Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 29 > Chapter 26 - Health Care Liability

• Affected jurisdiction: means any county or municipality in which all or a portion of a qualifying transportation facility is located. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Availability payments: means payments by a public entity to an eligible private entity in connection with the development, redevelopment, or operation of a qualifying transportation facility pursuant to a service contract or comprehensive agreement. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Claimant: means any of the following:
  (A) The victim. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comprehensive agreement: means the comprehensive agreement between the eligible private entity and the responsible public entity required by §. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deception: means the representation that sexual actions are part of or consistent with the patient's treatment by the therapist. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
• Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Employer: means any person or entity that employs any therapist for the purpose of providing therapy. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 liability action: means any civil action, including claims against the state or a political subdivision thereof, alleging that a health care provider or providers have caused an injury related to the provision of, or failure to provide, health care services to a person, regardless of the theory of liability on which the action is based. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Health care provider: means :
  (A) A health care practitioner licensed, authorized, certified, registered, or regulated under any chapter of title 63 or title 68, including, but not limited to, medical resident physicians, interns, and fellows participating in a training program of one of the accredited medical schools or of one of such medical school's affiliated teaching hospitals in Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Interim agreement: means an agreement, including a memorandum of understanding or binding preliminary agreement, between the private entity and the responsible public entity that provides for completion of studies and any other activities to advance the development, redevelopment, or operation, or any combination of these activities, of a qualifying transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• 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.
• Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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}
• Licensee: means a health care provider licensed, authorized, certified, registered, or regulated under title 33, 63, or 68 that is legally responsible for all health care services provided. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• 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.
• Management company: means an individual or entity that contracts with, or receives a fee from, a licensee to provide any of the following services to or for a licensee:
  (A) Directly hiring or firing the administrator or other managing employees of the licensee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Medical advisors: means the physicians, companies, or organizations provided for in part 4 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Passive investor: means an individual or entity that has an ownership interest in a licensee but does not directly participate in the day-to-day decision making or operations of the licensee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Patient: means a person who has obtained therapy from a therapist. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Private entity: means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, or other private business entity. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Qualifying transportation facility: means one (1) or more transportation facilities developed, redeveloped, or operated by a private entity pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• redevelopment: means the process of replanning, reconstructing, or redesigning a transportation facility, including acquisition, clearance, development, or disposal, or any combination of these activities, of a transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Responsible public entity: means a public entity that has the power to develop, redevelop, or operate the applicable transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Sexual behavior: means sexual activity of the victim other than the sexual act or acts at issue in the case. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Sexual misconduct: means any of the following, regardless of the consent of the patient:
  (i) Any intrusion into an opening of the patient's body by any part of the therapist's body, or an object used by the therapist to effect an intrusion for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Therapist: means any person who performs therapy regardless of whether the person is licensed by the state. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Therapy: includes , but is not limited to, marital counseling, substance abuse treatment, and family counseling. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• 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.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Transportation facility: means any mass transit system intended for shared passenger transport services to the general public, together with any building, structure, appurtenance, utility, transport support facility, transport vehicles, service vehicles, parking facility, or any other facility, structure, vehicle or property needed to operate the transportation facility or provide connectivity for the transportation facility to any other non-mass transit system transportation infrastructure including, but not limited to, interstates, highways, roads, streets, alleys, and sidewalks. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• User fees: means the rates, fees, or other charges imposed by the eligible private entity of a qualifying transportation facility for use of all or a portion of the qualifying transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105