For purposes of Sections 129-137 of Article 3, certain words and phrases shall be construed as hereafter defined. Words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural shall include the singular. Words in the present tense shall include the future. Masculine pronouns include feminine meaning and are not gender-specific.
(a) Bad Debt. The term "Bad Debt" means the unpaid accounts of any person who has received medical care or is financially responsible for the cost of care provided to another, where such person has the ability to pay but is unwilling to pay.
(b) Charity Care. The term "Charity Care" means emergency, inpatient or outpatient medical care, including ancillary services, provided to those who cannot afford to pay and without expectation of reimbursement and that qualifies for inclusion in the line item "Charity-Other" in the reports referred to in Section 128740(a) of the California Health and Safety Code, after reduction by the Ratio of Costs-to-Charges.
(c) Cost. The term "Cost" means the actual amount of money a hospital spends to provide each service, but not the full list price charged by the hospital for that service.
(d) Department. The term "Department" means the Department of Public Health of the City and County of San Francisco.
(e) Director of Health. The term "Director of Health" includes the Director of Health or a designee.
(f) Hospital. The term "Hospital" includes every entity in San Francisco licensed as a general acute care hospital, as defined by Section 1250(a) of the California Health and Safety Code, other than hospitals exempt from taxation under Section 6.8-1 of the San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code. For purposes of Section 131, the term "Hospital" shall also not include hospitals owned and operated by a nonprofit system that does not provide a significant level of service on a fee-for-service basis and whose annual financial statement is consolidated with a nonprofit health maintenance organization, filed with the California Department of Managed Health Care.
(g) Policies. The term "policies" means the hospital's criteria and procedures on the provision of charity care including any criteria and procedures for patient and community notification of charity care availability, the application or eligibility process, the criteria for determinations on eligibility for charity care and the appeal process on such determinations, and the hospital's internal accounting procedures for charity care.
(h) Ratio of Cost-to-Charge. The term "Cost-to-Charge" shall have the same meaning as that given by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in the reports referred to in Section 128740(a) of the California Health and Safety Code and describes the relationship between the hospital's cost of providing services and the charge assessed by the hospital for the service.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)