(prak'tis )

[L. practica, practical work, fr. Gr. praktikē]

1. The use by a health care professional of knowledge and skill to provide a service in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness and in the maintenance of health.
2. The continuing, repetitive effort to become proficient and to improve one's skill in the practice of medicine.
3. Rehabilitative training, e.g., to improve performance in activities of daily living.

best p.A policy or procedure proven to optimize results, e.g., in limiting disease or death.

blocked p.A means of gaining mastery over a skill by drilling, i.e., by performing tasks or movements repeatedly according to a fixed procedure. Research shows that while blocked practice is superior at improving immediate performance, it is not as effective as other approaches, such as rand om practice, for retained learning.

SEE: rand om practice.

community-based p.

SEE: community-based practice.

evidence-based p.

ABBR: EBP

family p.Comprehensive medical care with particular emphasis on the family unit, in which the physician's continuing responsibility for health care is not limited by the patient's age or sex or by a particular organ system or disease entity.

“Family practice is the specialty that builds on a core of knowledge derived from other disciplines, drawing most heavily on Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Surgery, and Psychiatry, and establishes a cohesive unit, combining the behavioral sciences with the traditional biological and clinical sciences. The core of knowledge encompassed by the discipline of family practice prepares the family physician for a unique role in patient management, problem solving, counseling, and as a personal physician who coordinates total health care delivery.” (Definition supplied by The American Academy of Family Physicians.)

group p.A medical practice in which several health care practitioners share offices, support staff, and other resources, and often provide professional and /or financial support for each other, or refer patients to one another in consultation.

hospital-based p.A medical practice in which health care professionals are employed to work for a hospital, which typically provides them both with compensation, office space, human resources, and administrative oversight.

legitimate medical p.Any form of treatment that is accepted under the Medical Practice Acts enacted by each of the 50 U.S. states.

patient safety p.A systematic health care practice that reduces the likelihood that patients will suffer undesirable side effects from treatment.

private p.The practice by a health care professional, usually a physician or dentist, in a setting in which the practice and the practitioner are independent of external policy control other than ethics of the professional and state licensing laws.

rand om p.A means of gaining mastery over a skill through training exercises that vary the sequence of elements in the skill. Compared with blocked practice, in which a skill is learned by fixed, repetitive drilling, rand om practice, with its frequently modified routine, results in better retention of the skill after training is completed.

SEE: blocked practice.

recommended p.

ABBR: RP

retainer p.Concierge medicine.

solo p.A medical practice in which a single health care professional engages in patient care, without being employed or financially supported by colleagues or health care institutions.

wear and care p.Guidelines for the use and cleansing of contact lenses, designed to optimize their healthful and safe use. SYN: wear and care regimen.