Chapter 3 - History of U.S. HC Delivery System

Almshouse (or poorhouse)

An unspecialized institution existing during the 18th and mid-19th centuries that mainly served general welfare functions, essentially providing shelter to the homeless, the insane, the elderly, orphans, and the sick who had no family to care for them.

Asylum

A forerunner of today's inpatient psychiatric facilities. These institutions were operated by state governments for patients with untreatable, chronic mental illness.

Corporatization

The transformation of health care delivery in the United States into the domain of large organizations.

Dispensary

An outpatient clinic in preindustrial America that provided free care to those who could not afford to pay.

E-health

Availability of health care information and services over the Internet.

Globalization

Various forms of cross-border economic activities.

Health care reform

Major changes undertaken by the government to expand health insurance to the uninsured and regulate the financing and delivery of health care.

Integrated delivery systems

Organizations that can provide a full array of health care services.

Means tested

A government program is referred to as means-tested if the eligibility for benefits is determined by a person's income level.

Medicaid

Program for providing health care to the poor through federal matching funds provided to the states based on each state's financial needs.

Medicare

Publicly financed health insurance program for the elderly and certain disabled persons.

Organized medicine:

Concerted activities of physicians through the AMA. The term has been used to distinguish collective efforts from the uncoordinated actions of individual physicians competing in the marketplace.

Part A of Medicare

Provides coverage for hospital care and limited nursing home care.

Part B of Medicare

Government-subsidized voluntary insurance for physician services and outpatient services.

Pesthouse

Operated by local governments during the 18th and mid-19th centuries to quarantine people who contracted a contagious disease such as cholera, smallpox, or typhoid. The primary function of a pesthouse was to protect the community from the spread of contagious disease; medical care was only secondary.

Socialized medicine

Any large-scale government-sponsored expansion of health insurance.

Telemedicine

Distant delivery of health care.