID) – VBID is a methodology for identifying clinically beneficial screenings, lifestyle interventions, medications, immunizations, diagnostic tests and procedures, and treatments for…
Value-based purchasing – Value-based purchasing (VBP) is distinct from value-based insurance design (V-BID) in that VBP is designed to reward health care providers…
Vector – A vector is any agent or intermediary that carries and transmits a pathogen from one individual to another. Common vectors…
Vector-borne diseases – Vectors are organisms that pass diseases from animals to humans or between humans.
Vertical integration – Occurs in health care when one company in the supply chain acquires or merges with another company along the chain.…
Village model of aging in place – Villages are grassroots organizations that provide community-dwelling older adults with a combination of nonprofessional services, such as transportation, housekeeping, and…
Violence intervention and prevention – Violence interventions, also called community violence interventions, are programs that focus on people who are most at risk of being…
Viral load – A measure of virus particles. Generally, it refers to the amount of virus present in the body once a person…
Viral load – This is the measure of virus particles. Generally, it refers to the amount of virus present in the body once…
Virologist – Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents, including their types, disease-producing properties, how they multiply and their genetics.
Virtual nursing – A workforce model in which a hospital or health system hires or contracts with experienced nurses to work remotely to…
Virtual primary care – Virtual primary care is a term used to describe telemedicine-enabled visits with primary care physicians.
Virtual reality (VR) – A computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment. People can interact with these images using electronic equipment such as…
Virtual visit – An aspect of telehealth or telemedicine (insert hyperlink), a virtual visit is a medical appointment that takes place via video…
Virulence – The degree of damage a pathogen can cause to the body.
Virus – A biological entity with a protein covering that is neither alive nor dead.

Washout period – A washout period can describe two scenarios: a) the run-in period before a study begins during which researchers are waiting…
Wastewater surveillance – Wastewater is water that returns to the public utility system after it’s been used for purposes such as flushing a…
Wearables – The terms “wearables,” “wearable technology,” and “wearable devices” refer to electronic technologies that are worn on the body or clothing…
Weathering hypothesis – Some evidence suggests that greater exposure to adverse social conditions and physical environments produces a chronic stress response that over…
Webside manner – The way in which a health care professional interacts with patients remotely during telehealth or virtual visits.
Well-being – Well-being integrates mental health and physical health resulting in more holistic approaches to disease prevention and health promotion. The CDC…
Wellness trust – Finding traditional health systems ineffective at addressing the social determinants of health, some communities are trying to establish public trust…
White hat/black hat hacker – A white hat hacker is a computer security specialist who tests the security of computer systems and exposes their vulnerabilities…
Whitehall Study – The Whitehall Study of British Civil Servants, started in 1967, famously showed that men in the lower employment grades were more…
Work requirement/community engagement – Under waivers approved by the Trump administration, some states are requiring certain Medicaid recipients to work (usually about 20 hours…
Wrap-around benefits – Low-income people who qualify for various government programs may also qualify for wrap-around benefits – meaning some extra help to…

Xerostomia – A tooth that is still developing; it may be moving toward the surface of the gum but cannot yet be…

Zoonotic – A zoonotic disease refers to a pathogen that has been living within an animal, and then, for an environmental or…
Zoonotic – A zoonotic disease refers to a pathogen that has been living within an animal, and then, for an environmental or…

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