Alternative Medicine
Programs that offer health care and treatment procedures that fall outside the mainstream of conventional medical practice. Most alternative approaches provide preventive care in addition to treatment of established conditions, define health as more than just the absence of disease, focus on natural healing as the treatment of choice, avoid invasive procedures to the extent possible, and approach individuals holistically dealing with their mental, emotional and spiritual needs in addition to the physical body. Many have their origins in the medical systems of non-Western cultures or in ancient healing traditions. Some alternative therapies are used instead of traditional Western "biomedical" procedures; others are complementary, used in addition to conventional care.
Burn Centers
Programs that provide special facilities for people who have received second and third degree burns to exterior surfaces of the body or to the respiratory tract that were caused by fire or excessive heat, flash explosions, hot steam or water, chemicals, electricity or radioactive substances or heat. Burn centers utilize a variety of equipment including sterilized rooms which have specially purified air to prevent infection, special beds and mattresses, heat shields rather than blankets and hyperbaric oxygen chambers which use concentrated oxygen to speed healing and prevent infection.
Chemotherapy/Radiation Therapy
Programs that treat people who have a particular illness or condition through the application of chemical reagents which have a specific and toxic effect upon the disease-causing organism, or through the use of radioactive substances including radioactive isotopes and ionizing radiation to kill diseased cells. Included are radioactive implants, x-ray radiation therapy and supervoltage and megavoltage treatments with specialized equipment including cobalt units, linear accelerators with or without electron team therapy capability, betatrons and van de Graff machines.
Condition Specific Treatment
Programs that provide comprehensive medical and/or surgical services on an inpatient or outpatient basis for people who have a targeted disease, condition or disorder.
Hemodialysis
Programs that provide equipment that is used to clean the blood of patients in whom one or both kidneys are defective or absent, and to remove excess accumulation of drugs or chemicals in the blood.
Home Health Care
Programs that make necessary medical services available in the homes of people who are aged, ill or convalescing.
Hospice Care
Programs that provide a full range of supportive services for terminally ill individuals who are in the final stages of their illnesses and for their families. Services may include medical care, pain and symptom management, home nurse visitation, case management, emotional and spiritual support, and bereavement services for the patient and members of the family. Hospice care may be provided at home, in a freestanding hospice facility, a hospice unit of a hospital or in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. In order to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement, an individual must have a life threatening illness and must be certified by their physician to have entered the last six months of life.
Immunizations
Programs that provide inoculations or other prophylactic measures to prevent susceptible individuals from contracting specific diseases for which means of control have been developed including immunizations recommended specifically for newborns and young children, booster shots to prevent the occurrence of childhood illnesses in adolescence and adulthood, inoculations recommended specifically for pregnant women and immunizations against illnesses such as shingles and pneumonia for older adults.
Pain Management
Multidisciplinary programs that specialize in the treatment of individuals who have chronic, severe pain of organic origin that has not responded to medical or surgical therapy. Treatment is individualized and may include occupational therapy, muscle relaxation, behavior modification, stress management, biofeedback, psychological and psychosocial counseling, nutrition counseling, food allergy testing, exercise programs and a variety of physical intervention techniques including electrical stimulation of selected peripheral nerves and laser biostimulation.
Palliative Care
Programs that provide for the comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and existential needs of patients with the objective of helping them achieve the best possible quality of life through relief of suffering, control of symptoms and restoration of functional capacity while remaining sensitive to personal, cultural and religious values, beliefs and practices. The focus of palliative care is on people with incurable, progressive illnesses who are in the early stages of their illness. Palliative care may be provided in a wide variety of health care settings including hospitals, nursing facilities, hospice facilities and the person's own home; and may be coordinated with other services including curative therapies.
