Glossary of Terms & Definitions of Measures

Glossary of Terms & Definitions of Measures

Terms and measures used are presented below in alphabetical order in two sections:

Community Health Profiles
Hospital Profiles (2003)
Hospital Profiles (2001)

Although a few indicators from the Hospital Profiles (beds, admissions, etc.) are presented in the Community Health Profiles, the terms and measures are presented within the discussion of the former.

Community Health Profiles
Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions	Ambulatory care sensitive conditions are those which should be able to be managed on an outpatient basis and for which hospitalization should not be necessary, such as asthma (See Special Notes). Such hospitalizations are often a reflection of the preventive health care system as well as patient compliance. The definitions used for calculating the measures can be found in Appendix A of the AHRQ “Guide to Prevention Quality Indicators,” Revision 3, dated January 9.
Below poverty level	Persons in families with incomes below the federally-defined poverty level in 1989 (1990 data) and 1999 (2000 data). These figures are based on families for whom income level was disclosed.
Below twice poverty level	Persons in families with incomes below twice the federally-defined poverty level in 1989 (1990 data) and 1999 (2000 data). These figures are based on families for whom income level was disclosed.
Births with no prenatal care	The annual number of births to resident mothers receiving no prenatal care.
Community Health Centers	Include primarily facilities designated by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration as Federally Qualified Health Centers or Federally Qualified Look-A likes. Also included are free clinics.
Encounters	Used to determine utilization, are defined as a documented face-to-face contact between a user and a provider who exercises independent judgment in the provision of services to the individual. To be included as an encounter, services rendered must be documented.
Foreign Born	Persons include all people who indicated they were either a U.S. citizen by naturalization or they were not a citizen of the United States. Persons born abroad of American parents or born in Puerto Rico or other U.S. Island Areas are not considered foreign born.
Health Care Resources	Includes five types of facilities: community health centers, publicly-operated health centers, school-based health centers, hospitals, and hospital-affiliated health centers.
Infant Mortality	The annual number and rate of deaths of resident infants (younger than one year of age). The rate is the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births to mothers residing in the community area.
Language Other than English Spoken at Home	Persons who report they sometimes or always spoke a language other than English at home. People who knew languages other than English but did not use them at home, who only used them elsewhere, or whose usage was limited to a few expressions or slang are excluded. Tabulations of language spoken at home include only the responses of persons 5 years old and over.
Leading Causes of Death	The annual number of resident deaths, percentage and rate per 100,000 population are presented for each of the indicated cases of death (based on ICD-10 codes). Rates for causes of death and all-cause mortality are not age-adjusted.
Live Births	The annual number of live births to mothers residing in the community area.
Low Birthweight	The annual number of resident live births weighing less than 2,500 grams or 5 pounds 8 ounces.
Multi-Race	Persons who in completing the United States Census survey check two or more race response check boxes, provide multiple write-in responses, or some combination of check boxes and write-in responses are considered multi-race. Multi-Race is then a combination of two or more of the following race categories: White Black or African American American Indian and Alaska Native Asian Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Some other race
Outpatient Visits	The number of individual visits to hospital outpatient departments located on the hospital campus.
Primary Care Capacity	Primary care capacity for ambulatory primary health care is estimated by applying the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care recommended productivity measures for physician and mid-level providers to the number of reported full time equivalent providers reported from each facility. The full time equivalent (FTE) figure of a provider is calculated by using a base of a 40 hour work week. Physician capacity is calculated based on an anticipated 4200 encounters per FTE. Capacity for mid-level providers is based on 2100 encounters per FTE. Note that capacity estimates for mid-level providers at Chicago Department of Public Health sites are based on 4200 encounters per FTE.
Primary Care Utilization	Utilization estimates include the total number of primary care encounters provided at a specific facility. Encounters are defined as a documented face-to-face contact between a user and a provider who exercises independent judgment in the provision of services to the individual. To be included as an encounter, services rendered must be documented. Utilization figures for community health centers and publicly-operated sites include primary care visits to the following providers: family practitioners, general practitioners, internists, obstetricians/gynecologists, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse midwives. Encounters for school-based health centers include all medical visits for care in the reporting year. The utilization numbers provided for hospitals’ outpatient departments come from the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Annual Hospital Questionnaire. These numbers represent all visits in the reporting year. This then includes some visits that are not primary care. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2002 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey suggests that 73.3% of outpatient visits are primary care visits.
Teen Births	The annual number of resident live births to women younger than twenty years of age.

Hospital Profiles (2003)
Admissions	The number of patients accepted for inpatient service during a 12-month period. Patients that were admitted more than once during the year are counted separately for each admission. Newborns are not included.
Average Daily Census	The average number of staffed beds that are occupied each day. The average daily census is calculated by dividing the total inpatient days by 365 days.
Average Length of Stay (ALOS)	The average number of days each patient stayed. The ALOS is calculated by dividing the total inpatient days by the total admissions.
Emergency Room Visits	The number of visits seeking medical assistance from the hospital’s emergency department. This number may include multiple visits from the same patients.
Licensed Beds	The maximum bed capacity approved by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. Inventoried beds are approved by category of service.
Live Births	The annual number of surviving births delivered at the hospital.
Payment Source	The party responsible for hospital payment. Options include:
Charity Care	Care for which the provider does not expect to receive payment from the patient or a third-party payor.
Insurance	Care which is covered by individual or group private health insurance.
Medicaid	A jointly-funded, state and federal government, insurance program that pays for medically necessary services. Medicaid pays for medical services for children and their caretakers, pregnant women, and persons who are disabled, blind or 65 years of age or older who can demonstrate a need through income and assets standards. In Illinois, Medicaid is administered by the Department of Health Care and Family Services (previously the Department of Public Aid). Medicaid funds physicians, hospitals and long term care.
Medicare	A health insurance program for people 65 years of age and older, some disabled people under 65 years of age, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant). The Medicare program is administered by the Federal government.
Other Public	Includes all forms of direct public payment excluding Medicaid and Medicare.
Private Pay	Patients that are uninsured and/or pay directly for hospital services.
Staffed Beds	Of the number of licensed beds, the number which are staffed and available for use. The number presented reflects the peak number of beds at any one time for the year.

Hospital Profiles (2001)
Average Daily Census	The average number of set up and staffed beds that are occupied each day. It is calculated by dividing the total number of inpatient days by 365.
Average Length of Stay (ALOS)	The average number of days each patient stayed in the hospital. The ALOS is calculated by dividing the total number of inpatient days by the number of admissions, e.g. individual patients.
Average Occupancy Rate	The percent of hospital beds occupied in a given year. The Average Occupancy Rate is calculated by multiplying the number of set up and staffed beds by 365 and then dividing the total number of inpatient days by that number.
Beds
Licensed Beds	The number of beds that a hospital is licensed to operate by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Beds are licensed by type of hospital unit, such as medical surgical and pediatric. This is also the maximum capacity of the hospital.
Set Up & Staffed Beds	The number of licensed beds that a hospital is currently operating.
Diagnosis	The primary diagnosis is the main reason cited for the admission of a patient to the hospital.
Discharge	Each patient that was admitted, received hospital services, and was discharged from the hospital. This number includes patients who were admitted and died.
Neonatal Level III	An advanced perinatal unit operated by a hospital.
Outpatients	The number of visits delivered at hospital outpatient departments located both on the hospital campus and at freestanding hospital outpatient facilities located elsewhere in the community, including surgery centers and cancer treatment centers.
Payor Source	The party responsible for hospital payment. Options include:
Medicaid	A jointly-funded, state and federal government, insurance program that pays for medically necessary services. Medicaid pays for medical services for children and their caretakers, pregnant women, and persons who are disabled, blind or 65 years of age or older who can demonstrate a need through income and assets standards. In Illinois, Medicaid is administered by the Department of Public Aid. Medicaid funds physician, hospital and long term care. Additional coverage includes drugs, medical equipment and transportation, family planning, laboratory tests, x-rays and other medical services. Many Medicaid recipients have income and assets but still qualify for the program. These individuals pay a portion of their medical expenses while Medicaid pays the remainder. This is called "spend-down" and extends the program to many low-income families and individuals.
Medicare	A health insurance program for people 65 years of age and older, some disabled people under 65 years of age, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant). Medicare is administered by the Federal government.
Commercial	Individual or group private health insurance.
Self Pay	Patients that are uninsured and/or pay directly for hospital services.
Personnel
LPN	Licensed Practical Nurses have graduated from an approved school of practical (vocational) nursing and work under the supervision of registered nurses and/or physicians.
RN	Registered Nurses have graduated from approved schools of nursing and are currently registered by the state. They are responsible for the nature and quality of all nursing care that patients receive.
Total Admissions	The number of patients that were admitted to the hospital. Patients that were admitted more than once during the year are counted separately for each admission.