Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 36 > Chapter 5 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Administration: means the Arizona health care cost containment system administration. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Admitting officer: means a psychiatrist or other physician or psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner with experience in performing psychiatric examinations who has been designated as an admitting officer of the evaluation agency by the person in charge of the evaluation agency. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Adult: means a person who has attained eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Authorized transporter: means a transportation entity that is contracted with a city, town or county to provide services pursuant to this chapter and that is either:

  (a) An ambulance service that holds a valid certificate of necessity. See Arizona Laws 36-501

• Chief medical officer: means the chief medical officer under the supervision of the superintendent of the state hospital. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• combined inpatient and outpatient treatment: means any treatment program not requiring continuous inpatient hospitalization. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Court: means the superior court in the county in this state in which the patient resides or was found before screening or emergency admission under this title. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Department: means the department of health services. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Detention: means the taking into custody of a patient or proposed patient. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Director: means the director of the administration. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Evaluation: means :

  (a) A professional multidisciplinary analysis that may include firsthand observations or remote observations by interactive audiovisual media and that is based on data describing the person's identity, biography and medical, psychological and social conditions carried out by a group of persons consisting of at least the following:

  (i) Two licensed physicians who are qualified psychiatrists, if possible, or at least experienced in psychiatric matters, who shall examine and report their findings independently. See Arizona Laws 36-501

• Evaluation agency: means either of the following:

  (a) A health care agency that is licensed by the department and that has been approved pursuant to this title to provide the services required of that agency by this chapter. See Arizona Laws 36-501

• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Grave disability: means a condition evidenced by behavior in which a person, as a result of a mental disorder, is likely to come to serious physical harm or serious illness because the person is unable to provide for the person's own basic physical needs. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• 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 institution as defined in section 36-401 that is licensed as a behavioral health provider pursuant to department rules or a mental health provider. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Licensed physician: means any medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy who is either:

  (a) Licensed in this state. See Arizona Laws 36-501

• Medical director of a mental health treatment agency: means a psychiatrist, or other licensed physician experienced in psychiatric matters, who is designated in writing by the governing body of the agency as the person in charge of the medical services of the agency for the purposes of this chapter and includes the chief medical officer of the state hospital. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Mental disorder: means a substantial disorder of the person's emotional processes, thought, cognition or memory. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Mental health provider: means any physician or provider of mental health or behavioral health services who is involved in evaluating, caring for, treating or rehabilitating a patient. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Mental health treatment agency: means any of the following:

  (a) The state hospital. See Arizona Laws 36-501

• Patient: means any person who is undergoing examination, evaluation or behavioral or mental health treatment under this chapter. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• Professional: means a physician who is licensed pursuant to Title 32, Chapter 13 or 17, a psychologist who is licensed pursuant to Title 32, Chapter 19. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Proposed patient: means a person for whom an application for evaluation has been made or a petition for court-ordered evaluation has been filed. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner: means a registered nurse practitioner as defined in section 32-1601 who has completed an adult or family psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner program and who is certified as an adult or family psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner by the state board of nursing. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Psychiatrist: means a licensed physician who has completed three years of graduate training in psychiatry in a program approved by the American medical association or the American osteopathic association. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Psychologist: means a person who is licensed under Title 32, Chapter 19. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Records: means all communications that are recorded in any form or medium and that relate to patient examination, evaluation or behavioral or mental health treatment. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Social worker: means a person who has completed two years of graduate training in social work in a program approved by the council of social work education and who has experience in mental health. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• State hospital: means the Arizona state hospital. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Superintendent: means the superintendent of the state hospital. See Arizona Laws 36-501
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215