Insurance benefits that transfer from one health plan to another with no break in coverage or from one type of membership to another (e.g., from dependent to subscriber with a new subscriber identification number). Also called continuity of coverage.

Type of kidney dialysis where the patient generally dialyzes at home and uses an automated peritoneal cycler for delivering dialysis exchanges.

In hospice cases, this is a day on which the patient is not in an inpatient facility and elects to receive nursing care on an uninterrupted basis at home. This type of care is furnished during brief periods of crisis and only as needed to maintain a terminally ill patient at home.

Process that continually monitors program performance. When a quality problem is identified, CQI develops a revised approach to that problem and monitors implementation and success of the revised approach. The process includes involvement at all stages by all organizations, which are affected by the problem and/or involved in implementing the revised approach. Sometimes called total quality management (TQM) and quality improvement (QI).

Type of whole life insurance that requires premiums payable until the death of the insured. Also called straight life insurance or whole life insurance.

Medical care of all levels and intensity such as skilled nursing care and intermediate care provided to frail and chronically ill patients in a variety of settings (e.g., hospital facilities, nursing homes) over an extended period of time. Services also focus on the social, residential, rehabilitative, and supportive needs of individuals. Also see episode of care (EOC).

Distribution of types of enrollees who are dependents in insurance health plans (i.e., individual [single] coverage, husband and wife, family, subscriber and spouse, or subscriber and children). This is used to determine average insurance contract size.

One month within an insurance contract period. This phrase is used by insurance companies and managed care plans to describe utilization or market share stated in terms of the number of subscriber contracts per month.