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This document contains the definitions of frequently-used health care terms.

Consumers envision the next generation of care plans as a multidimensional, person-centered planning process built on a dynamic, electronic platform. The Consumer Partnership for eHealth developed a set of Consumer Principles to guide policy efforts to build the functionality to support health and care planning into health IT.

Health information technology offers great promise in addressing and reducing health disparities, yet there has been little actual progress on this critical issue. The Consumer Partnership for eHealth has created an evidence-based action plan for leveraging the EHR Incentive Program to reduce health disparities and make a positive life-altering impact for the nation’s underserved and vulnerable populations

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program (e.g. “Meaningful Use”) is an essential catalyst for improving the quality, safety and efficiency of care. Patients and families have already begun to experience early benefits, which will grow exponentially in coming years.

The Medicaid expansion included in the Affordable Care Act is an historic opportunity to extend much needed health care coverage to millions of lower income Americans. Traditionally, Medicaid coverage has been limited to only to certain segments of the low-income adult population – parents whose dependent children live with them, disabled individuals, and pregnant women (but only for the duration of their pregnancy and 60 days afterward).

Telemedicine is the delivery of any health care service or the transmission of health information using telecommunications technology. It includes videoconferencing, transmission of still images, patient portals, remote monitoring of vital signs, and more.

The accountable care organization began life as a catchphrase signifying a shift in the relationship between a hospital and its doctors. By forming an ACO, a hospital and medical staff shared clinical and financial responsibility for coordinating care to improve quality and lower costs.

Ensuring substantive and meaningful consumer participation in a health IT initiative can help facilitate adoption of patient-centered innovations, and ultimately, speed and enhance the adoption of health IT in a community.

As the nation progresses with the hard work of reforming the health care delivery system, the widespread adoption of health information technology (health IT) has become a national priority. A broad range of health care providers is working to implement and effectively use electronic health record (EHR) systems, which are essential to the success of new models of care currently being tested as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (ACA).

The following is a glossary of Health Information Technology (IT) acronyms and terms.

Family economic insecurity is on the rise. Increasing numbers of women and families are losing employer-sponsored insurance and either going without insurance or enrolling in Medicaid.

Women on average earn less than men and are more likely to live in poverty. Female households, which are on the rise, are especially at risk of of living in poverty. Many women also have caregiving responsibilities, which limit their time and ability to work outside the home and require in additional health care spending.

Because women live longer, they make up more than half of the Medicare population and are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions. As both caregivers and patients, older women have borne the brunt of shortcomings in our health care system – high costs, poor quality, and fragmented, uncoordinated care.

Compared with men, women are more likely to be in fair or poor health and face greater rates of disease or chronic conditions on a number of indicators. This is compounded for women of color, women with disabilities, and lesbians.

Women are often not receiving the preventive or chronic care management services they need to stay healthy. This is especially true for minority women and women with disabilities.

The medical home model is gaining momentum nationwide as a way to improve the quality of care and reduce costs by offering more accessible, comprehensive, and coordinated primary care.

To effectively advocate for a medical home that is truly patient centered, it is necessary to understand some of the changes that need to happen in the health care system.

Consumer consent has long been seen as the privacy pillar for networked health information. But a privacy approach that rests solely on obtaining consumer consent can provide weak protection for consumers.

As the nation begins to reform our health care system, it is clear that Health Information Technology (HIT) is a critical and foundational element for change. References to HIT were woven throughout the recently enacted health reform law as a foundational component of reforming the health care delivery and payment systems.

As the nation begins to reform our health care system, it is clear that Health Information Technology (HIT) is a critical and foundational element for change. References to HIT were woven throughout the recently enacted health reform law as a foundational component of reforming the health care delivery and payment systems.