Activities supported include case mix, budgeting, cost accounting, clinical protocols and pathways, outcomes, and actuarial analysis. Deductibles Amounts required to be paid by the insured under a health insurance contract, before benefits become payable. Deductible carry over credit Charge incurred during the last three months of a year that may be applied to the deductible and which may be carried over into the next year. Defensive Medicine Doctors in recent years have admitted to and have been accused of prescribing additional tests or procedures to justify their care, strengthen support for their decisions or simply to corraborate their diagnosis. This defensiveness is a result of law suits, malpractice claims and the onslaught of external UR entities questioning care decisions.
Defensive medicine is said to be one of the primary causes of the increasing cost of health care.
Many physicians and the AMA fight for tort reform to reduce the need for defensive medicine. Defined Contribution Coverage A payment process for procurement of health benefit plans whereby employers contribute a specific dollar amount toward the costs of insurance coverage for their employees. Sometimes this includes an undefined expectation of guarantee of the specific benefits to be covered. The federal agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs. The federal agency that enforces the law and handles criminal investigations.