Physician or group of physicians who have incorporated, obtained a tax number, and filed articles of incorporation with the secretary of state’s office where the practice is doing business.

Discount or exemption from charges for professional services given to certain people at the discretion of the physician rendering the service. Rarely used in current medicine.

Insurance company that specializes in selling and servicing proportional reinsurance and nonproportional reinsurance with the objective of making a profit.
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A term used to designate a company whose business is confined solely to reinsurance and the peripheral services offered by a reinsurer to its customers as opposed to primary insurers who exchange reinsurance or operate reinsurance departments as adjuncts to their basic business of primary insurance. The majority of professional reinsurers provide complete reinsurance and service at one source directly to the ceding company.

1. Groups of licensed physicians and osteopaths engaged in the practice of medicine or surgery in a particular area, formed to ensure adequate review of the services provided by the various medical specialties and subspecialties in the area, as well as providing DRG validation. 2. A group of physicians working with the government to review cases for hospital admission and discharge under government guidelines. Under the Medicare program, PROs are known as Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) programs. See also peer review and Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) program.

Replaced by Utilization and Quality Control Peer Review Organization (PRO) in 1982 and in 2003 called Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) program.

1. Compilation of financial data maintained by an insurance carrier for reimbursement purposes. Also see physician’s fee profile. 2. Data segregated by specific time period (e.g., quarterly, annually) and target area (e.g., facility or state) for the purpose of identifying patterns. This may include diagnoses, procedures, diagnosis-related groups, and so on.

Examination and assessment of activities of patients and physicians to show trends and patterns of health care services.

Twelve-month period that traditional indemnity insurance companies maintain to determine allowable charges.

Evaluation of a physician’s practice that includes demographics of patients, morbidity data, mortality rates, and treatment patterns. Also called physician profiling.