If you would like to recommend additions to the Delaware Healthcare Association's Glossary, send them for consideration to suzanne@deha.org.

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.

Vendor	See provider.
Ventilator	A mechanical device that assists or replaces that natural mechanism for breathing.
Ventilator Dependent	A person who must rely on a ventilator for survival, whether for a short time, or intermittent time but frequently, or constantly.
Vertical Integration	Consolidation or merger of organizations that provide different types of services in a hierarchical continuum such as a hospital acquiring a nursing home and a home health agency. Also see horizontal integration.
Veterans Administration (VA)	A Federal agency responsible for veterans including VA hospitals and Veterans' benefits. Also see domicillary care.
Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)	A program of services designed to enable people with disabilities to become or remain employed. Originally mandated by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, VR programs are carried out by individually created state agencies. In order to be eligible for VR, a person must have a physical or mental disability that results in a substantial handicap to employment.
Volume Performance Standard	A mechanism to adjust Medicare physician fee updates based on how annual increases in actual Part B expenditures compare to previously predicted rates of increase.
Voucher	A certificate, given usually to low or moderate income individuals that can be used to purchase all or part of a specific item such as insurance or a needed service.