AHEC - Area Health Education Center

The Area Health Education Center program was established to aid in developing health careers recruitment programs in underserved rural and urban areas for under-represented and disadvantaged populations. These centers support the community-based training of primary care health professions students and residents in health professional shortage areas and medically underserved areas, including multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary training; provide information dissemination, educational support, and technical assistance to reduce professional isolation, increase retention, and enhance the practice environment; and promote improved health and increased disease prevention in a manner that responds to defined community needs, with emphasis on underserved areas and populations having demonstrated serious unmet health care needs.  Links to National/Alabama AHEC Sites

AIDS - Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

The most severe manifestation of infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists numerous opportunistic infections and cancers that, in the presence of HIV infection, constitute an AIDS diagnosis. In 1993, CDC expanded the criteria for an AIDS diagnosis in adults and adolescents to include CD4+ T-cell count at or below 200 cells per microliter in the presence of HIV infection. In persons (age 5 and older) with normally functioning immune systems, CD4+ T-cell counts usually range from 500 - 1,500 cells per microliter. Persons living with AIDS often have infections of the lungs, brain, eyes, and other organs, and frequently suffer debilitating weight loss, diarrhea, and a type of cancer called Kaposi's Sarcoma.  (Glossary of HIV/AIDS Terms - 4^th edition)

CCDF - Child Care and Development Fund

The Child Care and Development Fund includes funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau , integrating multiple funding sources for child care activities across the country. CCDF programs provide services to children and help eligible families (low- income families, families receiving TANF, and those transitioning from public assistance) obtain child care in order to work or attend training/school. In addition, services may be provided to children in need of protective services. CCDF makes funds available through block grants to states, territories, and federally recognized tribes. Subsidized child care services are available to eligible families through child care certificates/vouchers or contracts with providers. States determine eligibility for CCDF services within federal limits and also set payment rates for providers and sliding fee scales that determine parent fees. States must ensure that parents have equal access to providers and the same selection of providers as non-subsidized parents.

CHIP or SCHIP - Children's Health Insurance Program or State Children's Health Insurance Program:

The (State) Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP or SCHIP, was added to the Social Security Act by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.  This is a national program designed for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford commercial insurance.  This program, administered in Alabama through the Alabama Department of Public Health, provides health insurance to uninsured children under the age of 19.

CISS - Community Integrated Service Systems

SPRANS - Special Projects of Regional and National Significance

HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau manages the Title V Block Grant Program which has as a general purpose the improvement of the health of all mothers and children in the nation.  The Block Grant Program has three components: Formula Block Grants to 59 States and other political jurisdictions, Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS), and Community Integrated Service Systems (CISS) Grants.

The Community Integrated Service Systems (CISS) program seeks to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of mothers and children by funding projects for the development and expansion of integrated services at the community level.

Activities supported under Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) include MCH research, training, genetic services, hemophilia diagnostic and treatment centers, and MCH improvement projects that support a broad range of innovative strategies.

CME - Continuing Medical Education

Continuing medical education consists of educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. The content of CME is that body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the profession as within the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public.

COBRA - Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act:

Congress passed the landmark Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) health benefit provisions in 1986.  This law amended the Employee Retirement Income Security  Act (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act to provide continuation of group health coverage that might otherwise be terminated.

COBRA contains provisions giving certain former employees, retirees, spouses, former spouses, and dependent children the right to  temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates.  This coverage, however, is only available when coverage is lost due to certain specific events.

The Consumer Law Page presents  more specific information on this important legislation. 

DRG - Diagnosis Related Groups

An inpatient or hospital classification system used to pay a hospital or other provider for their services and to categorize illness by diagnosis and treatment. A classification scheme used by Medicare that clusters patients into 468 categories on the basis of patients' illnesses, diseases and medical problems. Groupings of diagnostic categories drawn from the International Classification of Diseases and modified by the presence of a surgical procedure, patient age, presence or absence of significant comorbidities or complications, and other relevant criteria. System involving classification of medical cases and payment to hospitals on the basis of diagnosis. Used under Medicare's prospective payment system to reimburse inpatient hospitals, regardless of the cost to the hospital to provide services. (Source: Pam Pohly’s Net Guide)

DSH - Disproportionate Share Hospital

EID - Emerging Infectious Diseases

Any infectious disease which has come to medical attention within the last two decades or for which there is a threat that its prevalence will increase in the near future. (Institute of Medicine, 1992)  Many times, such diseases exist in nature as zoonoses and emerge as human pathogens only when humans come into contact with a formerly isolated animal population, such as monkeys in a rain forest that are no longer isolated because of deforestation. Drug-resistant organisms could also be included as the cause of emerging infections since they exist because of human influence. Some recent examples of agents responsible for emerging infections include the human immunodeficiency virus, Ebola virus, and multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

FMAP - Federal Medical Assistance Percentage:

The Federal government pays a share of the medical assistance expenditures under each State's Medicaid program. That share, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) is determined annually by a formula that compares the State's average per capita income level with the national income average. States with a higher per capita income level are reimbursed a smaller share of their costs. By law, the FMAP cannot be lower than 50 percent nor higher than 83 percent.  The FMAP is defined in Section 1933d of the Social Security Act.  View This Definition  View the FMAPs for all States

FQHC - Federally Qualified Health Center (Definition provided by the Minnesota Department of Health)

The FQHC program was authorized under the 1989 Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA), and the program was expanded under OBRA 1990, Section 4161, (P.L.101-508). Oversight of the program is shared by the Bureau of Primary Care (BPHC) and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). FQHCs receive cost-based reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid patients as a mechanism to increase primary care services to high risk populations in underserved areas.

For a clinic to be automatically designated a FQHC, it must be one of the following:

● a federal Community and Migrant Health Center

● an American Indian outpatient clinic operating under section 638 of the

   American Indian Self Determination Act

● a limited number of federally funded clinics grandfathered into the program

For any other entity to apply for FQHC designation a "Lookalike" application is required. It requires the applicant to conduct a needs assessment of their patient population, describe other primary care services in the service area, and assurance of compliance with FQHC governance, financial, and clinical requirements.

Basic eligibility requirements for a FQHC (in addition to the above are):

● Have Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or Medically Underserved Population

   (MUP) status

● Have nonprofit, tax exempt or public status

● Have a Board of Directors, a majority of which must be consumers of the

   centers health services

● Provide culturally-competent, comprehensive primary care services to all age

   groups.

● Offer a sliding fee scale, accept Medicare, and provide services regardless of

   ability to pay.

GIS - Geographic Information System

A Geographic Information System is a computer system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information, i.e. data identified according to their locations. Practitioners also regard the total GIS as including operating personnel and the data that go into the system.  (U. S. Geological Survey)

GPS - Global Positioning System

A Global Positioning System is a satellite-based navigation system operated by the US Department of Defence (DOD). The present NAVigation System with Timing And Ranging (NAVSTAR) GPS was conceived as a ranging system, from known positions of satellites in space to unknown positions on land, sea, in air and space. It is a 24-hour, all weather, space-based navigation system to accurately determine position, velocity and time in a common reference frame, anywhere on or near the earth on a continuous basis.  The positioning accuracy of GPS ranges from ±100 meters to a few millimeters, depending upon the type of receivers, type of surveying method and techniques in post-processing of data.

HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996:

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 is also called Public Law 104-191 (which amends the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986) or the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act.

Title I of this act protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs.  Title II includes a section, Administrative Simplification, which requires improved efficiency in healthcare delivery by standardizing electronic data interchange, and protection of confidentiality and security of health data through setting and enforcing standards.  More specifically, this section requires the standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data; unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers; and security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of "individually identifiable health information," past, present or future.

HPSA - Health Professional Shortage Area:

A Health Professional Shortage Area is any of the following which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines has a shortage of medical, dental, or mental health professionals: (1) An urban or rural area (which need not conform to the geographic boundaries of a political subdivision and which is a rational area for the delivery of health services); (2) a population group; or (3) a public or nonprofit private medical facility.  A HPSA designation is the first step in receiving additional health care personnel through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC).  Additional information on Health Professional Shortage Areas, including a listing of these areas is presented at the HPSA site

maintained by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

ICD - International Classification of Diseases and Related Health

  Problems

This is a system for grouping or classifying diseases and related health problems.  The ICD system for classification was formalized in 1893 as the Bertillon Classification or International List of Causes of Death.  Considerable revision has occurred since 1893 in order to keep pace with expanding medical knowledge.  The Tenth Revision of the International (Statistical) Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) is the latest revision in this series.  In the updated classification, conditions have been grouped in a way that should be most suitable for general epidemiological purposes and the evaluation of health care.  The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization.

There are several modifications of the ICD being used.  The ICDA is a modification which is used for classifying diseases and related health problems in the United States.  The ICD-CM is a modification which is used for disease and related health problem classification in clinical environments.

ICF - International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and

  Health

After nine years of international revision efforts coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Health Assembly on May 22, 2001, approved the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and its abbreviation of "ICF." This classification was first created in 1980 (and then called the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps by the World Health Organization to provide a unifying framework for classifying the consequences of disease.

MedPAC - Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent federal body that advises the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. The Commission's 17 members, who bring diverse expertise in the financing and delivery of health services, meet publicly to discuss policy issues and formulate recommendations to the Congress on improving Medicare policies.

MHC - Migrant Health Center

MHP - Migrant Health Program

The Migrant Health Act was enacted in September 1962 by Public Law 87-692, which added section 310 to the Public Health Service Act. The Migrant Health Program (MHP) provides grants to community nonprofit organizations for a broad array of culturally and linguistically competent medical and support services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW) and their families. Clinics providing these services through the Migrant Health Program are called Migrant Health Centers (MHC).  The MHP is currently authorized under the Health Centers Consolidated Care Act of 1996, section 330g of the Public Health Service Act.  Oversight of the program is shared by the Bureau of Primary Care (BPHC) and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).

 MHC and MHP services may include primary care, preventive health care, transportation, outreach, dental, pharmaceutical, and environmental health. These programs use lay outreach workers, bilingual, bicultural health personnel, and culturally appropriate protocols often developed by the Migrant Clinicians Network.  They also provide prevention-oriented and pediatric care at MHCs, such as immunizations, well baby care, and developmental screenings.

MSFW - Migrant Seasonal Farmworker

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the term Migrant Seasonal Farmworker includes a migrant farmworker, a migrant food processing worker, or a seasonal farmworker.

A migrant farmworker is a seasonal farmworker who had to travel to do the farmwork so that he/she was unable to return to his/her permanent residence within the same day. Full-time students traveling in organized groups rather than with their families are excluded.

A migrant food processing worker includes a person who during the preceding 12 months has worked at least an aggregate of 25 or more days or parts of days in which some work was performed in food processing (as classified in the 1972 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) definitions 201, 2033, 2035, and 2037 for food processing establishments), earned at least half of his/her earned income from processing work and was not employed in food processing year round by the same employer, provided that the food processing required travel such that the worker was unable to return to his/her permanent residence in the same day. Migrant food processing workers who are full-time students but who travel in organized groups rather than with their families are excluded.

A seasonal farmworker includes a person who during the preceding 12 months worked at least an aggregate of 25 or more days or parts of days in which some work was performed in farmwork, earned at least half of his/her earned income from farmwork, and was not employed in farmwork year round by the same employer. For the purposes of this definition only, a farm labor contractor is not considered an employer. Non-migrant individuals who are full-time students are excluded.

MUA - Medically Underserved Area

MUP - Medically Underserved Population

IMU - Index of Medical Underservice

The federal Medically Underserved Area or Nedically Underserved Population designations identify areas or populations as having a need for medical services on the basis of demographic data. These designations are important when seeking a Community and Migrant Health Center or Federally Qualified Health Center status. 

2) Exceptional MUP - either the total population, or a specific population in the area has an IMU score of greater than 62.0. However, unusual local conditions serve as barriers to the access or the availability of personal health services. Exceptional MUPs require the approval of the Governor (e.g., prison populations).

PCCM - Primary Care Case Manager

PCP - Primary Care Provider

PMP - Primary Medical Provider

Medicaid Programs:

A Primary Care Case Manager is a system of care in some Medicaid programs in which the Primary Care Provider, usually a physician, makes care and referral decisions.  The Primary Care Provider is a health provider assigned by the managed care organization to each consumer to make decisions about care and referrals.  The PCP often takes on a "gatekeeper" role.  A Primary Medical Provider is a physician provider assigned by a managed care organization to each consumer in the Alabama Medicaid Patient First Program.

Click HERE for additional information on the PHP program.

PMD - Preferred Medical Doctor

This is a program designed to increase the appropriate use of clinical preventive services, such as screening tests, immunizations, and counseling, based on U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.

Click HERE for additional information on the PPIP program.

PPO - Preferred Provider Organization

A Preferred Provider Organization health insurance plan usually features both an In-Network and Out-of-Network component.  the In-Network approach allows members to seek care through any practitioner in a preferred health care organization  without having to designate a primary care physician.  As a result, it is not necessary to obtain a referral before visiting another physician or specialist.  The Out-of-Network portion of the plan provides the participant with the ability to see any physician, but at a greater cost.

PPS - Prospective Payment System

A prospective payment system utilizes a method of paying hospitals or other health programs using amounts or rates of payment which are established prior to rendering service, usually for a defined period of time.  Institutions are paid these amounts regardless of the costs they actually incur.  These systems of payment are designed to introduce a degree of constraint on charge or costs increases by setting limits on amounts paid during a future period.  In some cases, such systems provide incentives for improved efficiency by sharing savings with institutions that perform at lower than anticipated costs.  Prospective payment contrasts with the method of payment originally used under Medicare and Medicaid (as well as insurance programs) where institutions were reimbursed for actual expenses incurred. (Source:  AHSRHP)

SHCC - (Alabama) Statewide Health Coordinating Council

This is a council which advises the (Alabama) State Health Planning and Development Agency on all health planning and development functions required by law.

SPEC - Special Purposes Examination for Chiropractic

The Special Purposes Examination for Chiropractic is designed specifically for use when state or foreign licensing agencies are considering cases of reciprocity/endorsement, reinstatement following licensure lapse, disciplinary action, suspension or revocation, etc.

The SPEC assesses the clinical competency of licensed or previously licensed practitioners in areas reflecting clinical conditions generally encountered in chiropractic practice. It addresses various components of clinical competency, including patient evaluation and case management. This examination is not for initial licensing purposes and does not replace NBCE Parts I, II, and III.

SPNS - Special Projects of National Significance

The Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program advances knowledge and skills in the delivery of health and support services to underserved populations diagnosed with HIV infection. SPNS grants fund innovative models of care and support the development of effective delivery systems for HIV care. The SPNS Program is considered the research and development arm of the Ryan White CARE Act and provides the mechanism to: (1) assess the effectiveness of particular models of care; (2) support innovative program design; and (3) promote replication of effective models. In order to meet program goals, funded organizations necessarily contain a strong evaluation component and disseminate information necessary for effective replication.

Click HERE for additional information on the SPNS Program.

STD - Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Also called venereal disease (VD) (an older public health term) or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Sexually transmitted diseases are infections spread by the transfer of organisms from person to person during sexual contact. In addition to the "traditional" STDs (syphilis and gonorrhea), the spectrum of STDs now includes HIV infection, which causes AIDS; Chlamydia trachomatis infections; human papilloma virus (HPV) infection; genital herpes; chancroid; genital mycoplasmas; hepatitis B; trichomoniasis; enteric infections; and ectoparasitic diseases (i.e., diseases caused by organisms that live on the outside of the host's body). The complexity and scope of STDs have increased dramatically since the 1980s; more than 20 micro-organisms and syndromes are now recognized as belonging in this category.

TANF - Temporary  Assistance for Needy Families

TANF is the nation's safety net program for no- or low-income families with a pregnant women or at least one child. This block grant to states and some tribes covers benefits, administration, expenses, and services to low-income families transitioning off public assistance. Each state or tribe determines eligibility, benefit levels, services, and time limits for low- income families. (Federal law stipulates that the time limit shall not exceed five years.) Many states transfer TANF funds to finance child care programs or other services.

TOP - Technology Opportunities Program

The Technology Opportunities Program (TOP), formerly known as the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP), is a highly-competitive, merit-based grant program that brings the benefits of digital network technologies to communities throughout the United States. TOP grants have played an important role in realizing the vision of an information society by demonstrating practical applications of new telecommunications and information technologies to serve the public interest. 

Click HERE for additional information on TOP.

UCR - Uniform Crime Reporting

UCR is a city, county, and state law enforcement program which provides a nationwide view of crime based on the submission of statistics by law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

In the 1920's, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recognized the potential value in tracking national crime statistics. The Committee on Uniform Crime Records of the IACP developed and initiated this voluntary national data collection effort in 1930 and still continues to advise the FBI on the UCR Program process. During that same year, the IACP was instrumental in gaining Congressional approval which authorized the FBI to serve as the national clearinghouse for statistical information on crime. In June 1966, the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) established a Committee on Uniform Crime Reporting to serve in an advisory capacity and to encourage sheriffs throughout the country to fully participate in the Program. Since 1930, through the UCR Program, the FBI has collected and compiled data to use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management, as well as to indicate fluctuations in the level of crime in America.

WMD - Weapons of Mass Destruction

According to the Florida weapons of Mass Destruction Hoax and Threat Law, weapons of mass destruction include any device or object that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors; any device or object involving a disease organism; or any device or object that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life.