Mediformatica - The Medical Informatics Portal

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DICOM

Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine - A standard which defines protocols for the exchange of medical images and associated information (such as patient identification details and technique information) between instruments, information systems, and health care providers. It establishes a common language that enables medical images produced on one system to be processed and displayed on another. Developed by the ACR/NEMA committee.

Digitize

The process by which analog (continuous value) information is converted into digital (discrete value) information. This process is a necessary function for computer imaging applications because visual information is inherently in analog format and most computers use only digital information.

DRG

Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) is a system to classify hospital cases into one of approximately 500 groups, also referred to as DRGs, expected to have similar hospital resource use, developed for Medicare as part of the prospective payment system. DRGs are assigned by a "grouper" program based on ICD diagnoses, procedures, age, sex, and the presence of complications or comorbidities.

Drug Information System

A computer based system that maintains drug related information, such as information concerning appropriate dosages, side effects, and it may access a Drug Interaction Database. A drug information system may provide by way of a directed consultation, specific advice on the usage of various drugs.

DSM-IV

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Version IV - A classification system for mental disorders, developed in the US, released in 1994.

DXPlain

An experimental system of clinical decision support provided by time shared telephone links which was developed at Harvard University Massachusetts General Hospital in the late 1960s. It has its own nomenclature which has been cross referenced with ICD9, QME and HELP in the UMLS Meta-I.

EDIFACT

United Nations Electronic Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport international electronic data interchange standard, produced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE).

EKG

An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG, abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical activity of the heart over time.

Electronic Data Interchange

The sending, transmission, reception and interchange of information and data relating to business transactions (typically an order or an invoice) via electronic means. EDI is analogous to EFT (Electronics Funds Transfer) but it is more complicated to establish standards for EDI, as each organization typically has its own document formats, its own ordering and invoice practices. Establishing an EDI service involves devising a standard format for each type of transaction that suits all participants. EDI has developed from pioneer work initially in the UK and later the rest of Europe and the USA. The United Nations became incolved and in 1980 published GTDI.

Electronic health record

Electronically maintained information about an individual's lifetime health status and health care.

Electronic Medical Record

Electronically maintained information about an individual's lifetime health status and health care.

ENCODE-FM

Electronic Nomenclature and Classification of Disorders and Encounters in Family Medicine - A set of terms and codes for family medicine, intended for use in describing primary care within electronic records.

Evidence-based

The use of simple rules of logic and science to appraise evidence research and apply it to the health care of individuals and populations.

Framework

Provides a unified view of the needs and functionality of a particular service or application thus allowing a coherent approach to the specification of protocols and protocol elements as needed to realize the implementation of the service or application.

FTE

Full-time equivalent (FTE) is a way to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or a student's enrollment at an educational institution. An FTE of 1.0 means that the person is equivalent to a full-time worker, while an FTE of 0.5 signals that the worker is only half-time.

GIS

A geographic information system (GIS), also known as a geographical information system or geospatial information system, is a system for capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the Earth.

HCPCS

Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System

Health Informatics

'Health informatics' is now tending to replace the previously commoner term 'medical informatics', reflecting a widespread concern to define an information agenda for health services which recognises the role of citizens as agents in their own care, as well as the major information-handling roles of the non-medical healthcare professions.

Health Information System

A Health Information System is an information system (i.e. a system of computer equipment, programs, procedures and personnel designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to collect, record, process, retrieve and display information) specific to the health care domain. A Health Information System can be considered as: 1. An integrated (to a greater or lesser degree) collection of a number of different Information Systems in use in a health care context, 2. A generic label for different types of Information Systems used in Health Care.

HITSP

The mission of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel 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.

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections.

HL7

An ANSI approved American National Standard for electronic data exchange in health care. It enables disparate computer applications to exchange key sets of clinical and administrative information. Comprised of standard formats which specify the implementation of interfaces between different computer applications, HL7's protocols provide the flexibility needed to allow compatibility for specialized data sets that have facility-specific needs. Developed by HL7 members and designed to be applicable in numerous settings, HL7 ultimately saves time, money, and work for its users. HL7 facilitates the transfer of laboratory results, pharmacy data and other information between different computer systems. HL7 is not designed to support the transfer of the entire patient record. HL7 does not support the transfer of image data (such as from a PACS).

HMIS

Hospital Management Information Systems

Hospital Information System

Integrated, computer-assisted system designed to store, manipulate and retrieve information concerned with the administrative and clinical aspects of providing services wihin the hospital.

ICD

International Classification of Disease (ICD) schemes published by the World Health Organization (WHO)

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RD Glossary by Run Digital