Health Care Terms : A

Access – A patient’s ability to obtain medical care. The ease of access is determined by components such as availability of insurance, the location of health care facilities, transportation, hours of operation, affordability and cost of care.

Accountable Care Organization (ACO) – A group of health care providers who focus on coordinated care and chronic disease management, while working to improve the quality of care patients receive. The organization’s payment is tied to achieving health care quality goals and outcomes that result in cost savings.

Acute Care – Medical services provided to treat an illness or injury, usually over a short period of time (in contrast with chronic care).

Advance Directive – A document that patients complete to direct their medical care when they are unable to communicate their own wishes due to a medical condition.

Aged, Blind, Disabled (ABD) – A Medicaid designation that assists with medical expenses for poor South Carolinians who are aged 65 years or older, blind or disabled (as classified by the Social Security Administration for an adult or child).

Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC) – A federally supported, state-administered program established by the Social Security Act of 1935 that provides financial support for children under the age of 18 (and their caretakers) who have been deprived of parental support or care because of the parent’s death, continued absence from the home, unemployment, or physical or mental illness.

Pocket Guide to Health Care Terms