1 ‘Practising physicians’ means medical doctors who have graduated in medicine from medical faculties or similar institutions and are licensed to practice. Practising physicians provide services for individual patients, families and communities. It also refers to interns and resident physicians who have graduated in medicine from medical faculties or similar institutions and who provide services under supervision of other medical doctors.

2 ‘Category of practising physicians’ means the predominant (main) area of practice of doctors.

3 ‘General practitioners’ means medical doctors who assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families and communities.

4 ‘Other generalist (non-specialist) medical practitioners’ means practitioners who do not limit their practice to certain disease categories or methods of treatment. They do not work in an area of specialisation.

5 ‘Paediatricians’ means medical doctors who deal with the development, care and diseases of children.

6 ‘Obstetricians’ means medical doctors who specialise in pregnancy and childbirth. ‘Gynaecologists’ means medical doctors who specialise in the functions and diseases specific to women and girls, especially those affecting the reproductive system.

7 ‘Psychiatrists’ means medical doctors who specialise in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

8 ‘Group of non-surgical specialists’ means medical doctors who specialise in the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of physical disorders and diseases.

9 ‘Group of surgical specialists’ means medical doctors who specialise in the use of surgical techniques to treat disorders and diseases.

10 ‘Other specialists not elsewhere classified’ means physician specialists not covered by definitions 5 to 9.

11 ‘Medical doctors not further defined’ means medical practitioners who cannot be classified in the other categories (definitions 3 to 10).

12 ‘Practising midwives’ means persons who have a recognised qualification in midwifery, have a license to practice and provide services directly to patients. A midwife is a midwifery professional or a midwifery associate professional. Midwifery professionals provide care and advice to women during pregnancy, labour and childbirth and the post-natal period. Midwifery professionals deliver babies working independently or in collaboration with medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers and provide advice and assistance to parents in relation to baby care. Midwifery associate professionals deliver or assist doctors or midwifery professionals in the delivery of babies. Midwifery associate professionals provide antenatal and post-natal care and instruct parents in baby care.

13 ‘Practising nurses’ means persons who have a recognised qualification in nursing, have a license to practice and provide services directly to patients. A nurse is a nursing professional or a nursing associate professional. Nursing professionals assume responsibility for the planning and management of the care of patients, including the supervision of other healthcare workers, working autonomously or in teams with medical doctors and others in the practical application of preventive and curative measures. Nursing associate professionals generally work under the supervision of, and in support of implementation of healthcare, treatment and referrals plans established by medical, nursing and other health professionals.

14 ‘Practising dentists’ means persons who have a recognised qualification in dentistry, have a license to practice and provide services for patients. Dentists diagnose and treat diseases, injuries and malformations of the teeth, gums and related oral structures. They restore normal oral function using a broad range of treatments, such as surgery and other specialist techniques, and advice on oral health. It also refers to interns and resident dentists who have graduated in dentistry from the faculties of medicine and dentistry or similar institutions and who provide services under supervision of other dentists.

15 ‘Practising pharmacists’ means persons who have a recognised qualification in pharmacy and have a license to practice. Pharmacists compound and dispense medications following prescriptions issued by physicians, dentists, or other authorized health practitioners. Pharmacists prepare, dispense or sell medicines and drugs for patients and provide advice.

16 ‘Medical graduates’ means persons who have graduated in medicine from medical faculties or similar institutions in the reporting country, i.e., who have completed basic medical education.

17 ‘Dentistry graduates’ means persons who have obtained a recognised qualification in dentistry in the reporting country.

18 ‘Pharmacy graduates’ means persons who have obtained a recognised qualification in pharmacy in the reporting country.

19 ‘Midwifery graduates’ means persons who have obtained a recognised qualification in midwifery in the reporting country.

20 ‘Nursing graduates’ means persons who have obtained a recognised qualification in nursing in the reporting country.

21 ‘Hospitals’ means the licensed establishments that are primarily engaged in providing medical, diagnostic and treatment services that include physician, nursing and other health services to inpatients and the specialised accommodation services required by inpatients and which may also provide day care, outpatient and home healthcare services.

22 ‘Hospital beds’ means those beds which are regularly maintained and staffed and immediately available for the care of admitted patients. Both occupied and unoccupied beds are included in this concept. Excluded are recovery trolleys and beds for same day care (day case care and outpatient care), provisional and temporary beds. Hospital beds can be partitioned by category of care (definitions 23 and 24) and by function (definitions 25-28) of care.

23 ‘Somatic care’ means healthcare relating to the body, as distinguished from psychiatric care.

24 ‘Psychiatric care’ means healthcare concerning the mind, e.g. dealing with mental and behavioural disorders.

25 ‘Curative care’ means the healthcare services during which the principal intent is to relieve symptoms or to reduce the severity of an illness or injury, or to protect against its exacerbation or complication that could threaten life or normal function.

26 ‘Rehabilitative care’ means the services to stabilise, improve or restore impaired body functions and structures, compensate for the absence or loss of body functions and structures, improve activities and participation and prevent impairments, medical complications and risks.

27 ‘Long-term care (health)’ means the range of medical and personal care services that are consumed with the primary goal of alleviating pain and suffering and reducing or managing the deterioration in health status in patients with a degree of long-term dependency.

28 ‘Hospital beds for somatic care with function not elsewhere classified’ means beds in hospitals that are not classified as being for curative care, rehabilitative care or long-term care.

29 ‘Hospital beds for psychiatric care’ means beds in hospitals accommodating patients with mental health problems. Beds for social long-term care shall be excluded.

30 ‘Residential long-term care facilities’ means the establishments that are primarily engaged in providing residential long-term care that combines nursing, supervisory or other types of care as required by the residents, where a significant part of the production process and the care provided is a mix of health and social services with the health services being largely at the level of nursing care in combination with personal care services.

31 ‘Beds in residential long-term care facilities’ means beds in residential long-term care facilities that are available to persons requiring long-term care.

32 ‘Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units’ means machines with an imaging technique designed to visualise internal structures of the body using magnetic and electromagnetic fields which induce a resonance effect of hydrogen atoms. The electromagnetic emission created by these atoms is registered and processed by a dedicated computer to produce the images of the body structures.

33 ‘Computed tomography (CT) scanner’, also known as Computerized axial tomography (CAT) scanner, means an x-ray machine which combines many x-ray images with the aid of a computer to generate cross-sectional views and, if needed, three-dimensional images of the internal organs and structures of the body.

34 ‘Ambulatory care’ means the provision of healthcare services directly to outpatients who do not require inpatient services, including both care provided in offices of general medical practitioners and medical specialists and in establishments specialising in the treatment of day cases and in the delivery of home care services.

35 ‘Immunisation against influenza’ means vaccination that protects against infection by influenza viruses.

36 ‘Breast cancer screening (mammography) programme’ means an organised screening programme intended for the early detection of breast cancer using bilateral mammography.

37 ‘Cervical cancer screening programme’ means an organised screening programme intended for the early detection of cervical cancer.

38 ‘Inpatient’ means a patient who receives treatment and/or care in a healthcare facility, who is formally admitted and who requires an overnight stay. ‘Inpatient care’ means the care of an inpatient.

39 ‘Outpatient’ means a patient who receives medical and ancillary services in a healthcare facility and who is not formally admitted and does not stay overnight. ‘Outpatient care’ means the care of an outpatient.

40 ‘Day case’ means a patient who receives planned medical and paramedical services delivered in a healthcare facility and who is formally admitted for diagnosis, treatment or other types of healthcare and is discharged on the same day. ‘Day care’ is the care of a day case.

41 ‘Hospital inpatient discharge’ means the discharge (formal release) of an inpatient from a hospital. Healthy newborns shall be excluded.

42 ‘Hospital inpatient bed-days’ means the days that an inpatient spends in a hospital. Healthy newborns shall be excluded.

43 ‘Hospital day case discharge’ means the discharge of a day case. It is the release of a patient who was formally admitted in a hospital for receiving planned medical and paramedical services, and who was discharged on the same day. Healthy newborns shall be excluded.

44 ‘Resident’ means a usual resident of a geographical area, that is either (i) a person who has lived in his/her place of usual residence for a continuous period of at least 12 months before the reference date; or (ii) a person who arrived in his/her place of usual residence during the 12 months before the reference date with the intention of staying there for at least 1 year. Where the circumstances described in point (i) or (ii) cannot be established, ‘usual residence’ shall mean the place of legal or registered residence.

45 ‘Non-resident’ means a person who is a not a resident of the reporting country.

46 ‘Surgical procedures’ means medical interventions involving an incision with instruments usually performed in an operating theatre and normally involving anaesthesia and/or respiratory assistance. Surgical procedures can be performed either as inpatient cases, day cases or, in certain instances, as outpatient cases.

47 ‘Cataract surgery’ means a surgical procedure to remove the lens of an eye and, in most cases, to replace it with an artificial lens.

48 ‘Tonsillectomy’ means a surgical removal of the tonsils.

49 ‘Transluminal coronary angioplasty’ means a procedure that opens blocked coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart muscle.

50 ‘Coronary artery bypass graft’ means a surgical operation where atheromatous blockages in a patient’s coronary arteries are bypassed with harvested venous or arterial conduits.

51 ‘Cholecystectomy’ means a surgical procedure to remove the gallbladder.

52 ‘Repair of inguinal hernia’ means a surgical correction of an inguinal hernia. An inguinal hernia is an opening, weakness, or bulge in the lining tissue of the abdominal wall in the groin area between the abdomen and the thigh.

53 ‘Caesarean section’ means a surgical procedure to deliver a baby through incisions in the abdomen and uterus.

54 ‘Hip replacement’ means a surgical procedure to remove damaged sections of a hip joint and to replace them with a prosthesis.

55 ‘Total knee replacement’ means a surgical procedure whereby the diseased knee joint is replaced with a prosthesis.

56 ‘Partial excision of mammary gland’ means surgical removal of some of the breast tissue due to an area of disease such as a mass/lesion, cyst, tumour, or benign or malignant neoplasm.