Health Care Quality Plain Language Thesaurus
FACT SHEET
Word or Phrase
1 Abstracted
2
Ambulatory Care
3
4
Appropriate
Awarded
5
Chronic Condition
6
Clinical Outcomes
7
Comparative Effectiveness
8
Condition
9
Confidential
10 Criterion
Plain Language Alternative
• comes from
• taken out of; reported by
• care that is given on an outpatient basis
• medical visit at a clinic or doctor office
• go for tests or treatment without staying overnight in hospital
• the right kind
• given
• earned
• long term illness such as…
• long term condition that can get worse over time
• results of a patient's health treatment
• how well your body responds to health treatments
• comparing two or more medicines or treatments
• research to learn which check-ups, tests, medicines work best
• how well different treatments work for the same disease
• medical problem
• illness or disease
• health of someone
• private
• your name will not be shared
• standard
• rule
Word or Phrase
11 Delivery System
12 Diagnosis
13 Early Detection
14 Effectiveness
15 Eligible
16 Evidence-based
17 Filter the Measure
18 Function
19 Identify
20 Immunizations
21 Inpatient
22 Interaction
23 Health Care Encounter
Plain Language Alternative
• the way care is given and received
• how you get medical care
• naming the disease or illness
• finding out what the problem (illness) is
• finding something early
• tests and check-ups to find something early
• how well care works
• how well treatment works
• whether you can get….
• who can get…
• based on science or research studies
• has been tested
• sort the information
• work
• name
• point out
• shots
• vaccines
• stays overnight in the hospital
• overnight hospital stay
• checked into the hospital
• contact with
• meet or talk with
• doctor visit
• hospital visit
• visit to a doctor, nurse or other health care provider
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Word or Phrase
24 Health Care Professional
25 Health Disparities
26 Hospital Acquired Infections
27 Hospitalization
28 Measure Specifications
29 Medical Home
30 Monitor
31 Objective
32 Obtained
33 Outpatient
34 Patient Centered Care
35 Patient Experience
36 Patient Outcomes
Plain Language Alternative
• doctor or nurse or other licensed health care giver
• differences in treatment, care, and results of care among different people
• an illness or infection picked up in a hospital
• an infection you didn't have when you checked into the hospital
• hospital visit or stay
• time in the hospital
• how a measure is defined
• explain what is being measured
• a way to provide care that meets all of a patient's needs
• a medical office where a team of doctors will track all of a patient's needs
• a system of care in which a patient has a medical team that works
together to meet patient care needs
• watch closely
• keep track of
• goal
• got or learned
• a patient who is cared for at a doctor's office or clinic
• get tests or treatment at a hospital without staying overnight
• care based on a partnership between a patient and their doctor
• being treated with honesty, respect and dignity
• being talked to and listened to as an equal
• how well a doctor or hospital is meeting a patient's needs
• how a patient feels about the care they get
• patient's results after treatment
• how well a patient responds to treatment
• the health of the patient after taking medicine
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Word or Phrase
37 Patient Registry
38 Percentage
39 Performance Measurement
40 Performance Rating
41 Prescribed
42 Preventive Care
43 Preventable Medical Error
44 Primary Care Physician
45 Process of Care
46 Providers
47 Providing
48 Public Reporting
Plain Language Alternative
• a way to collect patient health information
• a way to track patient information
• the number of people out of 100
• measuring the number of patients who got the right tests or care
• tracking the results of care
• knowing if you got the right tests
• how often a doctor gives the right care at the right time
• a rank of a doctor's performance
• how well a doctor is providing care
• ordered by a doctor
• regular check-ups
• good care that prevents sickness or injury
• check-ups, tests, and shots that help keep you well
• well-care visits
• medical accident that could be avoided
• the wrong treatment or medicine
• medical mistake that should not have happened
• family doctor
• a doctor who cares for the whole patient
• how care is given
• system of care such as…
• doctors, nurses or other licensed health care givers
• giving
• sharing information about the quality of care given by doctors and nurses
• sharing information on the best doctors and hospitals
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Word or Phrase
49 Quality Care
Plain Language Alternative
50 Quality Improvement
51 Recommendation
52 Recover
53 Reliable
54 Robust Clinical Results
55 Significant
56 Standardized Databases
57 Standardized Performance Measures
58 Subsequent
59 Transparent
60 Unnecessary Costs
• the right care at the right time in the right place
• care based on research or expert standards of what works best
• efforts to provide better health care for patients
• suggestion
• advice
• here's what experts (or doctors) recommend
• get better
• feel well
• trusted
• proven to work
• treatment results for patients
• major
• important
• key
• the same way to store data on all doctors and hospitals
• the same way to measure for all doctors and hospitals
• next
• following
• clear
• honest
• easily understood
• "open book"
• extra costs or fees
• money spent on tests and treatment that don't help patients
The National Partnership for Women & Families is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care
and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at www.nationalpartnership.org.
© 2009 National Partnership for Women & Families
All rights reserved.
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