Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 54.1 > Subtitle III > Chapter 24.1 - Practitioner Self-Referral Act

• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Board: means the Board of Health Professions. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Community: means a city or a county. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Demonstrated need: means (i) there is no facility in the community providing similar services and (ii) alternative financing is not available for the facility, or (iii) such other conditions as may be established by Board regulation. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Entity: means any person, partnership, firm, corporation, or other business, including assisted living facilities as defined in § 63. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• 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.
• Group practice: means two or more health care practitioners who are members of the same legally organized partnership, professional corporation, not-for-profit corporation, faculty practice or similar association in which (i) each member provides substantially the full range of services within his licensed or certified scope of practice at the same location as the other members through the use of the organization's office space, facilities, equipment, or personnel; (ii) payments for services received from a member are treated as receipts of the organization; and (iii) the overhead expenses and income from the practice are distributed according to methods previously determined by the members. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Health services: means any procedures or services related to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care rendered by a health care worker, regardless of whether the worker is regulated by the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Immediate family member: means the individual's spouse, child, child's spouse, stepchild, stepchild's spouse, grandchild, grandchild's spouse, parent, stepparent, parent-in-law, or sibling. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Investment interest: means the ownership or holding of an equity or debt security, including, but not limited to, shares of stock in a corporation, interests or units of a partnership, bonds, debentures, notes, or other equity or debt instruments, except investment interests in a hospital licensed pursuant to Article 1 (§ 32. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Investor: means an individual or entity directly or indirectly possessing a legal or beneficial ownership interest, including an investment interest. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Office practice: means the facility or facilities at which a practitioner, on an ongoing basis, provides or supervises the provision of health services to consumers. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• 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 any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Practitioner: means any individual certified or licensed by any of the health regulatory boards within the Department of Health Professions, except individuals regulated by the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers or the Board of Veterinary Medicine. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Referral: means to send or direct a patient for health services to another health care practitioner or entity outside the referring practitioner's group practice or office practice or to establish a plan of care which requires the provision of any health services outside the referring practitioner's group practice or office practice. See Virginia Code 54.1-2410