Telemedicine		The delivery of health care with the patient and health professional at different locations.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation		Tenet (NYSE: THC) is a for-profit aggregator of acute-care facilities, with 130 hospitals in 18 states, with approximately 30,000 licensed beds and $10 billion in revenue (ca. Q1 1999). The system took off in 1995 when Santa Monica, CA-based NME (National Medical Enterprises) bought Dallas, TX-based AMI (American Medical International). Since then Tenet has continued to grow by acquisition, purchasing OrNda in 1997 and eight of AHERF's Philadelphia hospitals in 1998, as well as individual hospitals.
Therapeutic Class		This field identifies the pharmacologic therapeutic category of the drug product according to the American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS) classification system. The field may be viewed as a strict hierarchy of three components with the first two digits representing the highest level Therapeutic Group, the third and fourth digits representing the Therapeutic Class, and the fifth and sixth digits representing the Therapeutic Sub-class.
Therapeutic Equivalents		Refers to drugs that are not chemically equivalent but that have similar therapeutic outcomes for a given patient or condition.
Therapeutic Interchange		The practice of replacing one drug with its therapeutic equivalent.
Third-Party Administrator		A Third-Party Administrator (TPA) is a processor of prescription claims. See also PBM.
Tort		According to dictionary.com, “(Law) Any civil wrong or injury; a wrongful act (not involving a breach of contract) for which an action will lie; a form of action, in some parts of the United States, for a wrong or injury.” (It is unfortunate that this should be an appropriate item to include in a glossary of healthcare terms.)
TPA		Third-Party Administrator. Not the insurance company and not the insured. TPAs maintain all records of the people covered under an insurance plan and process claims. PBMs are the poster child of TPAs.
TPO		Treatment, Payment, or health care Operations. I first saw this abbreviation in the context of the Guidelines that HHS issued on July 6, 2001 to clarify the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information.
TQS		Terminology Query Services. The CORBAmed standard for access and translation between coded information in public and private terminologies.
TR		Traveling Requisition card, used for ordering routine non-stock items.
Trade Container		The smallest self-contained package (“unbreakable”) as provided by the Labeler (i.e., manufacturer or distributor). For example, the product may only be sold in case sizes of 12 bottles of 100 tablets each, but the smallest (i.e., unbreakable) “trade container” is a bottle of 100 tablets.
Tricare		Tricare is the HMO experiment in managed care. It replaces CHAMPUS. Tricare is a medical program for active duty members, qualified family members, non-Medicare eligible retirees and their family members and survivors of all uniformed services. It is designed to expand access to care, assure high quality care, control health care costs for patients and taxpayers,and improve medical readiness. It is a managed care health care program managed by the military in collaberation with civilian contractors.
TSI		Transition Systems, Inc., a cost-accounting system vendor.
Turnover		The number of times inventory is replaced during a time period.
Tx		Short-hand for “treatment.” See also, Dx, Fx, Hx, Mx, Px, Rx, Sx.
Tympanogram		The tympanogram is a test that measures how easily the eardrum vibrates back and forth and and what pressure the vibration is the easiest. The middle ear is normally filled with air at a pressure equal to the surrounding atmosphere. If the middle ear is filled with fluid, the eardrum will not vibrate properly and the tympanogram will be flat. If the middle ear is filled with air but at a higher or lower pressure than the surrounding atmosphere, the tympanogram will be shifted in its position. The tympanogram is a quick and easy test. A special probe is placed up against the ear canal, like an ear plug, and the equipment automatically makes the measurements. [Source: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine]