Glossary
Glossary: care, web and law
From SGB to TI: terms and abbreviations around care, websites, data protection, accessibility and staff, explained briefly and clearly.
In short and in plain language
On this page you will find special words. Below each word you see the start of what it means. Click on a word. Then you can read the whole text.
The words are sorted from A to Z. At the top you see the letters. Click on a letter. Then you jump to the words with this letter.
At the very bottom you find a link to the questions and answers and a link to contact us.
A
- accessibility statement A statement on a website describing how accessible the service is, which limitations exist and how users can report barriers. For services covered by the German Accessibility…
- ACM The Association for Computing Machinery is an international professional society for computer science. It organises scientific conferences and publishes papers and studies. Their…
- AG An AG is a German stock corporation, a legal form for companies whose capital is divided into shares. It is run by a management board and supervised by a supervisory board. The…
- AI Artificial intelligence refers to software that learns patterns from data and derives texts, answers or suggestions from them. Some relatives also ask their questions to AI…
- Alt text An alt text describes the content of an image in words. Screen readers read it aloud, and it appears when an image does not load. Purely decorative images get an empty alt text so…
- AO The Abgabenordnung is the German Fiscal Code, the central procedural law of German taxation. Among other things, it governs charitable status and the register of donation…
- API An API is a programming interface. Two programs use it to exchange data without anyone having to type anything in. One example is an online shop that passes orders on to an…
- ARIA ARIA is an extension to HTML that describes interface elements for assistive technologies such as screen readers. Correct ARIA roles help menus, forms and notices on a website to…
- AV AV is the German abbreviation for Auftragsverarbeitung, the processing of personal data by a service provider on behalf of a business. An AV contract, called a data processing…
B
- B2B B2B describes business relationships between companies and institutions rather than with private individuals. For an intensive care service this includes, for example, hospitals…
- BAMF The BAMF is the German federal authority for migration, asylum and integration. Among other things, it publishes research reports, for example on care and migration. Care services…
- basic care Care relating to the body and everyday self-care, such as washing, dressing, eating and moving. It is distinguished from treatment care, which covers medical measures prescribed…
- BDSG The BDSG is the German Federal Data Protection Act, which adds national rules to the GDPR. Among other things it contains rules on appointing a data protection officer. Whether…
- BEEP BEEP is the short name of the German act on extending powers and reducing bureaucracy in nursing, often called the Nursing Competence Act. It governs extended powers for nursing…
- benefits in kind The term for home care visits by an approved care service, provided as a benefit of long-term care insurance. Unlike the care allowance, the care itself is received as a service…
- BFD The BFD is the German Federal Volunteer Service, a voluntary service open to people of all ages after compulsory schooling. Care facilities can take on volunteers as recognised…
- BFDG The BFDG is the German Federal Volunteer Service Act. Among other things, it governs the duration, pocket money, leave and educational support of volunteers. For care services…
- BFSG The BFSG is the German Accessibility Strengthening Act. It implements a European Union directive on accessibility. Under it, many providers of products and services for consumers…
- BFSGV The BFSGV is the German ordinance that sets out the Accessibility Strengthening Act in more detail. It describes the technical accessibility requirements for products and…
- BGB The BGB is the German Civil Code, the central law for private law such as contracts, liability and legal capacity. For care services it matters, for example, for contracts with…
- BGH The BGH is the Federal Court of Justice, Germany's highest court for civil and criminal matters. Its rulings shape how other courts interpret laws, for example on how easily the…
- BITV The BITV is a German ordinance on accessible information technology. It sets out how websites and apps of federal public bodies must be accessible. For companies, the BFSG usually…
- BMBFSFJ The BMBFSFJ is the German Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Among other things, it shares responsibility for nursing training and…
- BMG The BMG is the German Federal Ministry of Health, responsible for health, health insurance and long-term care insurance. It prepares laws and regulations, for example on care…
- BMWK The BMWK is the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, a former name of the German economics ministry. The ministry is responsible, among other things, for…
- BRKG The BRKG is the German Federal Travel Expenses Act. It governs travel expenses in the federal public service, for example flat rates for trips in a private car. Its rates also…
- BSI The BSI is the German federal authority for information security. It warns about vulnerabilities and publishes recommendations, for example on updates, backups and emergency…
- BVDW The BVDW is the German Association for the Digital Economy, an industry association of companies in the digital sector. Among other things, it publishes surveys on the use of…
C
- care allowance A cash benefit of long-term care insurance for people who organise their care at home themselves, usually with relatives. It is distinct from benefits in kind, where a care…
- care level A classification describing how far a person's independence in everyday life is limited. It is set after an assessment and forms the basis for many benefits of long-term care…
- career page A dedicated section of a website for job applicants, with open positions, working conditions and the way to apply. For care services it is often the central point of contact when…
- catchment area The geographical area in which a care service or facility looks after people and from which enquiries come. Clearly naming the towns and districts helps relatives see whether the…
- CLS CLS is a metric that measures how much the content of a web page shifts unexpectedly while loading. A low value means a stable display where visitors do not tap the wrong spot by…
- CMS A CMS is a program that lets you maintain the content of your website yourself. You edit texts, images and pages in the browser without programming. The look of the site stays the…
- consent A voluntary and informed agreement by a person, for example to the processing of their data or the publication of a photo. On care service websites it plays a role in forms…
- Contrast Contrast is the difference in brightness between text and background. The WCAG set minimum values for it. Good contrast helps everyone, especially people with low vision or in…
- Cookie A cookie is a small text file that a website stores in the browser. Some cookies are needed for the site to work, for example for a shopping cart. For others, such as measuring…
- CrUX CrUX is a public dataset of measurements from real page visits by users of the Chrome browser. It provides field data on metrics such as loading time and layout stability. Unlike…
- CSS CSS defines how a web page looks: colours, fonts, spacing and the arrangement of the content. Because the design is kept separate from the content, a page can adapt to the screen…
- CV CV is short for curriculum vitae, a summary of a person's education and work history. It is a common part of a job application. A short application without a mandatory CV can make…
D
- DACH Collective term for the German-speaking region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The letters come from the international country codes. Studies and surveys, for example on the…
- day care A day-time care service where people in need of care spend the day in a facility and return home in the evening. A transport service is often included. For relatives it means…
- DBfK The DBfK is the German professional association for nursing and care professions. It represents the interests of professional nurses and carers. It publishes statements…
- DBSV The DBSV is the German self-help organisation of blind and partially sighted people. It represents their interests towards politics, public administration and business and…
- DDG The DDG is the German Digital Services Act. Among other things, it governs provider identification, meaning which details belong in the legal notice of a business website. These…
- deletion period The period after which stored personal data is deleted because its purpose has been fulfilled. For care services this concerns, for example, applications, contact enquiries and…
- DENIC DENIC is the central registry for internet addresses ending in .de. It keeps the register of these addresses and sets the rules for procedures such as moving an address to another…
- DHPV The DHPV is the national umbrella association for hospice work and palliative care in Germany. It represents hospice services, hospices and regional associations and publishes…
- DIN DIN is the German Institute for Standardization, the national standards organisation in Germany. The well-known paper sizes such as A4 also go back to its standards. DIN standards…
- discharge management The legally regulated organisation of the transition from hospital to follow-up care, for example at home or in a care facility. It clarifies which kinds of help are needed after…
- DIY Do it yourself describes doing work yourself without hiring a professional. A DIY website builder lets a business assemble its own site from ready-made building blocks…
- DKI The DKI is the German Hospital Institute, which researches and advises on hospitals and healthcare in Germany. With regular surveys such as the Hospital Barometer it describes…
- DNS The Domain Name System is the directory of the internet that translates domain names into the addresses of the responsible servers. Its records state where the website is hosted…
- Domain A domain is the name of a website on the internet, for example the part after “www.” in the address. It is registered with a registry and points to the server on which the website…
- DPA A DPA is a contract with a service provider that processes personal data on behalf of a business. It sets out how the provider handles and protects that data. For care services…
E
- EAA The EAA is a European Union directive on the accessibility of certain products and services. Member states transpose it into national law, in Germany through the BFSG. For…
- employer brand The image that applicants and employees have of a business as an employer, and the deliberate shaping of that image. Genuine insights, clear information on working hours and a…
- ENISA ENISA is the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity. Among other things, it publishes threat landscape reports on threats and security incidents, including for the health sector…
- EStDV The EStDV is the German Income Tax Implementing Ordinance, which adds detailed rules to the Income Tax Act. Among other things, it governs how donations can be evidenced to the…
- EStG The EStG is the German Income Tax Act, which governs how the income of individuals is taxed. Around care and hospice services it comes up, for example, with donations, volunteer…
- ETSI ETSI is a European standards organisation for information and communication technology. Together with CEN and CENELEC, it publishes the European standard that sets out…
- EU The EU is a union of European states with a common internal market and shared legislation. For care services it matters mainly for data protection, for example whether data is…
F
- FAQ FAQ stands for frequently asked questions and refers to a collection of questions with short answers. On a care service website it answers typical questions from relatives and…
- FSJ The FSJ is the German Voluntary Social Year, a volunteer service in which mostly young people work for a period in social institutions. Care services can use it to get to know…
G
- G-BA The G-BA is the highest decision-making body of self-government in the German healthcare system. Doctors, hospitals and health insurance funds are represented in it. It adopts…
- GDPR The GDPR is a regulation of the European Union. It governs when and how personal data may be processed, for example names, email addresses or IP addresses. On a website this…
- GEO GEO means preparing website content so that AI assistants and AI search can understand it and use it in their answers. This includes a clear structure, understandable answers to…
- GG The GG is the Basic Law, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Among other things, it governs how the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the federal government take part…
- GKV GKV stands for the German statutory health insurance system. Its central association represents the health and long-term care insurance funds at federal level and sets guidelines…
- GP A GP is a family doctor in general medicine and usually the first point of contact for patients. For care services, GP practices are important partners, for example when they…
H
- H1 H1 refers to the main heading of a web page, marked up in the HTML code as the top heading level. It tells visitors, screen readers and search engines what the page is about. It…
- HGB The HGB is the German Commercial Code for merchants and commercial companies. Among other things, it governs the commercial register, the trade name and liability when a business…
- hospice service A service that accompanies seriously ill and dying people and their relatives, usually with trained volunteers. Outpatient hospice services visit people at home, in care homes or…
- hosting The provision of storage space and server capacity so that a website can be reached on the internet. For care services, server location, data protection and backups at the…
- HR HR stands for a company's human resources function, covering recruitment, support and administration of staff. Without an HR department of its own, applications usually go…
- HSTS HSTS is a web server setting that tells the browser to open the website only over an encrypted connection from then on. This makes intercepting or redirecting connections harder…
- HTML HTML is the language every web page is made of. It defines what each part of the page is: heading, paragraph, list, link or image. Clean HTML is the basis for screen readers and…
- HTTP HTTP is the protocol browsers and servers use to exchange web pages and data. Through HTTP status codes a server reports, for example, that a page could not be found. Its…
- HTTPS HTTPS encrypts the data sent between browser and website. This way, others cannot read what you enter into a form, for example. Many browsers warn about pages without HTTPS with…
- HWG The HWG is the German Medicines Advertising Act, covering advertising for medicines, treatments and other health services. It limits, for example, promises of healing and…
I
- ID ID stands for identification, here in the sense of a number that uniquely identifies a person, company or record. The VAT ID, for example, identifies a business for VAT purposes…
- IHK The IHK is a German chamber of industry and commerce, the regional self-governing body of commercial businesses. It advises companies and publishes guidance, for example on the…
- Impressum (legal notice) The Impressum states who is responsible for a website: name, address and ways to get in touch. Business websites in Germany need an Impressum that is easy to find.
- INP INP is a metric for how quickly a web page visibly responds to input such as clicks or taps. It is one of the metrics search engines use to assess user experience. A low value…
- intensive care Care for people who need continuous specialist nursing supervision because of serious illness, often with ventilation. Outside hospital, it takes place at home or in specialised…
- IP The Internet Protocol defines how data is addressed and transferred between devices on the internet. A visitor's IP address can count as personal data. That is why it matters for…
- IPReG The IPReG is a German law on intensive care outside hospitals and on medical rehabilitation. Among other things, it sets requirements for the quality of care for people with…
- IT IT refers to computers, networks, software and the people who run them. In a care service this includes, for example, care software, the phone system, the website and email…
K
- KB A kilobyte is a small unit for amounts of data, for example the size of an image or document. If the size is stated in the link text, visitors can see how large a download is…
- KBV The KBV is the German umbrella organisation of the associations of statutory health insurance physicians and represents them at federal level. Together with the health insurance…
- KIM KIM is a secure email service within the German healthcare telematics infrastructure. Practices, hospitals, care facilities and insurance funds use it to exchange messages and…
- KSchG The KSchG is the German Dismissal Protection Act, which governs the protection of employees against socially unjustified dismissals. Whether it applies to a business depends…
L
- LCP LCP is a metric for the loading time of a web page and is one of the Core Web Vitals. It measures when the largest visible element, such as a hero image or a heading, is…
- loading time The time a web page needs until its content is visible and usable. Long loading times can cause visitors to give up, especially on a smartphone. They can also influence visibility…
O
- one-pager A website that shows all its content on one long page instead of spreading it across several subpages. For a small care service it can be a lean starting point, for example as a…
- ÖPNV ÖPNV is the German term for local public transport, covering buses, trams, underground trains and regional trains. For care facilities, good connections to stops matter for…
- OWiG The OWiG is the German Administrative Offences Act, covering violations punished with a fine rather than a criminal penalty. It governs the procedure and the setting of fines…
P
- PDF PDF is a widely used file format for documents that displays layout and fonts consistently across devices. Care services often use it for price lists, brochures or job ads. For…
- PDL PDL is the German abbreviation for the nursing manager, the responsible qualified nurse who leads the care work of a care service or facility. The PDL plans assignments…
- personal contribution The part of the costs for care, accommodation or support that is not covered by long-term care insurance and is paid privately. A costs page can explain the term without stating…
- PNOG PNOG stands for Pflegeneuordnungsgesetz, a German legislative project to reorganise the benefits of long-term care insurance. Care services explain such changes on their advice…
- POUR POUR sums up the core principles of WCAG: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Each success criterion in the guidelines is assigned to one of these principles…
Q
- QDVA The QDVA is the German agreement on presenting the quality of home care services. It governs how the results of quality inspections of home care services are prepared and…
- QPR The QPR are the German quality inspection guidelines for care providers. They describe how the Medical Service inspects the quality of home care services and care homes. For care…
- quick application A shortened application route, usually a short form with few details instead of a cover letter and full application documents. This suits applications sent from a smartphone. A…
R
- relaunch A fundamental overhaul of an existing website, often with new design, structure and technology. Previous addresses should be redirected so that visitors and search engines can…
- relief amount An earmarked amount from long-term care insurance for people cared for at home, usable for recognised relief and support services. It is a frequent topic for relatives, for…
- respite care Replacement care when a private carer is temporarily unavailable because of holiday, illness or other reasons. It can be provided at home by a care service or by other people. The…
- Responsive design Responsive design means that a website adapts to the size of the screen. On a phone the content is stacked, on a large screen it often sits side by side. There is only one website…
S
- SAPV SAPV is specialised outpatient palliative care in Germany, which supports seriously ill people with complex symptoms at home. It is provided by specialised teams of doctors and…
- Screen reader A screen reader is a program that reads the content of a page aloud or outputs it on a braille display. Blind and visually impaired people use it to operate websites. For this…
- SEO SEO covers all measures that help a website to be found more easily in search engines. These include suitable content, a clear page structure, short loading times and clean…
- SGB SGB is the German Social Code, which brings together German social law in several books. For care services, the books on health insurance and on long-term care insurance are…
- short-term care Temporary full-time residential care in a facility, for example after a hospital stay or when home care is briefly not possible. For relatives it is often a bridge until a…
- SIGKDD SIGKDD is a special interest group of the Association for Computing Machinery, an international computing society. It deals with the analysis of large data sets and runs a…
- SME SMEs are small and medium-sized enterprises, distinguished from large companies by headcount and turnover. Many care services belong to this group. There are often dedicated…
- SSL SSL is a method for encrypting data sent between a browser and a website. Today its successor TLS is mostly used, but the name SSL has stuck. This matters for care services…
- StGB The StGB is the German Criminal Code, which defines criminal offences and their penalties. It also contains the duty of confidentiality for professional secret holders, which can…
T
- TDDDG The TDDDG is the German act on data protection in telecommunications and digital services. Among other things it governs when consent is needed for cookies and similar access to a…
- TI The TI is the protected digital network of the German healthcare system. Doctors' practices, hospitals, pharmacies, insurers and care providers use it to exchange data securely…
- TLS TLS is an encryption method for connections on the internet. It protects data between browser and website from being read or altered, for example in contact and application forms…
- TMG The TMG was the former German Telemedia Act and contained, among other things, the rules on the imprint of websites. It has been replaced by the German Digital Services Act. An…
- TOM TOMs are technical and organisational measures to protect personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation. They include, for example, encryption, access rights, backups…
- treatment care Medical nursing measures prescribed by a doctor, such as giving medication, wound care, injections or blood sugar checks. In home care it is part of home nursing care and is…
- TU A TU is a German university of technology focusing on engineering and natural sciences. It teaches and does research in fields such as mechanical engineering, electrical…
U
- URL A URL is the address of a page or file on the internet. It appears in the address bar at the top of the browser. It consists of the protocol, for example https, the domain name…
- UStG The UStG is the German Value Added Tax Act. It governs VAT and, among other things, the VAT identification number. It can matter for the imprint of a care website if the business…
- UWG The UWG is the German Act against Unfair Competition. It covers, for example, misleading advertising and advertising e-mails sent without consent. For care services it can matter…
- UX UX describes the user experience, meaning how easily and pleasantly people can use a website or product. On a care service website it includes, for example, clear navigation…
W
- W3C The W3C is the international body that develops technical standards for the web. These include HTML, CSS and the guidelines for accessible web content that accessibility rules…
- WBVG The WBVG is the German Residential and Care Contracts Act. It governs contracts in which housing is offered together with nursing or support services, for example in assisted…
- WCAG The WCAG are international guidelines for accessible web content. They describe testable requirements, for example for contrast, for text alternatives to images and for keyboard…
- WG WG is the German abbreviation for Wohngemeinschaft, a shared flat. A Pflege-WG is a form of housing in which people in need of care live together and are looked after by a care…
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