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Balance Billing
Balance billing, sometimes called surprise billing, is a medical bill from a healthcare provider billing a patient for the difference between the total cost of services being charged and the amount the insurance pays. It is a pervasive practice in the United States with providers who are out of network, and therefore not subject to the rates or terms of providers who are in-network. Balance billing has a variable prevalence by market and specialty. Advocates of balance billing argue that it increases the incomes of high-quality healthcare providers and measures their dissatisfaction with insurance company fees. Critics say that balance billing lets providers raise charges through stealth rather than transparent pricing, creates unnecessary administrative costs and patient confusion, and allows providers to simply pass along costs to patients, rather than helping them to secure good value. It is thought to erode political consensus in favor of a one-tier system of healthcare, and to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, second-largest country by total area, with the List of countries by length of coastline, world's longest coastline. Its Canada–United States border, border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both Temperature in Canada, meteorologic and Geography of Canada, geological regions. With Population of Canada, a population of over 41million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in List of the largest population centres in Canada, urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is Ottawa and List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preferred Provider Organization
In U.S. health insurance, a preferred provider organization (PPO), sometimes referred to as a participating provider organization or preferred provider option, is a managed care organization of medical doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who have agreed with an insurer or a third-party administrator to provide health care at reduced rates to the insurer's or administrator's clients. Overview A preferred provider organization is a subscription-based medical care arrangement. A membership allows a substantial discount below the regularly charged rates of the designated professionals partnered with the organization. Preferred provider organizations themselves earn money by charging an access fee to the insurance company for the use of their network, unlike the usual insurance with premiums and corresponding payments paid either in full or partially by the insurance provider to the medical doctor. They negotiate with providers to set fee schedules and handle dispute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American College Of Emergency Physicians
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is a professional organization of emergency medicine physicians in the United States. ACEP publishes the '' Annals of Emergency Medicine and the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open (JACEP Open).'' ACEP is a partner of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). History The organization was founded August 16, 1968, by eight physicians in Lansing, Michigan. ACEP established the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) in 1976. COVID-19 During the COVID-19 pandemic, ACEP participated in a number of efforts to promote the uptake and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines, including as a participant in the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project led by the Alliance for Aging Research, HealthyWomen and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging. In early 2021, ACEP received an $8,000 grant from Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Ambulance
Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation and rescue operations. History During World War I, air transport was used to provide medical evacuation – either from frontline areas or the battlefield itself. In 1928, in Australia, John Flynn founded the Flying Doctor Service (later the Royal Flying Doctor Service), to provide a wide range of medical services to civilians in remote areas; these included from routine consultations with travelling general practitioners, to air ambulance evacuations and other emergency medical services. Fixed wing military air ambulances came into regular use during World War II. Helicopters became more commonly used for such purposes during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Later, helicopters were introduced to civilian health care, especially for sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WOAI-TV
WOAI-TV (channel 4) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate KABB (channel 29); Sinclair also provides certain services to Kerrville-licensed Dabl affiliate KMYS (channel 35) under joint sales and shared services agreements with Deerfield Media. The three stations share studios between Babcock Road and Sovereign Drive (off Loop 410) in northwest San Antonio; WOAI-TV's transmitter is located in northwest Wilson County (near Elmendorf). History The station first signed on the air on December 11, 1949, as WOAI-TV. It was the first television station in the San Antonio market, owned by Southland Industries along with WOAI (1200 AM). WOAI-TV and WOAI radio are among the few broadcast stations located west of the Mississippi River that have a call sign beginning with "W". In the early days of broadcasting, most Central Time Zone states were in the "W" te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Health Maintenance Organization
In the United States, a health maintenance organization (HMO) is a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee. It is an organization that provides or arranges managed care for health insurance, self-funded health care benefit plans, individuals, and other entities, acting as a liaison with health care providers (hospitals, doctors, etc.) on a prepaid basis. The US Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 required employers with 25 or more employees to offer federally certified HMO options if the employer offers traditional healthcare options. Unlike traditional indemnity insurance, an HMO covers care rendered by those doctors and other professionals who have agreed by contract to treat patients in accordance with the HMO's guidelines and restrictions in exchange for a steady stream of customers. HMOs cover emergency care regardless of the health care provider's contracted status. Operation HMOs often require members to select a primary car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergency Department
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), acute care of patients who present without prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance. The emergency department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center. Due to the unplanned nature of patient attendance, the department must provide initial treatment for a broad spectrum of illnesses and injuries, some of which may be Medical emergency, life-threatening and require immediate attention. In some countries, emergency departments have become important entry points for those without other means of access to medical care. The emergency departments of most hospitals operate 24 hours a day, although staffing levels may be varied in an attempt to reflect patient volume. History Accident services wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Protection
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud or specified unfair practices to gain an advantage over competitors or to mislead consumers. They may also provide additional protection for the general public which may be impacted by a product (or its production) even when they are not the direct purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government regulations may require businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—particularly in areas where public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of consumer rights and to the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace and pursue complaints against businesses. Entities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a private American foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, and people of color." It is active in a number of areas related to health care and health policy. It is led by Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., M.P.H. Healthcare rankings Since 2004 it has produced reports comparing healthcare systems in high income countries using survey and administrative data from the OECD and the World Health Organization which is analyzed under five themes: access to care, the care process, administrative efficiency, equity and health-care outcomes. The United States has been assessed as worst health-care system overall among 11 high-income countries in every report, even though it spends the highest proportion of its gross domestic product on health care. In 2021 Norway, the Nethe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiologist
Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but today it includes all imaging modalities. This includes technologies that use no ionizing electromagnetic radiation, such as ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as others that do use radiation, such as computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy, and nuclear medicine including positron emission tomography (PET). Interventional radiology is the performance of usually minimally invasive medical procedures with the guidance of imaging technologies such as those mentioned above. The modern practice of radiology involves a team of several different healthcare professionals. A radiologist, who is a medical doctor with specialized post-graduate training, interprets medical images, communicates these findings to other physic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anesthesiologist
Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine. A physician specialized in anesthesiology is called an anesthesiologist, anaesthesiologist, or anaesthetist, #Terminology, depending on the country. In some countries, the terms are synonymous, while in other countries, they refer to different positions and ''anesthetist'' is only used for non-physicians, such as nurse anesthetists. The core element of the specialty is the prevention and mitigation of pain and distress using various anesthetic agents, as well as the monitoring and maintenance of a patient's vital functions throughout the perioperative period. Since the 19th century, anesthesiology has developed from an experimental area with non-specialist practitioners using novel, untested drugs a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambulatory Surgery Center
Outpatient surgery, also known as ambulatory surgery, day surgery, day case surgery, or same-day surgery, is surgery that does not require an overnight hospital stay.The International Association for Ambulatory Surgery (IAAS) would not consider all of these terms synonymous. In a 2003 documen"Ambulatory (day) surgery: suggested international terminology and definitions" the IAAS recommends defining an "outpatient" procedure as one "carried out in the outpatient department of a hospital" and an "ambulatory" procedure as one "excluding an office/surgery or outpatient operation/procedure, where the patient is discharged on the same working day." That is, "ambulatory surgery" occurs in an "ambulatory surgery center." The term “outpatient” arises from the fact that surgery patients may enter and leave the facility on the same day. The advantages of outpatient surgery over inpatient surgery include greater convenience and reduced costs. Outpatient surgery may occur in an inpatient fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
