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To look up a health care term such as Actuary, choose the letter that the term begins with below under Alphabetical Glossary. This will take you to the terms beginning with that letter. To look up a health care acronym such as AIDS, choose the letter that the term begins with below under Acronyms. This will take you to all acronyms that begin with that letter.

Laboratory Supervisor	Provides laboratory services to meet the need of patients as ordered by the medical staff and performed in accordance with accepted standards and practices; directs, supervises, and coordinates functions and activities in any or all divisions of the clinical laboratories; Bacteriology, Blood Bank, Chemistry, Cytology, Hematology, Serology.
Large Case Management	See independent case management.
Least Restrictive Environment	Setting that provides the greatest opportunity for independence while ensuring the safety of the individual.
Legend Drug	Drug that can only be obtained by prescription.
Length of Stay (LOS)	The number of days a patient stays in a hospital or other health care facility.
Level of Care (LOC)	An assessment of the type of care necessary to meet the individual needs of the client. The assessment takes into consideration the client's needs in all aspects of development, level of functioning, and potential to benefit from a particular program.
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)	Performs a variety of non-professional nursing care duties such as assisting in bathing patients, taking temperatures, blood pressure, pulse and respiration. Records results on charts. Observes patients for reactions to drugs, excessive respiratory rate or any other unusual conditions.
Licensed Social Worker (LSW)	An individual who is licensed by the State to practice social work.
Licensure	The process by which an agency of government (usually state government) grants permission to an individual or organization to engage in a given occupation or business based upon finding that the applicant has attained the competency required to ensure that the public health, safety and welfare will be reasonably well protected.
Life Safety Code	Standards of construction, protection and occupancy that are necessary to minimize danger to life from fire, smoke, fumes, and panic. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Medicaid and Medicareprograms require compliance with the code. The code is adopted and published by the National Fire Protection Association and is also known as the NFPA 101.
Lifetime Reserve Days	Hospitalization (Part A) under Medicarefrom the 91st day of confinement through the 150th day. This period of consecutive hospitalization is not renewable; once used, the benefit is gone.
Limiting Coverage	The maximum amounts that a non-participating physician is permitted to charge a Medicarebeneficiary for a service. Since 1993 the limiting charge has been set at 115% of the Medicare-allowed charge.
Living Will	A legal document generated by an individual to guide providers on the desired medical care in cases when the individual is unable to articulate his or her own wishes.
Lock-In	A provision that requires that enrollees remain in a health care plan for a specified period of time. See open enrollment.
Long-Term Care	Care given to patients with chronic illnesses and who are required a length of stay longer than 30 days.
Long-Term Care Insurance	A continuum of maintenance and health services provided to the chronically or mentally ill or the disabled on an ongoing basis.
Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP)	Program that protects the health, welfare, safety, and rights of residents of long term care facilities. Trained and certified volunteers and professional staff visit long term care facilities, receive and investigate complaints, advocate for residents and mediate disputes.
Long Term Care Options Program (LTCOP)	Minnesota's demonstration program that integrates Medicareand Medicaidfunding in a capitated managed care plan covering primary, acute and long term care services for dual eligibles.
Long Term Care Rider	An attachment that may be added to some life insurance and other types of insurance policies to allow some or all of the death benefit or other primary benefit to be used to help pay for long term care costs under situations defined in the policy.
Loss Ratio	The ratio of the total incurred claims made against an insurance policy divided by the total premiums. Loss ratios are used as a method of indicating the amount of benefits returned to policyholders.
Low-Level Radio Active Waste	Waste that has a low intensity of radioactivity, most of which decays to acceptable levels within a few months but a few of which contain radioactivity for hundreds of years.