group practice

practice /prac·tice/ (prak´tis) the use of one's knowledge in a particular profession; the practice of medicine is the exercise of one's knowledge for recognition and treatment of disease.

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family practice  the medical specialty concerned with the planning and provision of the comprehensive primary health care of all members of a family on a continuing basis.

general practice  old term for the provision of comprehensive medical care regardless of age of the patient or presence of a condition that may temporarily require the services of a specialist; the term has largely been replaced by the term family practice.

group practice  see under medicine.

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group practice

n.

The practice of medicine by a group of physicians, each of whom is usually confined to some special field but all of whom share a common facility.

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group practice,

two or more physicians, advanced practice nurses, and/or physician's assistants who work together and share facilities. The physicians may practice different specialties. Physicians who are part of a group often are prohibited from becoming independent contractors and earning money by providing medical care outside the group.

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practice,

v 1. to follow or work at, as a profession, trade, or art.
n 2. the business operated by a medical professional.

practice administration,

n the organization, operation, and supervision of the business and professional aspects of a dental practice.

practice building,

n the process of increasing the number of patients and the number of services without sacrificing quality, by means of observing the principles of constantly improving professional care and maintaining effective relations with patients.

practice goal,

n the planning of the objectives of a dental practice and the method of reaching those objectives. To be ascertained by the dental practitioner before or immediately on entering dental practice.

practice, group,

n a large partnership formed for the purpose of practicing dentistry; may or may not include the services of the recognized specialties in dentistry.

practice guidelines,

n a detailed description of a process of maintenance of health status or to slow the decline in health status in certain chronic clinical conditions. They are established to assist in the delivery of effective and efficient health care that preserves the resources of the provider, the patient, and the funding entity.

practice management, dental,

n the administrative organization of a dental office, including but not limited to the supervision and control of patient flow, staff assignment and evaluation, record keeping, and financial overseeing.

practice, private,

n the business and profession in which dental services are administered for a fee.

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group

1. an assemblage of objects or animals having certain things in common.

2. a number of atoms forming a recognizable and usually transferable portion of a molecule.

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azo group

the bivalent radical, −N=N−.

blood g's

categories into which blood can be classified on the basis of agglutinogens. See also blood group.

group breeding scheme

method of selecting breeding stock in which a group of breeders cooperate to run an open nucleus breeding scheme; in return they receive a regular supply of breeding stock, mostly males, for use in their own herds or flocks. Called also cooperative breeding scheme.

group medication

see mass medication.

group practice

see group practice.

prosthetic group

1. an organic radical, nonprotein in nature, which together with a protein carrier forms an enzyme.

2. a cofactor tightly bound to an enzyme, i.e. it is an integral part of the enzyme and not readily dissociated from it.

3. a cofactor that may reversibly dissociate from the protein component of an enzyme; a coenzyme.

group specific antigen

see group specific antigen.

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practice

the exercise of a profession.

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advisory practice

practice limited to giving advice, usually to farmers on the subjects of breeding, feeding and housing in relation to maximum health maintenance and optimum production. Usually called a consultation practice.

association practice

a group of individual practices contract to use common facilities, possibly franchised by a central practice. Similar to a group practice, having the benefits of a large group of veterinarians but maintaining independence of the individual practitioner.

branch practice

a practice operated from another center, often with limited hours and facilities but clients can proceed to the main center of the practice at other times or for other purposes.

company practice

where the law permits is practice by a company with all of the commercial and financial benefits that the arrangement permits. Has the unattractive appearance of an attempt to evade financial responsibilty to clients.

consultant practice

practice as a specialist providing consultations and carrying out referrals for other veterinarians. Commonly used to refer to advisory practices (see above).

contract practice

contracts are made with individual clients for work to be done for a flat fee or a sliding scale based on time spent, or per head in the risk population or a percentage of the profit.

corporate practice

see company practice (above).

domiciliary practice

house calls. The average country practice is mostly domiciliary in that the veterinarian visits the patient in its own surroundings.

emergency practice

a practice set up specifically to attend to emergencies that arise at times when most other surgeries are not available, e.g. nights, weekends, public holidays.

fire engine practice

the standard practice based on providing attention for sick and injured animals in the surrounding area. For small animals the service is available at the veterinarian's premises but large animals are seen at the owner's domicile.

group practice

individual veterinarians use the same facilities and provide mutual support but each has his/her own clients and receives their fees after central costs are deducted.

illegal practice

includes practice by veterinarians who are not registered and practice by persons who are not veterinarians.

partnership practice

partners are co-owners of a practice, not necessarily by equal shares, and have consequential proportional entitlement to the profits.

principal-assistant practice

the principal owns the practice and hires assistants who are paid salaries and allowances. Most veterinarians work as assistants for one or two years after graduation.

private practice

practice by a self-employed veterinarian who is obliged by convention to be available to the public although it is accepted that such a veterinarian is entitled to limit the practice to a particular class of work, or to a geographical area or to a particular list of clients.

special interest practice

a practice in which the veterinarian limits the species or the kind of work that will be done, e.g. 'practice limited to cagebirds'.

specialist practice

see consultant practice (above).

subsidized practice

the veterinarian does not subsist on fee income only but is subsidized, usually by an organization interested in having a veterinary presence in an area that is sparsely populated. The sponsor is usually a government but may be a dairy manufacturing company or a wool-selling agency.

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group practice

Medical practice The practice of medicine as a team, with physicians and administrators being 'players' who share various overhead costs and expertise. See Partnership. Cf Solo practice.