Monday, March 30, 2009

Health Care Acronyms Crib Sheet

==►Note to newcomers: skip this first item for regular posts.◄==

IMPORTANT UPDATE!
Here is a link to an extensive list. PDF. Six or seven pages.


Will HCFA force IBNRs on your HMO’s IPA?

Perhaps no industry is more complex than healthcare. This situation is made infinitely worse through the extensive use of acronyms. Even if you don’t know an EOB from a DRG, you can resolve one of healthcare’s minor irritations by perusing ECG Management Consultants, Inc.'s list of healthcare acronyms. In this downloadable file you will find nearly 400 acronyms, from A/P to YTD.


The health care debate includes buzzwords and acronyms with more meaning to experts than laymen. This list of acronyms will remain at the top for easy access while the discussion continues, updated as I add more.
Contributions welcome.

ADVAMED == The Advanced Medical Technology Association
AHIP == America’s Health Insurance Plans
CCHIT == Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology
CMS == Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CON == Certificate of Need
FOBs== Follow-on, or biosimilar, biologics (biotech drugs)
EHR == Electronic Health Record
HFAP == Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program
HIMSS == Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
HIT == health information technology
HSA == Healthcare Savings Account
ICE == In Case of Emergency
IOM == Institute of Medicine
LVN == Licensed Vocational Nurse
MedPAC == Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
MIPPA == Medicare Improvements for Patients and Physicians Act (2008)
NCVHS == The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics
NVCA == National Venture Capital Association
OIA == Osteopathic International Alliance
OPM == Office of Personnel Management
P4P == Pay for Performance
PCIP == Primary Care Information Project (NYC)
PhRMA == The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
PHR == Personal Health Record (or Electronic Health Record, EHR)
PORI == Physicians’ Quality Reporting Initiative
PVBP == Physicians Value Based Purchasing
RHIO Regional Health Information Organizations (aka RHI “exchanges”)
SCHIP == State Children’s Health Insurance Program
SGR == Sustainable Growth Rate (various formulas)
XML == Extensible Markup Language


The longest and best online discussion I have found thus far is in the post and comments thread by Magie Mahar, March 1, at The Health Care Blog.
If the reader expects to understand the scope and complexity of this discussion, this is a good place to start.
Printed out it would run to over thirty pages. And it's not bullshit, either. This is serious talk among card-carrying experts about reforming health care.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Maggie is never at a loss for words! I still find myself going back to that discussion even though it started almost a week ago, which is an eternity in the blogosphere.