As used in this chapter, the following terms mean:

(a) “Ambulatory surgery procedures” mean those procedures performed on an outpatient basis in the general operating rooms, ambulatory surgery rooms, endoscopy units, or cardiac catheterization laboratories of a hospital or a freestanding ambulatory surgery clinic.

(b) “Emergency department” means, in a hospital licensed to provide emergency medical services, the location in which those services are provided.

(c) “Encounter” means a face-to-face contact between a patient and the provider who has primary responsibility for assessing and treating the condition of the patient at a given contact and exercises independent judgment in the care of the patient.

(d) “Freestanding ambulatory surgery clinic” means a surgical clinic that is licensed by the state under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 1204.

(e) “Health facility” or “health facilities” means all health facilities required to be licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2.

(f) “Hospital” means all health facilities except skilled nursing, intermediate care, congregate living, and hospice health facilities.

(g) “Department” means the Department of Health Care Access and Information.

(h) “Risk-adjusted outcomes” means the clinical outcomes of patients grouped by diagnoses or procedures that have been adjusted for demographic and clinical factors.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 143, Sec. 196. (AB 133) Effective July 27, 2021.)