Acronyms are commonly used in the health care industry. We have compiled this list as a resource to help facilitate conversations.
A
ACNP - Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
ADC - Average Daily Census
The average number of patients per day in a hospital over a given period of time
ADE - Adverse Drug Event
An injury resulting from medical intervention related to a drug. This includes medication errors, adverse drug reactions, allergic reactions, and overdoses. ADEs can happen anywhere: in hospitals, long-term care settings, and outpatient settings.
ADR - Adverse Drug Reaction
AHRQ - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
C
C Diff - Clostridium Difficile
A contagious infection due to spore forming bacterium that causes diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions such as colitis. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, fever, nausea, and abdominal pain. Associated with antibiotic use. Rates of Hospital Onset infection are tracked by CDC.
CABG - Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
CAP - Corrective Action Plan
Improvements to an organization's processes taken to eliminate causes of non-conformities or other undesirable situations. Whenever non-conformities are reported, they should be accompanied by a corrective action plan.
CAUTI - Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection
A Urinary Tract Infection caused by an indwelling catheter; these are also tracked by CDC.
CCA - Common Cause Analysis
A collective examination of past safety events for “common causes” along the following categories: profession, organization, key process, key activity, system failure mode, individual failure more, human error type
CHG - Chlorhexidine Gluconate (scrub or wipes)
Antiseptic used on the skin to prevent colonization and infection of bacteria (including MRSA); this is also used prior to surgery to prevent surgical site infections.
CLABSI - Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection
A serious infection that occurs when (usually bacteria) enter the bloodstream through the central line.
CMS - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
A federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and health insurance portability standards. In addition to these programs, CMS has other responsibilities, including the administrative simplification standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), quality standards in long-term care facilities (more commonly referred to as nursing homes) through its survey and certification process, clinical laboratory quality standards under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, and oversight of HealthCare.gov.
CNO - Chief Nursing Officer
CPOE - Computerized Provider Order entry
The process of a Licensed Independent Professional entering medication orders or other provider instructions electronically instead of on paper charts
CV - Cardiovascular
Term relating to the heart and blood vessels
CVICU - Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit
D
DNV - Accrediting body for Methodist Le Bonheur Hospitals
DNV Healthcare is a global quality assurance and risk management company that is approved by CMS to deem Hospitals in compliance with the CMS Conditions of Participation for Hospitals. DNV requires ISO:9001 compliance by the 3rd survey year. (DNV stands for “Det Norske Veritas.”)
DTI - Deep Tissue Injury
E
ED - Emergency Department
Department specializing in emergency medicine
ELOS - Extended Length of Stay
CMS requires regular review of ELOS patients.
EMTALA - Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
An unfunded mandate enacted as law in 1986 that requires hospital emergency departments to medically screen every patient seeking emergency care and to stabilize those with medical emergencies, regardless of patient’s insurance status or ability to pay; this was originally intended as an “anti-dumping” statute but has become much broader in its enforcement
F
FNP - Family Nurse Practitioner
FPPE - Focused Professional Practice Evaluation
An assessment that medical staffs must perform when a new privilege is granted to a practitioner
H
HAC - Hospital-Acquired Condition
HACs consist of specific harm events that are tracked and publicly reported.
HAI - Hospital-Acquired Infection
Specific HAIs are tracked by CDC and publicly reported.
HAPI - Hospital Acquired Pressure Injury
Localized damage to the skin and/or underlying tissue caused by pressure on the area
HH - Hand Hygiene
A general term that applies to either handwashing, antiseptic hand wash, or alcohol-based hand rub
HIM - Health Information Management
HRO - High-Reliability Organization
High Reliability Organizations include the nuclear power industry, aircraft carriers; hospitals strive to become highly reliable to prevent harm & injury to our patients, families, and Associates.
I
ICU - Intensive Care Unit
A designated area of a hospital facility dedicated to the care of patients who are critically ill, allowing intensive nursing care and continuous monitoring.
IP - Infection Prevention
A scientific approach and practical solution designed to prevent harm caused by infection to patients and health workers. A clinician specializing in this field is an Infection Preventionist.
ISO:9001 - International Organization for Standardization – Quality Management System Requirements
The international standard by which organizations manage the quality, business and compliance of the organization; our Accrediting body requires compliance with the requirements within 3 years of initial accreditation.
L
L&D - Labor and Delivery
LIP - Licensed Independent Practitioner
This group of providers is credentialed through Medical Staff Services and consists of physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical psychologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, podiatrists.
LOS or ALOS - Length of Stay (Average Length of Stay)
A term to describe the duration of a single episode of hospitalization
M
MAR (eMAR) - Medication Administration Record
The report, written or electronic, that serves as a legal record of the drugs administered to a patient at a facility by a health care professional; the MAR is a part of a patient's permanent medical record.
MEC - Medical Executive Committee
One of the Governing Body’s 2 direct reports
Med Rec - Medication Reconciliation
The process for reconciling patients’ home meds with meds ordered in hospital; must occur on admission and discharge
MHMH - Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hospitals
MICU - Medical Intensive Care Unit
MOBH - Methodist Olive Branch Hospital
MUH - Methodist University Hospital
N
NC - 1 - Non-Conformities – Category 1
Objective evidence exists that a requirement has not been addressed (intent), a practice differs from the defined system implementation), or the system is not effective (effectiveness); designated by our Accrediting body
NC -2 - Non-Conformities - Minor
Indicates a lapse in discipline or control in the implementation of a process but does not mean a requirement has not been addressed or met; designated by our Accrediting body
NDNQI - National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators
NICU - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
An intensive care unit specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants
O
O:E - Observed to Expected Ratio
This ratio is commonly applied to various outcomes and is used in mortality calculation.
OFI - Opportunity for Improvement
A situation where the evidence indicates a requirement has been effectively implemented; but based on audit or experience and knowledge, additional effectiveness might be possible with a modified approach
OPPE - Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation
A tool that medical staffs must utilize (more frequently than annually) to determine various aspects of a practitioner’s performance
OR - Operating Room
A room or suite in a hospital specially equipped for surgical operations
P
P&T - Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee
Subcommittee of the MEC
PACU - Post Anesthesia Care Unit
PE - Pulmonary Embolus
A blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream
PI - Performance Improvement
PICU - Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
The section of the hospital that provides sick children with the highest level of medical care allowing allows intensive nursing care and continuous monitoring
PIP - Performance Improvement Project
A project undertaken with a strategy of a continuous approach to optimizing clinical outcomes and patient safety
POA - Present on Admission
Documentation of conditions that are “POA” is essential for both the purposes of treatment and so that the conditions will not be considered “Hospital Onset” or “Hospital Acquired”
PPE - Personal Protective Equipment
Examples of PPE include Protective glasses, gowns, etc
PROC - Peer Review Oversight Committee
The Committee that reviews all referred provider events (that may indicate care gaps) and determines if they should be referred to individual peer review groups; provides oversight of the entire peer review process; reports to MEC
PSE - Precursor Safety Event
A deviation from generally accepted performance standard that reaches the patient and results in minimal harm or no detectable harm
PSI - Patient Safety Indicator
A group of metrics defined by AHRQ that screens (through coding) for adverse events experienced by patients as a result of exposure to the healthcare system; these events are likely amenable to prevention by changes at the system or provider level.
PSO - Patient Safety Organization
A group, institution or association that aims to improve medical care by reducing medical errors
Q
QAPI - Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement
A QAPI Plan is required for all programs of the healthcare system, whether clinical or non-clinical. CMS also requires an overall QAPI Plan for the system.
QI - Quality Improvement
QMS - Quality Management System
A formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives; three basic fundamentals of the QMS are to provide a Consistent product or service, to improve Customer satisfaction, and Continual improvement of the organization.
R
RCA - Root Cause analysis
A systematic process for identifying “root causes” of problems or events and an approach for responding to them.
S
SBAR - Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation
A technique used to facilitate prompt and appropriate communication; an error prevention tool
SDS - Same Day Surgery Unit
SIR - Standardized Infection Ratio
This summary statistic (ratio of actual to predicted infections) is used by National Health Safety Network (NHSN) to track infections and progress on HAI prevention efforts.
SOC - Safety Operations Council
One of Methodist Healthcare’s Management Review Committees
SOLC - System Operations Leadership Council
One of Methodist Healthcare’s Management Review Committees
SPD - Sterile Processing Department
A multitude of requirement exist for this department; it plays a major role in preventing infection and keeping our patient safe
SSE - Serious Safety Event
A deviation from generally accepted performance standards that reaches the patient and results in moderate to severe harm or death
SSER - Serious Safety Event Rate
The average of Serious Safety Events per 10,000 adjusted patient days over a rolling 12-month timeframe
SSI - Surgical Site Infection
An infection that occurs after surgery in the part of the body where the surgery took place
SUR - Standardized Utilization Ratio
SUR is the summary measure used by National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) to compare device utilization (ie, central line catheters, urinary catheters, ventilator use); this is essential for measuring exposure to device-related infections. SUR compares actual # of device days reported to predicted # device days.
U
US - Ultrasound
An imaging tool that doesn’t involve radiation
V
VAP - Ventilator Associated Pneumonia
A type of lung infection that occurs in people who are on mechanical ventilation breathing machines in hospitals ; it is one of the VREs
VAEs - Ventilator Associated Events
This includes Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), sepsis, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), pulmonary embolism, barotrauma, and pulmonary edema.
VS - Vital Signs
VS typically include heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, oxygenation.
VTE - Venous Thromboembolism
A condition where a blood clot forms in a vein. This is most common in a leg vein, where it's known as deep vein thrombosis; it may lead to a PE (pulmonary embolus)