| Term |
Definition |
| Implementation Strategy |
An action plan reported annually to the Internal Revenue Service and required for hospitals to maintain their tax-exempt status. The Implementation Strategy must be written and describe how the hospital will meet the health needs identified through the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). |
| Indigent Care |
Medical care for those who cannot afford it. (see Medically Indigent, Charity Care, Uncompensated Care) |
| Individual Insurance Market |
The market where individuals who do not have group coverage purchase private health insurance. This market is also referred to as the non-group market. |
| Individual Practice Association Model HMO (IPA) |
A model in which independent doctors and/or small group practices contract with an HMO to provide services to an enrolled population. The physicians may own the HMO and are usually reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis, with a percentage withheld. This “pool” of funds held by the IPA’s administration can be redistributed to the doctors in a profitable year. |
| Infection, Nosocomial or Healthcare Associated |
Infection acquired as a result of a medical or surgical intervention in a hospital or other healthcare organization that is neither present nor incubating at the time of admission that may become clinically manifest after discharge from the organization (and can present while still in the organization). |
| Inpatient |
A person formally admitted to a hospital for at least 24 hours. It may also be used to describe the care rendered in a hospital when the duration of the stay is at least 24 hours. |
| Inpatient Census |
Average number of inpatients, excluding newborns, receiving care each day during a reported period. |
| Inpatient Prospective Payment System (PPS) |
A federal payment system in which acute care hospitals contract with Medicare to provide prospectively determined care and agree to accept inpatient PPS rates as payment in full. Hospitals receive Medicare inpatient PPS payment on a per-discharge basis. |
| Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF-PAI) |
A standardized, primary screening and assessment tool that forms the foundation of the comprehensive assessment and plan of care for all patients in a Medicare-certified inpatient rehabilitation facility or unit. The IRF-PAI contains items that measure physical, psychological and psychosocial functioning. |
| Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) |
A facility of more than 17 beds that is primarily engaged in providing treatment services for individuals diagnosed with mental health conditions. |
| Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) |
Skills beyond basic self-care that evaluate how individuals function within their homes, workplaces and social environments. IADLs may include typical domestic tasks, such as driving, cleaning, cooking and shopping, as well as other less physically demanding tasks such as operating electronic appliances and handling budgets. |
| Insurance, Catastrophic |
Insurance that protects the insured against all or a percentage of loss that is not covered by another insurance or pre-payment plan or that is incurred under specified circumstances, or insurance in excess of specified amounts or other dollar or benefit limits. |
| Insurance, Major Medical |
Catastrophic insurance that protects the insured against all or a percentage of loss incurred as the result of severe or prolonged illness or disability in which costs exceed a specified dollar amount. |
| Integrated Delivery System (IDS) |
A local or regional healthcare network that provides a full range of services for all aspects of healthcare in a specific geographic area. Also called community care network. |
| Intern |
A term used to identify physicians in their first year or two of post-medical school clinical training. They are now more commonly called Post Graduate Year, or PGY I, II, III, IV or V. |
| Intermediate Care Facility |
A facility that provides nursing, supervisory and supportive services to elderly or chronically ill patients who do not require the degree of care or treatment that a skilled nursing unit is designed to provide. |
| Interoperability |
The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively and consistently, and to use the information that has been exchanged. |
| Investor-Owned Hospital |
A hospital operated by a for-profit corporation in which the profits go to shareholders who own the corporation. Also referred to as a “proprietary” hospital. |
| The Joint Commission (TJC) |
An independent, voluntary, nonprofit accreditation body sponsored by the American College of Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association. The Joint Commission conducts accreditation surveys for hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Created in 1951 as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH), the organization changed its name to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in 1987 to reflect an expanded scope of activities, before rebranding itself as The Joint Commission in 2007. |
| Joint Venture |
A cooperative financial relationship between two parties (e.g., hospital and physician group, two hospitals, hospital and HMO) in which each party shares risks and benefits. |
| Length of Stay (LOS) |
The length of an inpatient episode of care, calculated from the day of admission to day of discharge and based on the number of calendar days spent in hospital. |
| Licensure |
Formal process by which a government agency grants an individual the legal right to practice an occupation; grants an organization the legal right to engage in an activity, such as operation of a hospital; and prohibits all other individuals and organizations from legally doing so to ensure that the public health, safety and welfare are well protected. |
| Lifecare/Continuing Care |
A program through which older adults commit to reside in a community for the remainder of their lives. The community has the physical facilities and services to provide care ranging from freestanding apartments to nursing home care. Also known as Continuing Care Retirement Community. |
| Life Safety Code |
Standard developed and updated regularly by the National Fire Protection Association that specifies construction and operational conditions to minimize fire hazards and provide a system of safety in case of fire. |
| Living Will |
A statement of a person’s preferences for medical treatment if he or she becomes incapable of making healthcare decisions. Most living wills specify whether the individual wants respirators, cardiopulmonary resuscitation or other measures used if there is no hope of recovery. A living will is a type of Advance Directive. |
| Long-Term Care |
Those services designed to provide diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, supportive and maintenance services for individuals (and their caregivers) who have chronic physical and/or mental impairments; this care is provided in a variety of settings, including the home. |
| Long Term Care Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) |
Either freestanding or hospitals-within-hospitals, LTCHs provide acute care services for patients requiring an average length of stay of at least 25 days. CMS may refer to an LTCH as a long-term care hospital or LTCH. |
| Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) |
Services and supports used by individuals of all ages with functional limitations and chronic illnesses who need assistance to perform routine daily activities such as bathing, dressing, preparing meals and administering medications. LTSS include institutional and community-based services such as skilled nursing facilities, care management, adult day care, home-delivered meals, transportation providers and other services. |
