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.
Auscultation of the fetal heart rate (FHR) is performed by external or internal means. External monitoring is performed using a hand-held Doppler ultrasound probe to auscultate and count the FHR during a uterine contraction and for 30 seconds thereafter to identify fetal response.