Highest and best estate, by which an owner is entitled to the entire property without limitations or conditions, as are his or her heirs.

1. Method of payment in which the patient pays the physician for each professional service or procedure performed from an established schedule of fees. 2. Condition when the third-party payer pays the full fee for medical services. 3. In managed care plans, reimbursement for professional services on a service-by-service basis rather than by the capitation method. FFS reimbursement may involve either discounted or undiscounted rates. 4. Plan or primary care case management (PCCM) is paid for providing services to enrollees solely through fee-for-service payments plus a case management fee.

Quantitative measure of the difference between the amount a physician receives from a managed care capitation system compared with fee-for-service payment.

Specified period of time, usually 12 months, in which supplementary medical insurance–recognized fees pertain. The fee-screen year period has changed over the history of the Medicare program.