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The Veterans Health Administration (VA) Medical Centers deliver inpatient hospital care and related services for surgery and short-term health conditions, as well as comprehensive primary, specialty and long-term care.

The VA's medical benefits package is available to Veterans (including Reservists and National Guard) who served on active duty and meet eligibility requirements. Other groups can also be eligible. For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs .

A hospital that provides inpatient medical care and other related services for surgery, acute medical conditions or injuries (usually for a short-term illness or condition).

See Heart Attack.

The national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. AHA takes part in national health policy development, legislative and regulatory debates, and legal matters. It also provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.

In angioplasty, a catheter is used to insert a balloon that is inflated to open a blocked blood vessel. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is one of several procedures used to open a blocked blood vessel, known collectively as a percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI.

A drug used to treat heart attacks, heart failure, or a decreased function of the left heart. It stops production of a hormone that can narrow blood vessels, which helps reduce the pressure in the heart and lower blood pressure.

A drug used to treat patients with heart failure and a decreased function of the left heart. ARBs block the action of a hormone that can narrow blood vessels. This helps reduce the pressure in the heart and lower blood pressure.

Drugs used to fight bacteria in the body.

A chronic lung condition that causes problems getting air in and out of the lungs. Children with asthma may experience wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and trouble breathing. Read more about asthma on MedlinePlus .

A procedure where a blade or laser on a catheter cuts through and removes blockages in blood vessels. It is one of several procedures used to open a blocked blood vessel (known as a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention or PCI).

A type of drug that is used to lower blood pressure, treat chest pain (angina) and heart failure, and to help prevent a heart attack. Beta blockers relieve the stress on the heart by slowing the heart rate and reducing the force with which the heart muscles contract to pump blood. They also help keep blood vessels from constricting in the heart, brain, and body.

Blood clots are clumps that occur when blood hardens from a liquid to a solid.

A blood clot can partly or completely block the flow of blood in a blood vessel. Read more about blood clots on MedlinePlus .

A blood test that shows if there are bacteria in the blood and what type of bacteria exist. It helps your doctor decide which antibiotic to use to treat a bacterial infection.

A registry collects and analyzes information on certain medical topics, conditions, or procedures for hospitals or other providers. The registry then provides the hospitals or providers with information to help them improve the care they provide. A cardiac surgery registry is one example of a registry in which hospitals or providers that perform cardiac surgery can participate.

In September of 2011, CMS engaged the American College of Surgeons (ACS) to publically report surgical outcome measures on the Hospital Compare website. Hospitals volunteering in this multispecialty surgical registry are provided with nationally validated, risk-adjusted, outcomes-based surgical quality measures. Hospitals report for one or any combination of three surgical measures-elderly surgical outcomes, colectomy outcomes, and lower-extremity bypass outcomes-collected through participation in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®), a nationally validated, risk-adjusted, outcomes-based program to measure and improve the quality of surgical care in the private sector.

A hospital with a majority of its inpatients under the age of 18, which participates and is paid in the Medicare program as a children's hospital.

An illness that persists over a long period of time.

Two or more diseases that are present at the same time.

A small facility that provides outpatient services, as well as inpatient services on a limited basis, to people in rural areas.

An imaging test that uses multiple x-rays to produce detailed pictures of the inside of the body (bones, organs, and other body parts).

A federal agency that administers programs for protecting the health of all Americans, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The lowest pressure in the artery, occurring when the heart is filling with blood. In a blood pressure reading, the diastolic pressure is the second number recorded.

Fibrinolytic drugs are "clot-busting" drugs that can help dissolve blood clots in blood vessels and improve blood flow to your heart. They are important for treating heart attacks. If you have a heart attack, your doctor may give you a fibrinolytic drug, perform a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or both.

A heart attack, also called an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), happens when one of the heart's arteries becomes blocked and the supply of blood and oxygen to part of the heart muscle is slowed or stopped. When the heart muscle doesn't get the oxygen and nutrients it needs, the affected heart tissue may die.

In heart failure, the heart cannot pump enough blood through the body. The heart cannot fill with enough blood or pump with enough force, or both. Heart failure develops over time as the pumping action of the heart gets weaker. It can affect the right, the left, or both sides of the heart. Heart failure does not mean that the heart has stopped working or is about to stop working.

A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in part of the brain becomes weak and bursts open, causing blood to leak into the brain. Some people have defects in the blood vessels of the brain that make this more likely. Read more about strokes on MedlinePlus .

An index admission is the admission with a principal diagnosis of a specified condition that meets the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the measure.

A serious and sometimes deadly lung infection that can spread quickly in a community. Symptoms include fever-often a high temperature of more than 102o Fahrenheit (38.9o Celsius), headache, muscle aches and pains, chills, cough and chest pain when you take a breath ("pleuritic chest pain"). Although most people recover from the illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) estimates that in the United States more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year.

The main way to keep from getting flu is to get a yearly flu vaccination. Learn more about the flu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .

Hospitals should check to make sure that pneumonia patients get a flu shot during flu season to protect them from another lung infection and to help prevent the spread of influenza in the community.

Services you get when you're admitted to a hospital, including bed and board, nursing services, diagnostic or therapeutic services, and medical or surgical services.

The classification used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates.

Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot. Ischemic strokes may be caused by clogged arteries. Fat, cholesterol, and other substances collect on the artery walls, forming a sticky substance called plaque. Read more about strokes on MedlinePlus .

A test to check how well the heart is pumping.

Acute care hospitals that provide treatment for patients who stay, on average, more than 25 days. Most patients are transferred from an intensive or critical care unit. These hospitals provide services like comprehensive rehabilitation, respiratory therapy, head trauma treatment, and pain management.

An imaging test that uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create pictures of the body. It does not use radiation (x-rays).

The process of collecting data to assess performance conducted at a single point in time or repeated over time.

Tests that create images of various parts of the body to screen for or diagnose medical conditions. Examples of medical imaging include CT Scans, MRIs, and mammograms.

A type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide you with all your Part A and Part B benefits. Medicare Advantage Plans include Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), Private Fee-for-Service Plans, Special Needs Plans, and Medicare Medical Savings Account Plans. If you're enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, Medicare services are covered through the plan and aren't paid for under Original Medicare. Most Medicare Advantage Plans offer prescription drug coverage.

A plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide Part A and Part B benefits to people with Medicare who enroll in the plan. Medicare health plans include all Medicare Advantage Plans, Medicare Cost Plans, Demonstration/Pilot Programs, and Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

The Medicare Severity - Diagnosis Related Groups (MS-DRGs) are payment groups designed for the Medicare population. Patients who have similar clinical characteristics and similar costs are assigned to an MS-DRG. The MS-DRG will be linked to a fixed payment amount based on the average cost of patients in the group. Patients can be assigned to an MS-DRG based on their diagnosis, surgical procedures, age and other information. Hospitals provide this information on their bills and Medicare uses this information to decide how much the hospitals should be paid. There may be some groups of MS-DRGs that are based on complications or comorbidities (CCs) or major complications or comorbidities (MCCs). Complications are new problems that are the result of a procedure, treatment, or illness.

In order to receive any payment from either the Medicare or Medicaid programs, a hospital must meet a set of basic standards for quality of care, called 'conditions of participation.' Medicare-certified hospitals are reviewed periodically (every three years), either by their State Survey Agency or a CMS-approved national accreditation organization, to assure that they are continuing to provide services of acceptable quality. Accreditation is optional, but most short-term acute hospitals in the United States choose to be Medicare-certified based on accreditation by a CMS approved national accreditation organization.

There are currently three CMS-approved national hospital accreditation organizations- the American Osteopathic Association/health care Facilities Accreditation Program (AOA/HFAP), Det Norske Veritas Healthcare (DNV Healthcare), and The Joint Commission (TJC).

The "number of completed surveys" is the total number of patients who completed a survey. When at least 300 patients have completed the survey for a hospital, we can be more confident that the survey results are fully representative of patients' experiences at that hospital and are reliable for assessing the hospital's performance. However, smaller hospitals could sample all of their HCAHPS-eligible discharges but, because of their small size, still have fewer than 300 completed surveys.

Original Medicare is fee-for-service coverage under which the government pays your health care providers directly for your Part A and/or Part B benefits.

A licensed physician who can do surgery and prescribe drugs who has training in manipulative therapy. Also called a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO).

Medical or surgical care you get from a hospital when your doctor hasn't written an order to admit you to the hospital as an inpatient. Outpatient hospital care may include emergency department services, observation services, outpatient surgery, lab tests, or X-rays. Your care may be considered outpatient hospital care even if you spend the night at the hospital.

Under the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS), hospitals are paid a set amount of money (called the payment rate) to provide certain outpatient services to people with Medicare.

Test that measures the amount of oxygen in your blood to see if you need oxygen therapy.

Patients are considered "discharged" from a hospital when they are released to go home or to another health care setting, or when they die during the hospital stay.

The procedures called percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), such as angioplasty and atherectomy are among those that are the most effective for opening blocked blood vessels that cause heart attacks. Doctors may perform a PCI, or give certain drugs to open the blockage, and in some cases, they may do both.

A written plan of care created with your physician and hospital staff. It tells what services you will get to reach and keep your best physical, mental, and social wellbeing. The hospital staff keeps your doctor up-to-date on how you are doing and updates your care plan as needed.

An inflammation of the lungs caused by a viral or bacterial infection. This fills your lungs with mucus and lowers the oxygen level in your blood. Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, difficulty breathing, chills, a "wet" cough, and chest pain. For more on pneumonia, visit MedlinePlus .

Vaccine given to prevent pneumonia, estimated to protect against 80% of bacteria causing pneumonia.

A doctor, hospital, health care professional or health care facility.

A facility that provides inpatient psychiatric services for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness on a 24-hour basis, by or under the supervision of a physician.

Quality health care is how well a doctor, hospital, health plan, or other provider of health care, keeps its patients healthy or treats them when they are sick. Good quality health care means doing the right thing at the right time, in the right way, for the right person and getting the best possible results.

The process of looking at how well a medical service is provided. The process may include formally reviewing health care given to a person, or group of persons, locating the problem, correcting the problem, and then checking to see if what was done worked.

A group of practicing doctors and other health care experts paid by the federal government to check and improve the care given to people with Medicare.

The amount of one thing compared to the amount of another, such as the number of combination CT scans done compared to the number of all CT scans done.

Patients who are admitted to the hospital for treatment of medical problems sometimes get other serious injuries, complications, or conditions, and may even die. Some patients may experience problems soon after they are discharged and need to be admitted to the hospital again. These events can often be prevented if hospitals follow best practices for treating patients.

A registry collects and analyzes information on certain medical topics, conditions, or procedures for hospitals or other providers.  The registry then provides the hospitals or providers with information to help them improve the care they provide.  Examples of registries in which hospitals can participate include: a multispecialty surgical registry , a nursing care registry,  and a stroke care registry.

A hospital that specializes in improving or restoring a patient's functional ability through therapies. Sometimes called a post-acute hospital.

Relievers are medications that relax the bands of muscle surrounding the airways and are used to quickly make breathing easier.

'Risk-adjusted' means that the measure calculations take into account how sick patients were when they went in for their initial hospital stay. When rates are risk-adjusted, it means that hospitals that usually take care of sicker patients won't have a worse rate just because their patients were sicker when they arrived at the hospital. When rates are risk-adjusted, it helps make comparisons fair and meaningful.

A medical procedure to check for breast cancer before you or a doctor may be able to find it manually.

A small wire tube inserted in a blood vessel by a catheter to hold open a blocked blood vessel. This is one of several procedures called a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) that are used to open a blocked blood vessel.

A structural measure reflects the environment in which providers care for patients, such as whether or not a hospital uses an electronic health record.

A national, standardized survey of hospital patients about their experiences during a recent inpatient hospital stay. This is also referred to as HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems).

Tells what percentage of patients who were asked to complete the survey actually did complete it. In general, the higher this response rate percentage, the more confident we can be that the survey results for a hospital are representative of patients' experiences at that hospital and are reliable for assessing the hospital's performance.

Inflammation-reducing, anti-allergic medications that affect the body as a whole.

Hospitals that train residents in approved medical, osteopathic, dental or podiatry residency programs.

An independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies a large number of health care organizations and programs in the United States. The Joint Commission's hospital accreditation program has held deeming authority since the inception of the Medicare program in 1965. The Joint Commission's mission is to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.

Something done to help with a health problem. For example, giving certain drugs and performing surgery are treatments.