1. Incident that is unusual or distinctive from everyday life such as an episode of illness or a trauma. 2. Sixty-day unit of payment for home health (HH) prospective payment system (PPS).

1. One or more medical services received by the patient during a specified time frame for a specific disease by a facility or provider. 2. Term coined by Lovelace Health Systems in 1993 when it began the Lovelace Episodes of Care Program. It means all services provided to a patient with a specific medical problem within a specified period of time. This system was introduced to improve treatment of complex, high-cost, and chronic diseases to enhance cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction. Also called an episode of hospital care . See also continuum of care .

Classification system that groups care given to a patient over time based on services, procedures, and diagnoses that are related to an episode of treatment so that a single payment may be made for the entire episode of care. Also known as episodic treatment group (ETG) .