Glossary
A
- AdjustmentThe chiropractic term for a specific manual procedure applied to a joint, usually a thrust.
- Aquatic therapyTherapeutic exercise and treatment performed in water.
- Arterial occlusion pressureThe cuff pressure at which arterial blood flow into a limb stops, used to set blood flow restriction pressure.
B
- Blood flow restriction trainingExercise performed with a cuff on the upper arm or thigh that partly restricts blood flow to the working muscle.
- BPPVBenign paroxysmal positional vertigo: brief spinning vertigo triggered by head position, caused by displaced inner ear crystals.
- Business associate agreementA contract required by HIPAA when an outside party handles protected health information for a covered provider.
C
- Canalith repositioningA sequence of head and body positions that moves displaced crystals out of a semicircular canal to treat BPPV.
- Cash-payA practice model in which patients pay the provider directly rather than through insurance billing.
- Certainty of evidenceHow confident reviewers are that an estimated effect is close to the true effect.
- CertificationA credential showing someone has met a set standard, issued by a private body or, in some states, by the state.
- Cervical artery dissectionA tear in the wall of a carotid or vertebral artery in the neck, which can lead to stroke.
- Clinical practice guidelineSystematically developed recommendations for care of a specific condition.
- ConcussionA traumatic brain injury in which force to the head, neck or body produces signs and symptoms of disturbed brain function.
- Consensus statementA document recording what an expert group agreed after reviewing the evidence.
- Continuing competenceOngoing learning and activities required to keep a license, measured by hours or points.
- Corporate practice of medicineThe doctrine, in some states, that businesses owned by unlicensed people should not practice a licensed profession or control a licensee's judgment.
- CuppingApplying cups to the skin with suction, either left in place or moved across the skin.
D
E
G
I
- IASTMInstrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization: soft tissue treatment using handheld tools.
- In-networkContracted with an insurer to provide services at agreed rates.
- Intramuscular manual therapyA term some physical therapy practice acts and documents use for dry needling.
- IontophoresisUsing a small direct electrical current to drive a charged medication into tissue through the skin.
J
K
L
- Level of evidenceA ranking of how strong a study design is for answering a question.
- LicensureA state's grant of permission to practice a profession, usually the strongest form of regulation.
- Licensure compactAn agreement between states that lets a licensee practice in member states under one home license.
- Licensure examinationThe standardized examination a candidate must pass to become licensed in a profession.
- Likelihood ratioHow much a test result changes the odds that a patient has a condition.
M
- Medical necessityAn insurer's standard for whether a service is reasonable and necessary to cover.
- Meta-analysisA statistical method that combines the results of several studies into one estimate.
- MobilizationPassive, graded movement of a joint without a thrust.
- ModalityA physical agent used in treatment: heat, cold, electrical current, sound or light.
N
- NMESNeuromuscular electrical stimulation: electrical current strong enough to make a muscle contract, used to activate or strengthen it.
- NPINational Provider Identifier: the 10-digit number that identifies a health care provider in HIPAA transactions.
- Number needed to treatHow many people need to receive a treatment for one more of them to benefit than with the comparison.
P
- Persisting post-concussive symptomsConcussion symptoms that last beyond the expected recovery period.
- PhonophoresisUsing therapeutic ultrasound to help a topical medication pass through the skin.
- PhotobiomodulationApplying red or near-infrared light to tissue to change biological activity, formerly called low-level laser therapy.
- Plan of careThe written plan of goals, treatments and frequency for an episode of care.
- Point-of-care ultrasoundDiagnostic ultrasound performed and interpreted by the treating clinician at the bedside or in the clinic.
- Position statementA professional body's formal stance on a clinical or professional question.
- Practice actThe state statute that defines a profession and what its licensees may do.
- Preparticipation examA health screening before an athlete starts a sport, to find conditions that need attention.
- Privilege to practicePermission to practice in another compact state on the strength of your home-state license.
R
- Randomized controlled trialA study that assigns participants by chance to the treatment being tested or to a comparison.
- Red flagsFindings in the history or examination that suggest a serious condition needing medical evaluation.
- ReferralSending a patient to another provider for evaluation or care.
- RegistrationA state listing of practitioners, usually with fewer requirements than a license.
- RetractionA journal's formal withdrawal of a published article whose findings cannot be relied on.
- Return to learnThe staged return to school or study after a concussion.
- Return to sportThe staged process of returning an athlete to full participation after injury.
S
- SCAT6The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool, sixth edition, from the 2022 Amsterdam consensus.
- Scope of practiceThe activities a licensed professional is legally permitted to perform.
- SensitivityThe proportion of people who have a condition whom a test correctly identifies as positive.
- Sham treatmentAn imitation treatment that looks and feels like the real one but leaves out the part thought to be active.
- Soft tissue mobilizationManual techniques applied to muscle, fascia and other soft tissue.
- SpecificityThe proportion of people without a condition whom a test correctly identifies as negative.
- Standing orderA written order from an authorized prescriber that applies to a defined group of patients or situations rather than one named patient.
- SuperbillAn itemized form a provider gives a patient to submit for out-of-network reimbursement.
- SupersededReplaced by a newer version of the same document.
- SupervisionOversight of one practitioner's work by another who is responsible for it.
- Systematic reviewA review that finds, appraises and combines all studies on a question using a stated, reproducible method.
T
- Taxonomy codeA 10-character code that identifies a provider's type and specialty in billing transactions.
- TelehealthDelivering health care at a distance, by live video, telephone, apps or recorded material.
- TENSTranscutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: sensory-level electrical current through the skin to reduce pain.
- Therapeutic ultrasoundHigh-frequency sound waves applied to tissue to heat it or for non-thermal effects.
- Thrust manipulationA high-velocity, low-amplitude movement applied to a joint.
- Title protectionA law that restricts who may use a professional title, without licensing the practice itself.
- TractionA pulling force applied to the spine or a limb to separate joint surfaces or stretch soft tissue.
- Trigger pointA tender spot in muscle that can refer pain elsewhere, used as a target for several treatments.
V
W
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