For your convenience, we have separated relevant terms used specifically in healthcare information technology from our general glossary.
Our glossaries are always works-in-progress. If a term you searched for is not here, please email us at info@ibridgellc.com.
A
American Health Information Community (AHIC)
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AHIC formed to help advance efforts to reach the president’s call for most Americans to have electronic health records by 2014.
Source: www.wvsma.com
American Health Information Management System (AHIMA)
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A community of professionals engages in health information management, providing support to members and strengthening the industry and profession.
Source: www.wvsma.com
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
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The first professional group to issue guidelines for physician-patient e-mail.
Source: www.wvsma.com
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide a reimbursement incentive for physician and hospital providers who are successful in becoming “Meaningful Users” of an electronic health record (EHR). These incentive payments begin in 2011 and gradually phase down. Starting in 2015, providers are expected to have adopted and be actively utilizing an EHR in compliance with the “Meaningful Use” definition or they will be subject to financial penalties under Medicare.
Source: EMR Consultant, a Division of EHR Scope LLC, www.emrconsultant.com
Ambulatory Medical Record (AMR)
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A computer system for storing, managing, and retrieving electronic patient health information in the outpatient setting. In the inpatient setting, it is referred to as an electronic medical record (see EMR).
Source: www.wvsma.com
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
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Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. ADSL transmits slower upstream (from your computer to host computer, up to 1.544 Mbps) but much faster downstream (from host computer to your computer, 1.5 to 8 Mbps) speed. Ideal for Web surfing that requires more downloading than sending information. ADSL Lite is mostly deployed for home high-speed Internet access currently. ADSL Lite has much slower 1 Mbps downstream and up to only 512 Kbps upstream.
Source: Michigan State Medical Society, msms.org
B
Beaming
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Transfer of data or software programs between devices, such as PDAs, personal computers, and printers, using either infrared or radio-wave transmission.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Bioinformatics
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The science of developing and using computer databases in algorithms to hasten and improve biological – and pharmaceutical – research.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Biometrics
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Automated methods of recognizing a person based on a physiological characteristic such as fingerprints, retina, voice, etc.
Source: EMR Consultant, A Division of EHR Scope LLC, www.emrconsultant.com
C
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI)
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The National Center for Public Health Informatics supports the detection, monitoring, analysis, alerting, communication, and response of vital public health information. NCPHI provides leadership in establishing and ensuring security and reliability standards for all CDC data, and provides systems interoperability standards to essential CDC information technology resources.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT)
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A voluntary, private-sector organization launched in 2004 to certify health information technology (HIT) products such as electronic health records and the networks over which they interoperate.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Continuity of Care Record (CCR)
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A standard specification being developed jointly by ASTM International, the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is intended to foster and improve continuity of patient care, to reduce medical errors, and to assure at least a minimum standard of health information transportability when a patient is referred or transferred to, or is otherwise seen by, another provider. The origins of the CCR stem from a Massachusetts Department of Public Health, three-page, NCR paper-based Patient Care Referral Form that has been widespread use for many years in Massachusetts, and from other minimal data sets both electronic and paper-based. The CCR is being developed and enhanced in response to the need to organize a set of basic patient information consisting of the most relevant and timely facts about a patient’s condition. Briefly, these include diagnoses, recent procedures, allergies, medications, recent care provided, as well as recommendations for future care (care plan) and the reason for referral or transfer. The CCR will be created by a healthcare provider/clinician at the end of an encounter, or at the end of an episode of care, such as a hospital or rehabilitation stay.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Clinical Data Repository (CDR)
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A real-time database that consolidates data from a variety of clinical sources to present a unified view of a single patient. It is optimized to allow clinicians to retrieve data for a single patient rather than to identify a population of patients with common characteristics or to facilitate the management of a specific clinical department.
Source: EMR Consultant, a Division of EHR Scope LLC, www.emrconsultant.com
Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
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Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) assist the physician in applying new information to patient care and help to prevent medical errors and improve patient safety. Many of these systems include computer-based programs that analyze information entered by the physician.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Clinical Document Architecture (CDA)
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Provides an exchange model for clinical documents and brings the industry closer to the realization of an electronic medical health record.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) Initiative
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One of the 24 Presidential eGovernment initiatives with the goal of adopting vocabulary and messaging standards to facilitate communication of clinical information across the federal health enterprise. CHI now falls under FHA.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Chief Complaint (CC)
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The patient’s primary complaint. Important for statistical purposes and may not actually be the most serious medical issue.
Clinical Information System
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An electronic health record that is a clinical repository of patient data. The term CIS is sometimes used interchangeably with EMR. It typically covers the following:
- Pathology and radiology order entry and results reporting
- Medication prescribing, supply and administration
- Clinical work lists
- Problem lists
- Clinical notes
- Decision support
Source: www.wvsma.com
Clearinghouse
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Service providing connectivity between healthcare providers (physicians, hospitals, etc.) to payers (HMOs, insurers, government entities such as Medicare). Clearinghouses take claims, eligibility requests, claim status checks, etc. from providers in various formats, then translate and reformat them according to the specifications by payers and re-transmit them to their original destination. As a value-added service they may add edit functions to check the validity and completeness of the claims. HIPAA allows providers to use clearinghouses without using standard transaction code sets specified in HIPAA regulations.
Source: Michigan State Medical Society, msms.org
Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
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A computer application that allows a physician’s orders for diagnostic and treatment services (such as medications, laboratory, and other tests) to be encountered electronically instead of being recorded on order sheets or prescription pads. The computer compares the order against standards for dosing, checks for allergies or interactions with other medications, and warns the physician about potential problems.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Computerized Patient Record (CPR)
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Computerized Patient Record or Electronic Medical Record (EMR). CPR is an electronic depository or linked access to patient-centric databases containing patient care information. The goal of many in healthcare today is to replace paper medical records with CPR thus improving the workflow, efficiency and productivity for healthcare providers. Through the Internet, CPR is moving toward combined medical records for physicians as well as for patients.
Source: Michigan State Medical Society, msms.org
Current Procedural Terminology
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Codes that describe medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures. The American Medical Association publishes this code to communicate uniform information to physicians, diagnostic technicians, and insurance payers.
Source: Practice Fusion, www.practicefusion.com
D
Decision Support Application
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A computer program that analyzes data and presents the information so that clinicians can make medical decisions more easily. Typical tasks of a decision support system included data storage, data analysis, predictive modeling, and risk-adjusted comparison of actual outcomes with predicted outcomes.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Disease Management
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A coordinated and proactive approach to managing care and support for patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma, HIV/AIDS, and cancer.
Source: Practice Fusion, www.practicefusion.com
Decision Support System (DSS)
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Computer tools or applications to assist physicians in clinical decisions by providing evidence-based knowledge in the context of patient-specific data. Examples include: drug interaction alerts at the time medication is prescribed and reminders for specific guideline-based interventions during the care of patients with chronic disease. Information should be presented in a patient-centric view of individual care and also in a population or aggregate view to support population management and quality improvement.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Doctors Office Quality Information Technology (DOQ-IT)
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DOQ-IT is a two-year special study that is designed to improve quality of care, patient safety, and efficiency for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by promoting the adoption of EHR’s and Information Technology (IT) in primary care physician offices.
Source: EMR Consultant, a Division of EHR Scope LLC, www.emrconsultant.com
E
Early Event Detection (EED)
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Uses case and suspect case reporting along with statistical surveillance of health-related data to support the earliest possible detection of events that may signal a public health emergency.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
E-Counseling
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Psychological therapy conducted over the Internet, via email, text chats, videoconferencing or other online communication methods. Also called e-therapy.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Electronic Data Capture (EDC)
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The use of electronic technology to gather and collect data, especially in the context of clinical trials. Allows data to be aggregated, sorted, shared, and searched more easily than paper-based records. May be Web-based, use handheld computers, etc.
Source: www.wvsma.com
E-Detailing
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The use of the Internet and related technologies to perform detailing – educational/sales presentations traditionally made by pharmaceutical sales reps to clinicians to promote prescribing of a company’s drugs.
Source: www.wvsma.com
E-Encounter
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A type of physician-patient electronic communication that is a two-way exchange of clinical information revolving around a particular clinical question or problem specific to the patient. It may be initiated by either the patient or the caregiver.
Source: www.wvsma.com
E-Disease Management
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The use of Web-based technology in support of disease management to provide patient-clinician communications, patient access to information, and patient self-management.
Source: www.wvsma.com
eHealth Initiative
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The eHealth Initiative and the Foundation for eHealth Initiative are independent, nonprofit affiliated organizations engaging stakeholders (e.g., public and private clinical and public health organizations, academic and research institutions, industry, etc.) to define and then implement specific actions that will address the quality, safety, and efficiency challenges to our healthcare system through the use of interoperable IT.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
Electronic Health Record (EHR)
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A real-time patient health record with access to evidence-based decision support tools that can be used to aid clinicians in decision-making. An EHR is a medical record or any other information relating to the past, present, or future physical and mental health or condition of, a patient which resides in computers which capture, transmit, receive, store, retrieve, link, and manipulate multimedia data for the primary purpose of providing healthcare and health-related services. The EHR can also support the collection of data for uses other than clinical care, such as billing, quality management, outcome reporting, and public health disease surveillance and reporting. EHR records include patient demographics, progress notes, SOAP notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, and radiology reports.
Comes in 5 levels:
- The Automated Medical Record (AMR): a paper-based record with some computer-generated documents
- The Computerized Medical Record (CMR) makes the documents of level 1 electronically available
- The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) restructures and optimizes the documents of the previous levels ensuring interoperability of all documentation systems.
- The Electronic Patient Record (EPR) is a patient-centered record with information from multiple institutions.
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) adds general health-related information to the EPR that is not necessarily related to a disease.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
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See also: Computerized Medical Record.
Electronic Prescribing (eRx)
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A process in which a prescription is sent directly from a point of care to a pharmacy. The process of sending and filling scripts is less error prone and more efficient thus improving care and reducing costs.
Source: Practice Fusion, www.practicefusion.com
Electronic Claim
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A digital representation of a medical bill generated by a provider or by the provider’s billing agent for submission using telecommunications to a health insurance payer. Most claims are electronically submitted.
Source: Pam Pohly’s Net Guide, Glossary of Terms in Managed Health Care, www.pohly.com
Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)
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Evidence-based medicine is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise to aid in the diagnosis and management of patients.
Source: EMR Consultant, a Division of EHR Scope LLC, www.emrconsultant.com
Fat Client
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In a client/server system, a client that performs most of the necessary data processing itself, rather than relying on the server.
Source: www.wvsma.com
Formulary
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A list of medications (both generic and brand names) that are covered by a specific health insurance plan, or pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), used to encourage utilization of more cost-effective drugs. Hospitals sometimes use formularies of their own, for the same reason.
Source: www.wvsma.com
G
Geo-coding
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Geo-coding is the process of assigning geographic coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) to street addresses, as well as other points and features. The features can then be mapped and entered into Geographic Information Systems.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
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GIS is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. ESRI is the leading developer of GIS. ESRI GIS provides a common analytical framework in which public health authorities can understand problems and formulate a response, improving incident management and health planning.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
H
Health Action Network (HAN)
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HAN is a strong national program, providing vital health information and the infrastructure to support the dissemination of that information at the state and local levels and beyond. The Health Alert Network will function as PHIN’s Health Alert component.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
Health Information Exchange (HIE)
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Health information exchange (HIE) is defined as the mobilization of healthcare information electronically across organizations within a region, community or hospital system.
Source: communityhealthcare.net
Health Insurance Portabilty and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996
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This law was designed to provide continuing insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions when a person changes employment. In addition, the second part of the law was intended to simplify administrative aspects of electronic healthcare transactions. HIPAA mandates standard transaction code sets to be used by “covered entities”—providers, plans, payers and employers. The intent was to help promote e-commerce by using standard code sets that would simplify EDI transactions. HIPAA also covers important issues such as security, privacy and the confidentiality of a person’s identifiable health information via electronic media. Final enactment is set to occur 24 months after the final rules have been published in the Federal Register for two months. Smaller provider groups, with revenues less than $5 million, will have 36 months to comply.
Source: Michigan State Medical Society, msms.org
Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP)
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According to their website, HITSP’s mission is to “serve as a cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors for the purpose of achieving a widely accepted and useful set of standards specifically to enable and support widespread interoperability among healthcare software applications, as they will interact in a local, regional and national health information network for the United States.”
Source: HITSP.org
Health Level Seven (HL7)
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HL-7 is an interface standard for exchanging and transferring health data between computer systems. It is also the name of a non-profit ANSI accredited organization. ANSI (American National Standard Institute) approves all national standards. The ANSI X-12 committee handles healthcare related standards, including claims and remittance, mandated by HIPAA. HL-7 controls demographics and other messaging standards. The newest HL-7 version—3.0—incorporates XML technology. Not released as of the date of this publication.
Source: Michigan State Medical Society, msms.org
Healthcare Information Technology
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HHS describes HIT as the tangible technical aspects of a health information system, including network backbones such as the Internet in its present and future versions; the World Wide Web, wireless connections, hardware, Internet appliances, and handheld devices, as well as applications for information management, decision-support tools, communication, and transactional programs. Also involved are technical capabilities in areas such as bandwidth and latency.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
History of Present Illness (HPI)
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In a medical encounter, a history of the present illness (abbreviated HPI) (termed history of presenting complaint (HPC) in the UK) refers to a detailed interview prompted by the chief complaint or presenting symptom (for example, pain).
Hospital Information Systems (HIS)
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The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics describes HIS as “a comprehensive, knowledge-based system capable of providing information to all who need it to make sound decisions about health. Such a system can help realize the public interest related to disease prevention, health promotion, and population health.”
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
Home Monitoring
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Use of physiological monitors to assess patient status in the home. In some cases, results can be transmitted electronically to a case manager or physician.
I
International Classification of Disease – 9th Revision (ICD-9)
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The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is designed to promote international comparability in the collection, processing, classification, and presentation of mortality statistics.
This includes providing a format for reporting causes of death on the death certificate. The reported conditions are then translated into medical codes through use of the classification structure and the selection and modification rules contained in the applicable revision of the ICD, published by the World Health Organization. These coding rules improve the usefulness of mortality statistics by giving preference to certain categories, by consolidating conditions, and by systematically selecting a single cause of death from a reported sequence of conditions. The single selected cause for tabulation is called the underlying cause of death, and the other reported causes are the nonunderlying causes of death. The combination of underlying and non-underlying causes is the multiple causes of death.
The ICD-9 is no longer available in print. Volume I, modified for U.S. purposes, is available. In addition, the most detailed tabulation list of causes used in the U.S. can be found at the beginning of the mortality worktable GMWKI.
A related classification, the International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM), is used in assigning codes to diagnoses associated with inpatient, outpatient, and physician office utilization in the U.S. Volume 3 (procedures) is used in assigning codes associated with inpatient procedures. The ICD-9-CM is based on the ICD but provides for additional morbidity detail and is annually updated.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ICD and IFC Home, www.cdc.gov
Interoperability
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According to the Interoperability Clearing House, “interoperability is the ability of information systems to operate in conjunction with each other encompassing communication protocols, hardware software, application, and data compatibility layers. With interoperable electronic health records, always-current medical information could be available wherever and whenever the patient and attending health professional needed it. At the same time, EHRs would also provide access to treatment information to help clinicians as they care for patients.”
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS)
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In medical imaging, a picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is a combination of hardware and software dedicated to the short and long term storage, retrieval, management, distribution, and presentation of images.
L
Laboratory Information System (LIS)
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Electronic Medical Records are repositories of patient data either entered directly or interfaced from external applications. One such application is a Laboratory Information System (LIS) that is typically used by hospital pathology departments to record activity in the department. Typical modules include:
- Pathology request and specimen registration
- Request and specimen management
- Result report
- Blood bank
- Management reporting
Electronic Medical Records typically integrate with Laboratory Information systems by:
- Creating and storing pathology request details in the Electronic Health Record then sending them via HL7 to the LIS
- Sotring pathology request details in the Electronic Health Record sent via HL7 from the LIS
- Storing pathology specimen collection details in the Electronic Health Record
- Storing pathology results in the Electronic Health Record sent via HL7 from the LIS
- Storing blood product requests then sending them via HL7 to the LIS, storing production allocation in the EHR sent via HL7 from the LIS.
Pathology investigations generated from the LIS may be initially stored in an intermediate EMR and then sent to an EHR as a part of an EHR extract such as a discharge summary.
Source: www.mvsma.com
Local Health Information Infrastructure (LHII)
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This is a term used synonymously with RHIO. LHII was originally termed by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology to describe the regional or local initiatives that is anticipated to be linked together to form the National Health Information Network.
Source: Health Information and Management Systems Society, www.himss.org
M
Master Patient Index (MPI)
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This is a database that maintains a unique index (or identifier) for every patient registered at a health care organization. The MPI is used by each registration application (or process) within the HCO to ensure a patient is logically represented only once and with the same set of registration demographic / registration data in all systems and at an organizational level. It can be used as enterprise tool to assure that vital clinical and demographic information can be cross-referenced between different facilities in a health care system. A MPI correlates and cross-references patient identifiers and performs a matching function with high accuracy in an unattended mode. A MPI is considered an important resource in a healthcare facility because it is the link tracking patient, person, or member activity within an organization (or enterprise) and across patient care settings.
Source: HealthInformatics, healthinformatics.wikispaces.com
Meaningful Use
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This is a set of standards for determining eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
Medical Coding
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Medical billing and medical coding are essential components to the operations of a hospital, doctor’s office or any medical facility. They are part of the records and financial department, which keeps records of all patients, of procedures and takes care of billing and insurance records.
N
National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)
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The National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) is a secure online framework that allows healthcare professionals and government agencies to communicate about disease patterns and coordinate national response to outbreaks. The NEDSS framework includes a set of specifications that includes software, hardware, databases and data format standards. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is in charge of maintaining and expanding NEDSS at the center of the United States Public Health Information Network (PHIN). The CDC mandates that hospitals, clinics and state health agencies all adopt NEDSS standards so that the speed, accuracy, standardization and viability of data about diseases is improved.
Source: What Is? whatis.techtarget.com
National Health Information Network (NHIN)
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An Internet-based architecture that links disparate healthcare information systems to allow patients, physicians, hospitals, community health centers, and public health agencies across the country to share clinical information securely.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
National Provider Identifier (NPI)
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A National Provider Identifier or NPI is a unique 10-digit identification number issued to health care providers in the United States by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Normalization
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The process of redefining clinical data based on predefined rules. The values are redefined based on a specific formula or technique.
O
Office of the National Coordinator (ONC)
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The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is at the forefront of the administration’s health IT efforts and is a resource to the entire health system to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care. ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ONC is the principal Federal entity charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information. The position of National Coordinator was created in 2004, through an Executive Order, and legislatively mandated in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009.
ONC’s mission includes:
- Promoting development of a nationwide Health IT infrastructure that allows for electronic use and exchange of information that:
- Ensures secure and protected patient health information
- Improves health care quality
- Reduces health care costs
- Informs medical decisions at the time/place of care
- Includes meaningful public input in infrastructure development
- Improves coordination of care and information among hospitals, labs, physicians, etc.
- Improves public health activities and facilitates early identification/rapid response to public health emergencies
- Facilitates health and clinical research
- Promotes early detection, prevention, and management of chronic diseases
- Promotes a more effective marketplace
- Improves efforts to reduce health disparities
- Providing leadership in the development, recognition, and implementation of standards and the certification of Health IT products;
- Health IT policy coordination;
- Strategic planning for Health IT adoption and health information exchange; and
- Establishing governance for the Nationwide Health Information Network
Source: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, healthit.hhs.gov
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT)
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology provides leadership for the development and nationwide implementation of an interoperable health information technology infrastructure.
Source: National Association of County & City Health Officials, www.naccho.org
P
Patient Administrative System (PAS)
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An Electronic Medical Record may include a PAS or be interfaced to a PAS via HL7. A PAS is an application responsibly for recording and reporting administrative details of a patient’s encounter in a hospital. The patient administration system typically covers modules for:
- Patient master index (PMI)
- Inpatient management
- Outpatient management
- Emergency management
- Theatre management
- Surgery waiting list management
- Medical records tracking
- Medical records coding
- Inpatient billing
- Reporting
Source: www.mvsma.com
Patient Record Locator
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The electronic means by which patient files are located to assist patients and clinicians to find test results, medical history, prescription data, and other health information. A record locator would act as a secure health information search tool.
Source: www.mvsma.com
Personal Health Record (PHR)
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This is a record of a person’s health information. It can include claims and other health history. It is stored online and viewed on a computer. A health plan can add to it. It might add medical claims received and doctor visit information. People can also add their own information to it. They might add information on family health or eating habits.
Source: Aetna, aetna.com
Pharmacy Information Management System
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Electronic Medical Records are repositories of patient data either entered directly or interfaced from external applications. One such application is a Pharmacy Information Management System (PIMS) that is typically used by hospital pharmacy departments to record activity in the department. Typical modules include:
- Script registration
- Dispensing
- Clinical decision support including interaction checking
- Inventory control including imprest management
- Management reporting
Dispensed medications generated from the Pharmacy Information Management System may be initially stored in an intermediate EMR and then sent to an HER as part of an HER extract such the current medication list in the discharge summary.
Source: www.mvsma.com
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS)
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In medical imaging, a picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is a combination of hardware and software dedicated to the short and long term storage, retrieval, management, distribution, and presentation of images.
Source: www.mvsma.com
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
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A computerized form of message encryption using two keys (small files); one is public and used by the sender to encrypt the message, the other is private and used by the recipient to decrypt the message.
Practice Management System (PMR)
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The portion of the medical office record which contains financial, demographic, and non-medical information about patients.
Practice Management Software (PM Software)
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Practice management software (PMS) is a category of software that deals with the day-to-day operations of a medical practice. Such software frequently allows users to capture patient demographics, schedule appointments, maintain lists of insurance payers, perform billing tasks, and generate reports.
R
Regional Extension Center (REC)
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Offer technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The consistent, nationwide adoption and use of secure EHRs will ultimately enhance the quality and value of health care.
Source: EMR Consultant, a Division of EHR Scope LLC, www.emrconsultant.com
Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO)
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A Regional Health Information Organization is a group of organizations and stakeholders that has come together for the purpose of electronic data exchange and is focused on improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare delivery. A RHIO may be legally defined as a neutral organization that adheres to a defined governance structure which is composed of and facilitates collaboration among the stakeholders in a given medical trading area, community, or region through secure electronic health information exchange to advance the effective and efficient delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities. The geographic footprint of a RHIO can range from a local community to a large multi-state region. The term “RHIO” and Health Information Exchange (HIE) can be used interchangeably.
Source: Health Information and Management Systems Society, www.himss.org
Radiology Information System
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A radiology information system (RIS) is a computerized database used by radiology departments to store, manipulate and distribute patient radiological data and imagery. The system generally consists of patient tracking and scheduling, result reporting and image tracking capabilities.
Relational Database
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A relational database matches data by using common characteristics found within the data set. The resulting groups of data are organized and are much easier for people to understand.
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Sniffer
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A program to capture data across a computer network. Used by hackers to capture user ID names and passwords. Software tools that audit and identify network traffic packets. Is also used legitimately by network operations and maintenance personnel to troubleshoot network problems.
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Telehealth
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The delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies.
Telemedicine
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Telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred through interactive audiovisual media for the purpose of consulting, and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations.
Teleradiology
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Teleradiology of radiological patient images, such as x-rays, CTs, and MRIs, from one location to another for the purposes of interpretation and/or consultation.
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