Healthcare Terminology

First we’ll cover the organizations in the healthcare ecosystem. Then we’ll introduce terms related to the business itself or processes within a healthcare business. Finally, we’ll talk about well-known acronyms that can cause confusion for IT professionals changing from one vertical to another.

Government, Private, and Nonprofit Entities

While working within the medical community, you will run into acronyms for government, private, and nonprofit entities.

American Medical Association (AMA) The American Medical Association is the national association for physicians, medical residents, and first-year medical students. Though only approximately 20 percent of doctors are members of the association, it does represent 135,000 practicing physicians. Unfortunately, unless you become a medical student at a minimum, you cannot join.