Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 408 > Part II - Health Care Licensing: General Provisions

• Accepted: means that the agency has found that a report or data submitted by a health care facility or a health care provider contains all schedules and data required by the agency and has been prepared in the format specified by the agency, and otherwise conforms to applicable rule or Florida Hospital Uniform Reporting System manual requirements regarding reports in effect at the time such report was submitted, and the data are mathematically reasonable and accurate. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration, which is the licensing agency under this part. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Applicant: means an individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, or governmental entity that submits an application for a license to the agency. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Certification: means certification as a Medicare or Medicaid provider of the services that require licensure, or certification pursuant to the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA). See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Change of ownership: means :
  (a) An event in which the licensee sells or otherwise transfers its ownership to a different individual or entity as evidenced by a change in federal employer identification number or taxpayer identification number; or
  (b) An event in which 51 percent or more of the ownership, shares, membership, or controlling interest of a licensee is in any manner transferred or otherwise assigned. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Client: means any person receiving services from a provider listed in…. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer: means any person other than a person who administers health activities, is a member of the governing body of a health care facility, provides health services, has a fiduciary interest in a health facility or other health agency or its affiliated entities, or has a material financial interest in the rendering of health services. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Controlling interest: means :
  (a) The applicant or licensee;
  (b) A person or entity that serves as an officer of, is on the board of directors of, or has a 5-percent or greater ownership interest in the applicant or licensee; or
  (c) A person or entity that serves as an officer of, is on the board of directors of, or has a 5-percent or greater ownership interest in the management company or other entity, related or unrelated, with which the applicant or licensee contracts to manage the provider. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Health care provider: means a health care professional licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, chapter 463, chapter 464, chapter 465, chapter 466, part I, part III, part IV, part V, or part X of chapter 468, chapter 483, chapter 484, chapter 486, chapter 490, or chapter 491. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Home health agency: means an organization licensed under part III of chapter 400. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Hospice: means an organization licensed under part IV of chapter 400. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Hospital: means a health care institution licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration as a hospital under chapter 395. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means any permit, registration, certificate, or license issued by the agency. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Licensee: means an individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, governmental entity, or other entity that is issued a permit, registration, certificate, or license by the agency. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Low-risk provider: means a nonresidential provider, including a nurse registry, a home medical equipment provider, or a health care clinic. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Moratorium: means a prohibition on the acceptance of new clients. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nursing home: means a facility licensed under…. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Provider: means any activity, service, agency, or facility regulated by the agency and listed in…. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Relative: means an individual who is the father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandfather, grandson, granddaughter, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister of a patient or client. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Rural hospital: means an acute care hospital licensed under chapter 395, having 100 or fewer licensed beds and an emergency room, and which is:
  (a) The sole provider within a county with a population density of no greater than 100 persons per square mile;
  (b) An acute care hospital, in a county with a population density of no greater than 100 persons per square mile, which is at least 30 minutes of travel time, on normally traveled roads under normal traffic conditions, from another acute care hospital within the same county;
  (c) A hospital supported by a tax district or subdistrict whose boundaries encompass a population of 100 persons or fewer per square mile;
  (d) A hospital with a service area that has a population of 100 persons or fewer per square mile. See Florida Statutes 408.07
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Services that require licensure: means those services, including residential services, that require a valid license before those services may be provided in accordance with authorizing statutes and agency rules. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Voluntary board member: means a board member or officer of a not-for-profit corporation or organization who serves solely in a voluntary capacity, does not receive any remuneration for his or her services on the board of directors, and has no financial interest in the corporation or organization. See Florida Statutes 408.803
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01