One of the advantages of managed care is that health insurance plans using this approach often negotiate lower rates for basic healthcare procedures with physicians, labs, and various types of healthcare facilities. What this means for the patient is the ability to obtain basic healthcare at a lower cost.
Etymology: L, auscultare, to listen. the act of listening for sounds within the body to evaluate the condition of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, pleura, intestines, or other organs or to detect the fetal heart sound.
Facultative means optional or discretionary (antonym obligate), used mainly in biology in phrases such as: 1  Facultative anaerobe, an organism that can use oxygen but also has anaerobic methods of energy production. It can survive in either environment. Facultative biped, an animal that is capable of walking or running on two legs as well as walking or running on four limbs or more, as appropriate.