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History and Trends
of Health Care
Chapter Objectives
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
• Differentiate between early beliefs about the causes of disease and treatment and current beliefs about
d
isease and treatment
• Identify at least 10 major events in the history of health care
• Name at least six historical individuals and explain how each one has helped to improve health care today
• Create a time line showing what you believe are the 20 most important discoveries in health care and explain
why you believe they are important
• Identify at least five current trends or changes in health care
• Define, pronounce, and spell all key terms
Key Terms
alternative therapies
complementary therapies
cost containment
diagnostic related groups
(DRGs)
energy conservation
geriatric care
holistic health care
home health care
integrative (integrated) health care
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act (OBRA)
outpatient services
pandemic
telemedicine
wellness
Note: To further emphasize the Key Terms, they appear in color in the chapter copy. You will notice beginning
in Chapter 3 on page 38 that pronunciations have been provided for the more difficult key terms. The single
accent mark, _'_, shows where the main stress is placed when saying the word. The double accent, _"_, shows
s
econdary stress (if present in the word).
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