Prepaid health plan that provides comprehensive services to Medicaid beneficiaries but not to commercial or Medicare enrollees. Also called Medicaid-only managed care organization (MCO) .

System approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that supports the operation of the Medicaid program. It includes the following types of subsystems or files: recipient eligibility, Medicaid provider, claims processing, pricing, Surveillance and Utilization Review System (SURS), Management and Administrative Reporting Subsystem (MARS), and potentially encounter processing. The objectives of this system and its enhancements include the Title XIX program control and administrative costs, service to recipients and providers, answers to inquiries, operations of claims control and computer capabilities, and management reporting for planning and control.

State division that is responsible for administering federal and state policies and overseeing the state’s Medicaid program.

Person who, under the direction of a physician, performs various routine administrative and nontechnical clinical tasks in a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility. See administrative medical assistant and clinical medical assistant .

Online publications by physicians or health care workers over the Internet. Content ranges from medical studies and opinions of interpretations of medical studies to hot topics in the news related to health care such as tort reform and Medicare reimbursement, with links to interesting news items. Often called medblogging .

When one hears medical care , it infers treatment of illness or injury, maintenance of health, and prevention of disease by or under the supervision of a physician. The phrase health care has the intent of a broader scope of meaning when compared with the phrase medical care . See also health care .