Glossary of Medical Acronyms
Compiled by: Brenda Neptune, Community Worker Student, George Brown College
This glossary of medical and health care acronyms is based on the Acronyms section of the e-Health Resource Centre, of the Office of Health and Information Highway, Health Canada. The Web site also offers Glossaries, a Thesaurus and online publications
| Terms | Web Addresses and descriptions |
| AAMI | Association For The Advancement Of Medical Instrumentation (USA) |
| ACHDHR | Advisory Committee On Health Delivery And Human Resources |
| ACHI | Advisory Council on Health Infostructure. |
| ACHI (F/P/T) | Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Health Infostructure |
| ACHHR | Advisory Committee on Health Human Resources |
| ACHS | Advisory Committee on Health Services |
| ACPH | Advisory Committee on Population Health |
| ACPHHS | Advisory Committee on Population Health and Health Security |
| AIPSO | Association of the International Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario |
| BCHIMPS | British Columbia Health Information Management Professionals' Society |
| CAC | Consumer Association of Canada |
| CAN | Canadian Nurses Association |
| CANAIRE | Canada Network for the Advancement of Research Industry and Education |
| CCOHTA | Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment |
| CDA | Canadian Dental Association |
| CFPC | College of Family Physicians of Canada |
| CHA | Canadian Healthcare Association |
| CHA | Canada Health Act |
| CHE | Centers for Health Evidence |
| CHI | Canada Health Infoway |
| CHIN | Community Health Information Networks (Canada) |
| CHIPP | Canadian Health Infostructure Partnership Program |
| CHITTA | Canadian Healthcare Information Technology Trade Association |
| CHM | Child Health Network |
| CHMIS | Community Health Management Information System (Canada) |
| CHN | Canadian Health Network |
| CHRA | Canadian Health Record Association |
| CIHI | Canadian Institute for Health Information |
| CIPHS | Canadian Integrated Public Health Surveillance Program |
| CIS | Clinical Information System |
| CMA | Canadian Medical Association |
| CNA | Canadian Nurses Association |
| CPHA | Canadian Pharmacists Association |
| CPR | Computer-based Patient Record |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit |
| CST | Canadian Association of Telehealth |
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange |
| EPR | Electronic Patient Record |
| FNIHIS | First Nations and Inuit Health Information System |
| GEHR | Good Electronic Health Record (International) |
| HC | Health Canada |
| HCA | Health Care Aide |
| HCCI | Health Care Coordination Initiative |
| HCERC | Home and Community Care Evaluation and Research Center |
| HER(s) | Electronic Health Record(s) |
| HIN | Health Information Network |
| HIS | Hospital Information System |
| HISP | Health Infostructure Support Program |
| HTF | Health Transition Fund |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technologies |
| ITCH | Information Technology in Community Health |
| LIS | Laboratory Information System |
| MEDLINE | Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System On-Line |
| MRI / IRM | Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
| NFOH | National Forum on Health |
| NHII | National Health Information Infrastructure |
| NHSC | Network of Health Surveillance in Canada |
| NHSI | National Health Surveillance Infostructure |
| OHIH | Office of Health and the Information Highway |
| PETs | Privacy Enhancing Technologies |
| PIS | Pharmacy Information System |
| PSW | Personal Support Worker |
| RCPSC | Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada |
| RPN | Registered Practical Nurse |
| RN | Registered Nurse |
| RIS | Radiology Information System |
| SNOMED | Systematized Nomenclature of Human and Veterinary Medicine |
| TAO | Telehealth Association of Ontario |
| UPI | Unique Personal Identifier |