| Nursing Home Abuse Legal Glossary
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C-Diff: A strong type of diarrhea
that is contagious.
Carrier: A private company that
enters into a contract with Medicare to pay a beneficiary's Medicare
Part B health care bills.
Case Manager: A person who
arranges necessary health-care services for a patient or group of
patients. The case manager could be a doctor, a nurse, another health
care professional, or a social worker.
Catastrophic Limit: The highest
amount of money a person would be required to pay out of his or her own
pocket during a certain period of time for certain covered health-care
charges.
Certified or Certification: A
health-care facility is certified when it passes a survey conducted by a
state governmental agency. Medicare only covers care in facilities that
are certified or accredited.
Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence
not based on actual personal knowledge or observation of the fact in
dispute, but, rather, evidence of other personal knowledge or
observation which allows a jury to infer the existence or nonexistence
of the fact in dispute. An example would be a witness who was entering a
resident's room and saw another person walking out of the room with
blood on their hands. When the witness entered the resident's room, the
witness saw that the resident had a bloodied nose.
Civil Action: Action brought to
enforce private rights; does not generally involve criminal actions.
Civil Law: Body of law concerned
with private rights and remedies, as contrasted with criminal law.
Coerce or Coercion: To compel by
pressure, threat, or force.
Cognitive Impairment: A breakdown
in a person's mental state, which may affect the person's ability to
think clearly. It may also affect moods and induce fear and/or anxiety.
Complaint: In the legal sense, the
document a plaintiff files with the court which contains allegations and
damages sought. A complaint generally starts a lawsuit.
Comprehensive Assessment: Under
the federal Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 a facility must perform an
initial comprehensive, accurate, standardized reproducible assessment of
each resident's functional capacity within 14 days of the resident's
admission to the nursing home. A second assessment must again be
performed after significant changes in the resident's physical or mental
status and/or at least once every 12 months.
Confidentiality: A person's right
to speak freely with his or her health care provider without anyone else
finding out what was said in the conversation.
Consent: Voluntary agreement of
one who has sufficient mental capacity to make an intelligent choice to
do something proposed by another person.
Contingent Fee Agreement: An
agreement between an attorney and his or her client whereby the attorney
agrees to represent the client for a percentage of the amount recovered.
This fee agreement is frequently used in personal injury actions.
Contracture: The drawing together
of muscle or scar tissue that results in distortion or deformity.
Contractures can be caused by long periods of confinement in bed.
Contributory Negligence: Conduct
which falls below the standard of care established by law for the
protection of one's self against unreasonable risk of harm.
Co-payment: The dollar amount some
Medicare beneficiaries are required to pay for each medical service,
such as a doctor's visit.
Court: Refers to a specific court,
such as The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, or may also refer to a judge.
Court Reporter: The person who
stenographically records and transcribes testimony during court
proceedings or related proceedings such as depositions.
Covered Benefit: A health service
or item that is paid partially or fully by a person's health plan.
Covered Charges: A health service
or benefit that is paid partially or fully by a person's health plan.
Criminal Law: Criminal law
declares what conduct is criminal and prescribes punishment to be
imposed for criminal conduct. The purpose of criminal law is to prevent
harm to society.
Custodial Care: Personal care
given by one person to another. Personal care includes such services as
shopping and cooking. Personal care costs are usually not covered by
Medicare.
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