Last updated: Sept 17, 2022
ADT – admission, discharge, transfer; ADT are three key events for patient administration in hospital workflow.
API – application programming interface; API is the method in which two or more software interact or communicate with each other.
BA – business analyst
CDR – clinical data repository (same as CDW); CDR is a database that stores patient data (ie. patient demographic information, lab results, doctor’s notes, diagnostic images, etc.) within a care setting.
CDSS – clinical decision support system; CDSS is a computer software that helps healthcare providers make decisions based on data from electronic health records.
CDW – clinical data warehouse (same as CDR)
CPOE – computerized physician order entry; CPOE is a software that helps doctor enter and disseminate orders (orders can be prescription orders, lab test orders, nursing instruction orders, etc.).
DICOM – digital imaging and communications in medicine; DICOM is a standard format for the digital storage and sharing of diagnostic imaging related data used by PACS.
DSM-5 – diagnostic and statistical manual 5th revision; DSM-5 is the standard for the classification of mental and psychiatric health disorders. The manual is published by American Psychiatric Association.
EHR – electronic health record (same as EMR)
EMR – electronic medical record (same as EHR)
EWS – early warning system; EWS is a collection of technologies (ie. monitoring systems) and signals that lead to the advance warning of an adverse clinical event (ie. cardiac arrest).
FHIR – (pronounced “fire”) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource; FHIR is a computer messaging format standard for health information exchange between different ehealth systems.
HIE – Health Information Exchange; (verb): HIE is the exchange of health information across organizations; (noun): HIE is an organization that facilitates the exchange of health information across organizations.
HIMSS – Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society; HIMSS is an American-based professional organization dedicated to professionals in ehealth. HIMSS also offer widely-recognized professional certifications (ie. CPHIMS) in the field of ehealth.
HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; HIPAA is the American legislation regulating the collection, use, storage, or sharing of personal health information in USA.
HIS – hospital information system; HIS refers to the collection of information systems that a healthcare facility uses to provide patient care.
HIT – health information technology
HL7 – Health Level 7; HL7 is an international non-profit organization that develops and maintains interoperability standards for ehealth technologies. Many refer to the interoperability standards themselves as HL7.
HRN – health record number (same as MRN); a unique identifier for a patient, unique within a healthcare facility only.
ICD-10 – international classification of disease 10th revision; ICD-10 is a standard set of codes describing diagnosis, disease, causes of disease, symptoms, social determinants of health, etc. published by the World Health Organization.
ICD-10-CM – the clinical modification of ICD-10; ICD-10-CM is the modified version of ICD-10 by US for use in US.
ICT – information communication technology
LOINC – logical observation identifiers, names, and codes; LOINC is a standard set of codes used to document lab test results or clinical observations.
mhealth – mobile health; mhealth is a collection of mobile technologies used for health.
MIS – management information system; MIS is a computer information system that contains a hospital’s (or other healthcare setting’s) administrative and financial data.
MRN – medical record number (same as HRN)
PACS – picture archiving and communication system; PACS is a specialized computer information system that stores diagnostic imaging and imaging reports data.
PHI – personal health information; definition of PHI may vary across jurisdictions but generally include the health information of an individual together with personally identifiable information that can identify the individual.
PHIPA – Personal Health Information Protection Act; PHIPA is the Ontario legislation regulating the collection, use, storage, or sharing of personal health information in Ontario.
PHR – personal health record; a health information software that allows an individual to view and manage their own health information.
PIA – privacy impact assessment; PIA is a standard protocol carried out to evaluate the impact of newly proposed (or existing) computer information system design on the privacy of patients or individual information stored in the information system.
PM – project manager
PMO – project management office
PRO – patient reported outcome
ROI – return on investment; the amount of gains compared the amount of effort and resources put into something.
SME – subject matter expert
SNOMED-CT – systematized nomenclature of medicine – clinical terms; SNOMED-CT is a standard set of vocabulary used to document and report symptoms, diagnosis, procedures, drugs, disease causes, etc.
UI – user interface; UI is the point of an information system where the user can directly interact with.