Acute Care – Providing or concerned with short-term medical care, especially for serious acute disease or trauma
Acute – Symptoms or conditions that occur suddenly and/or last a relatively short time, meaning days or weeks, not months Advanced Directives (link to section below) Architectural distortion – The reason a repeat test—such as a mammogram or ultrasound—may be required. The term (occasionally used in other contexts but primarily used in breast imaging) simply describes an abnormal arrangement of tissue on the image. Sometimes there is a breast problem or it is a result of how the tissue is compressed during the test.
Asymptomatic – No symptoms, even if an imaging procedure or a lab test indicates that you have a condition.
Atypical – Your symptoms, condition, or lab-test results are not completely normal, or “classic.” It is neither good nor bad, just different. Atypical can describe chest pain, moles, pneumonia or cells.
Assisted Living – Communities designed for individuals who are no longer able to live on their own safely, but who do not require the high level of care provided in a nursing facility
Calcifications – Tiny calcium deposits are sometimes seen on imaging studies of the joints, blood vessels, breasts or other tissues. The way the calcifications are clustered and their size can help determine whether they’re a normal result of aging or a sign of cancer or heart disease. If there is any question, a more sensitive test might be in order.
Case Management – Case management is a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation and advocacy to promote high-quality, cost-effective care. It integrates options and services to meet an individual’s holistic needs and facilitates communication regarding available resources.
Chronic – This means the health problem is longstanding or comes and goes frequently over an extended, indefinite period. The term is often used to describe degenerative diseases, like arthritis.
Comorbidity – When two health conditions are present at the same time. Heart disease, for example, is one of the most common comorbidities in adults with arthritis. Comorbidities might also be called coexisting co-occurring conditions. The conditions aren’t always related, but the presence of one can often affect the treatment of the other, preventing the use of certain drugs or surgeries.
Complete Blood Count (CBC) – A commonly ordered blood test that measures different blood components, including white and red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit and platelets. Abnormal results may suggest infection, anemia or numerous other disorders, including kidney disease and hepatitis.
Contraindication – Indicates a symptom or an illness may be present that signals a certain drug or a procedure should not be used.
Curative care – Relates to or used in the cure of diseases
Diagnosis of exclusion – Some diseases, such as fibromyalgia, have no definitive test. Diagnosis depends on typical symptoms, plus making sure it’s nothing else.
Edema – Fluid accumulation under the skin or in a body cavity or “swelling.” It can be caused by many things, including sitting too long on a plane,
varicose veins or congestive heart failure.
Exacerbation – Indicating an increase in the severity of a disease or in any of its signs or symptoms.
Fall Prevention Network (FPN) – A non-profit service that connects older adults to fall prevention services. The FPN can connect you with a network of service providers that offer one or more of the following: physical activity programs to improve mobility, agility and balance; home safety checks and modifications; medication reviews; vision services.
Healthcare Reform (click here)
Hyperplasia – Indicates cells are being produced and are growing at a faster-than-normal rate. It could be nothing or it could be a sign of pre-cancerous changes that need to be investigated or watched.
Hospltalist – A physician who specializes in the practice of hospital medicine and is dedicated to the delivery of comprehensive medical care to hospitalized patients. Their core expertise is managing the clinical problems of acutely ill, hospitalized patients and they work to enhance the performance of hospitals and healthcare.
Hospice – A facility or program designed to provide a caring environment for meeting the physical and emotional needs of the terminally ill. Curative care is no longer occurring.
Iatrogenic – An outcome that is not what was supposed to happen, as when a treatment or a surgery causes an adverse effect. For example, a bacterial skin infection developing after the removal of a mole is considered iatrogenic.
Idiopathic – When there’s no identifiable reason or definable cause for an illness or condition.
Lesion – A spot in a tissue or an organ that was caused by disease or injury. Lesions are sometimes benign artifacts from past health problems; other times, they need to be investigated.
Medication reconciliation – The process of avoiding inadvertent inconsistencies across transitions in care by reviewing the patient’s new prescriptions, after hospitalization or specialist visits, compared against original medications prescribed.
Medicare (click here)
Necrosis – Death of tissue, which can be caused by infection, trauma, or toxins. Necrosis is also heard in conjunction with aggressive cancer or can refer to wounds that aren’t healing.
No clinical reason – When there’s no medical reason, based on symptoms and available information, to continue treatment, therapy, or hospitalization, because it would probably provide no further benefit.
Nodule – A small clump of cells that forms on a muscle, a tendon, a joint, or some other tissue, usually in response to an injury. A nodule frequently doesn’t cause or indicate trouble.
Nursing Home or Skilled Nursing Facility – Nursing homes that provide around-the-clock nursing care for those who require a high level of medical care and assistance
Palliative Care – Treatment that enhances comfort and improves the quality of an individual’s life. The expected outcome is relief from distressing symptoms, the easing of pain, and/or enhancing the quality of life. Curative care is often continued.
Patient Advocate/ Patient Navigator (click here)
Pathology – The study of the causes and effects of diseases. Your doctor might refer to a “pathology report” after receiving the results of a biopsy
Prescription – Medication, devices or services which require authorization by a physician, physician assistant or advance practice nurse
Remission – Abatement or subsiding of symptoms of a disease. A period during which symptoms of a disease abate or subside
Somatic – Relating to the body. Headaches and fatigue might be referred to as “somatic” manifestations of stress. Identifying and treating the root of the problem is also important,
Transition – Passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another
Transitional Care – Actions designed to ensure the coordination and continuity of care as patients transition
Unremarkable – Another way to say “normal” or “without abnormalities.” Other terms that mean you’re OK: “negative” and “within normal limits.”
Common prefixes and suffixes:
DYS – A condition that is abnormal, painful, or otherwise problematic. Examples: dyspepsia (abdominal pain).
HYPER – Excessive, or increased beyond normal. Examples: hypertension (high blood pressure); hyperthyroid (increased/overactive thyroid)
HYPO – The flip side of hyper-, hypo- means “too little: Examples: hypoglycemia (excessively low blood sugar); hypothyroid ism (an underactive thyroid).
ITIS – Inflammation, often caused by infection or injury. Examples: arthritis (inflammation of the joints); sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses).
OMA – Often refers to a tumor, which could be benign or cancerous. Examples: melanoma (a serious form of skin cancer); lipoma (a benign fatty tumor).
PLASTY – From the Greek word plastos, meaning “molded”‘. In medicine, plasty applies to surgical procedures that repair, restore, replace or improve the body. For instance, angioplasty is a procedure that opens blocked blood vessels.
Advanced Directives
- Living will – This written, legal document spells out the types of medical treatments and life-sustaining measures the patient wants and doesn’t want, such as mechanical breathing (respiration and ventilation), tube feeding or resuscitation. In some states, living wills may be called healthcare declarations or healthcare directives.
- Medical or healthcare power of attorney (POA) – The medical POA is a legal document that designates an individual—referred to as a healthcare agent or proxy—to make medical decisions for the patient in the event that they are unable to do so. This legal directive is different from a power of attorney authorizing someone to make financial transactions for you.
- Do not resuscitate (DNR) order – This is a request to not have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if the patient’s heart stops or if he/she stops breathing. Advance directives do not have to include a DNR order, and one doesn’t have to have an advance directive to have a DNR order. A doctor can place a DNR order in the medical chart.
