Health Care Systems: Technology, Cost Containment, and Waste Management

Vocabulary flashcards covering health care technology trends, primary drivers of rising expenses, cost-containment strategies, hazardous medical waste classifications, and quality maintenance.

Telemedicine

The use of video, audio, and computer systems to provide medical and health care services across different locations, allowing remote diagnosis, treatment, and home care for noncritical patients.

Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Also called electronic medical records (EMRs), digital systems that facilitate the rapid transmission and retrieval of patient information, laboratory results, and radiology reports across various care locations.

Cost containment

The effort to control the rising cost of health care and achieve the maximum benefit for every dollar spent.

Diagnostic related groups (DRGs)

A payment method established by Congress for government insurance plans such as Medicare and Medicaid that classifies admitted hospital patients into predetermined payment groups with fixed cost limits.

Fee-for-service compensation

A payment model in which health care providers are compensated separately for each service rendered, offering little financial incentive to evaluate the necessity or cost of individual procedures.

Value-based compensation

Also known as bundled payments, a reimbursement approach where providers are paid a set amount per diagnosis or disease, incentivizing providers to weigh the necessity and efficiency of treatments.

Combination of services

A cost-reduction practice where clinics, shared laboratories, HMOs, and PPOs join together to eliminate duplicate services and lower the cost per person.

Outpatient services

Health care services delivered to patients without admission to a hospital or inpatient facility, reducing the length of hospital stays and overall care expenses.

Mass or bulk purchasing

The practice of combining equipment and supply orders across departments or health care agencies to buy in larger quantities at discounted prices.

Early intervention and preventive services

Proactive care measures—such as patient education, immunizations, and regular physical exams—designed to detect or stop disease early, avoiding expensive emergency and acute care visits.

Infectious Medical Waste

A category of hazardous medical waste capable of transmitting infections, including bloody bandages, sharps, body parts, and laboratory cultures.

Radioactive Medical Waste

Medical waste that contains radioactive materials, such as nuclear medicine utilized in cancer treatment and diagnostic testing.

Hazardous Medical Waste

Medical waste that is dangerous to the environment or individuals but not necessarily infectious, such as chemotherapy agents and unused sharps.

Energy conservation

The practice of monitoring and reducing the consumption of resources such as electricity, water, and gas through energy audits, facility maintenance, insulation, and recycling.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

A health agency that conducts research to make health care services safer, more accessible, equitable, affordable, and of higher quality while organizations implement cost containment.