Informatics Glossary
A New Global Environment for Learning (ANGEL)
A course management system designed to support classroom learning
in academic settings.
Acceptable use
A corporate policy that defines the types of activities that are
acceptable on the corporate computer network, identifies the activities
that are not acceptable, and specifies the consequences for violations.
Access
To obtain or retrieve data in order to process it.
Accessibility
Ease of accessing the information and knowledge needed to deliver
care or manage a health service; the extent to which a system is
usable by as many users as possible.
Acquisition
The act of acquiring; to locate and hold. We acquire data and
information.
Active listening
A therapeutic communication technique in which the nurse employs
conscious attention to what a patient is saying, reflects back feelings
and phrases, and asks questions to clarify meaning.
Acuity systems
Systems that calculate the nursing care requirements for individual
patients based on severity of illness, specialized equipment and
technology needed, and intensity of nursing interventions; and
determine the amount of daily nursing care needed for each patient in
a nursing unit.
Administrative processes
The processes used by administration, such as the electronic
scheduling, billing, and claims management systems including
electronic scheduling for inpatient and outpatient visits and
procedures, electronic insurance eligibility validation, claim
authorization and prior approval, identification of possible research
study participants, and drug recall support.
Admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) systems
Systems that provide the backbone structure for the other types of
clinical and business systems; they contain the groundwork for the
other types of healthcare information systems because they include
, the patient’s name, medical record number, visit or account number,
and demographic information such as age, sex, home address, and
contact information. They are the central sources for collecting this
type of patient information and communicating it to the other types of
healthcare information systems, including clinical and business
systems.
Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS)
Protocol for a set of knowledge, skills, and clinical interventions for
the immediate or initial treatment of life-threatening medical
emergencies such as cardiac arrest or stroke.
Adverse events
Any undesirable experiences or outcomes in a patient related to the
use of a medical treatment or product.
Advocate
Someone who represents another person’s interests; to act in patients’
best interest; to act and/or speak on patients’ behalf; to make the
healthcare delivery system responsive to patients’ needs.
Advocate/policy developer
A nurse informatics specialist who is key to developing the
infrastructure of health policy. Policy development on the local,
national, and international levels is an integral part of this role.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
An agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
that supports health services research initiatives.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
A federal agency that acts as a repository for research and data
regarding hazardous materials that serves the public by using the
best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing
trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases
related to toxic substances.
Aggregate data
Any types of data that can be referenced as a single entity, but that
also consist of more than one piece of data; collected, gathered, and
reported data that are related and kept together in a way that
addresses their relationship. For example, the population of a state is
an aggregate of the populations of its cities, counties, and regions.
Alarm fatigue
Multiple false alarms by smart technology that cause workers to ignore
or respond slowly to them.
Alert
, Warning or additional information provided to clinicians to help with
decision making; the action of the clinician or system triggers the
generation of an alert. For example, an alert could be generated if the
patient’s serum potassium level is high and he is on potassium
chloride; the system would alert the nurse on the screen (soft copy
alert) with or without audio and/or by a printed (hard copy alert)
warning. Also known as a trigger.
Algorithms
Step-by-step procedures for problem solving or calculating; sets of
rules for problem solving. In data mining, an algorithm defines the
parameters of the data mining model; it is the recipe or method with
which the data mining model is developed.
Alleles
Members of a pair or series of genes that occupy a specific position on
a specific chromosome.
Alternative payment models (APMs)
The Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) reformed Medicare payments
by making changes that created a quality payment program (QPP) to
replace the hodgepodge system of Medicare reporting programs. The
MACRA QPP has two paths—merit-based payment system (MIPS) or
alternative payment models (APMs)—that will be in effect through 2021
and beyond. The APMs are not just incentives, but fundamental
changes in how we pay for health care in the United States. It is these
models, particularly those dealing with total cost of care, that have the
potential to fundamentally alter the value we receive from health care.
Alternatives
Choices between two or more options.
American Library Association
A U.S.-based organization that promotes libraries and library education
internationally.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
An organization dedicated to promoting consensus on norms and
guidelines related to the assessment of health agencies.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
An economic stimulus package enacted in February 2009 that was
intended to create jobs and promote investment and consumer
spending during the recession. This act has also been referred to as the
Stimulus or Recovery Act. There was a push for widespread adoption of
health information technology, and Title XIII of ARRA was given a
subtitle: Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical
Health (HITECH) Act. Through this act, healthcare organizations can
, qualify for financial incentives based on the level of meaningful use
achieved; the HITECH Act specifically incentivizes health organizations
and providers to become meaningful users.
AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode)
Smartphone display with individual pixels being lit separately (active
matrix); the next generation super AMOLED type includes touch
sensors. With the active matrix, you have crisp, vivid colors and darker
blacks.
Analysis
Separating a whole into its elements or component parts; examination
of a concept or phenomena, its elements, and their relations.
Analytical model
A method, process, and structure for analyzing and examining a
dataset.
Antiprinciplism
Theory that emerged with the expansive technological changes in
recent years and the tremendous rise in ethical dilemmas
accompanying these changes. Opponents of principlism include those
who claim that its principles do not represent a theoretical approach
and those who claim that its principles are too far removed from the
concrete particularities of everyday human existence; the principles
are too conceptual, intangible, or abstract; or the principles disregard
or do not take into account a person’s psychological factors,
personality, life history, sexual orientation, religious, ethnic, and
cultural background.
Antivirus software
A computer program that is designed to recognize and neutralize
computer viruses—that is, malicious codes that replicate over and over
and eventually take over the computer’s memory and interfere with its
normal functioning.
Application
The implementation software of a computer system. This software
allows users to complete tasks such as word processing, developing
presentations, and managing data.
Applications (apps)
Software used on a smartphone or other mobile device.
Archetype
Broad or general, idealized model of an object or concept from which
similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated; the
original model after which other similar things are patterned; the first
form from which varieties arise or imitations are made.
A New Global Environment for Learning (ANGEL)
A course management system designed to support classroom learning
in academic settings.
Acceptable use
A corporate policy that defines the types of activities that are
acceptable on the corporate computer network, identifies the activities
that are not acceptable, and specifies the consequences for violations.
Access
To obtain or retrieve data in order to process it.
Accessibility
Ease of accessing the information and knowledge needed to deliver
care or manage a health service; the extent to which a system is
usable by as many users as possible.
Acquisition
The act of acquiring; to locate and hold. We acquire data and
information.
Active listening
A therapeutic communication technique in which the nurse employs
conscious attention to what a patient is saying, reflects back feelings
and phrases, and asks questions to clarify meaning.
Acuity systems
Systems that calculate the nursing care requirements for individual
patients based on severity of illness, specialized equipment and
technology needed, and intensity of nursing interventions; and
determine the amount of daily nursing care needed for each patient in
a nursing unit.
Administrative processes
The processes used by administration, such as the electronic
scheduling, billing, and claims management systems including
electronic scheduling for inpatient and outpatient visits and
procedures, electronic insurance eligibility validation, claim
authorization and prior approval, identification of possible research
study participants, and drug recall support.
Admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) systems
Systems that provide the backbone structure for the other types of
clinical and business systems; they contain the groundwork for the
other types of healthcare information systems because they include
, the patient’s name, medical record number, visit or account number,
and demographic information such as age, sex, home address, and
contact information. They are the central sources for collecting this
type of patient information and communicating it to the other types of
healthcare information systems, including clinical and business
systems.
Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS)
Protocol for a set of knowledge, skills, and clinical interventions for
the immediate or initial treatment of life-threatening medical
emergencies such as cardiac arrest or stroke.
Adverse events
Any undesirable experiences or outcomes in a patient related to the
use of a medical treatment or product.
Advocate
Someone who represents another person’s interests; to act in patients’
best interest; to act and/or speak on patients’ behalf; to make the
healthcare delivery system responsive to patients’ needs.
Advocate/policy developer
A nurse informatics specialist who is key to developing the
infrastructure of health policy. Policy development on the local,
national, and international levels is an integral part of this role.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
An agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
that supports health services research initiatives.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
A federal agency that acts as a repository for research and data
regarding hazardous materials that serves the public by using the
best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing
trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases
related to toxic substances.
Aggregate data
Any types of data that can be referenced as a single entity, but that
also consist of more than one piece of data; collected, gathered, and
reported data that are related and kept together in a way that
addresses their relationship. For example, the population of a state is
an aggregate of the populations of its cities, counties, and regions.
Alarm fatigue
Multiple false alarms by smart technology that cause workers to ignore
or respond slowly to them.
Alert
, Warning or additional information provided to clinicians to help with
decision making; the action of the clinician or system triggers the
generation of an alert. For example, an alert could be generated if the
patient’s serum potassium level is high and he is on potassium
chloride; the system would alert the nurse on the screen (soft copy
alert) with or without audio and/or by a printed (hard copy alert)
warning. Also known as a trigger.
Algorithms
Step-by-step procedures for problem solving or calculating; sets of
rules for problem solving. In data mining, an algorithm defines the
parameters of the data mining model; it is the recipe or method with
which the data mining model is developed.
Alleles
Members of a pair or series of genes that occupy a specific position on
a specific chromosome.
Alternative payment models (APMs)
The Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) reformed Medicare payments
by making changes that created a quality payment program (QPP) to
replace the hodgepodge system of Medicare reporting programs. The
MACRA QPP has two paths—merit-based payment system (MIPS) or
alternative payment models (APMs)—that will be in effect through 2021
and beyond. The APMs are not just incentives, but fundamental
changes in how we pay for health care in the United States. It is these
models, particularly those dealing with total cost of care, that have the
potential to fundamentally alter the value we receive from health care.
Alternatives
Choices between two or more options.
American Library Association
A U.S.-based organization that promotes libraries and library education
internationally.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
An organization dedicated to promoting consensus on norms and
guidelines related to the assessment of health agencies.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
An economic stimulus package enacted in February 2009 that was
intended to create jobs and promote investment and consumer
spending during the recession. This act has also been referred to as the
Stimulus or Recovery Act. There was a push for widespread adoption of
health information technology, and Title XIII of ARRA was given a
subtitle: Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical
Health (HITECH) Act. Through this act, healthcare organizations can
, qualify for financial incentives based on the level of meaningful use
achieved; the HITECH Act specifically incentivizes health organizations
and providers to become meaningful users.
AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode)
Smartphone display with individual pixels being lit separately (active
matrix); the next generation super AMOLED type includes touch
sensors. With the active matrix, you have crisp, vivid colors and darker
blacks.
Analysis
Separating a whole into its elements or component parts; examination
of a concept or phenomena, its elements, and their relations.
Analytical model
A method, process, and structure for analyzing and examining a
dataset.
Antiprinciplism
Theory that emerged with the expansive technological changes in
recent years and the tremendous rise in ethical dilemmas
accompanying these changes. Opponents of principlism include those
who claim that its principles do not represent a theoretical approach
and those who claim that its principles are too far removed from the
concrete particularities of everyday human existence; the principles
are too conceptual, intangible, or abstract; or the principles disregard
or do not take into account a person’s psychological factors,
personality, life history, sexual orientation, religious, ethnic, and
cultural background.
Antivirus software
A computer program that is designed to recognize and neutralize
computer viruses—that is, malicious codes that replicate over and over
and eventually take over the computer’s memory and interfere with its
normal functioning.
Application
The implementation software of a computer system. This software
allows users to complete tasks such as word processing, developing
presentations, and managing data.
Applications (apps)
Software used on a smartphone or other mobile device.
Archetype
Broad or general, idealized model of an object or concept from which
similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated; the
original model after which other similar things are patterned; the first
form from which varieties arise or imitations are made.
