Electronic Health Record (EHR) / 

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) 

The electronic health record (EHR) is a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting. Included in this information are patient demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2518657/. For purposes of this IG, EHR can also be interpreted to refer to applications that some vendors may call an electronic medical record (EMR).

Healthcare Provider

Any supplier of a healthcare service, i.e., a person or organization that furnishes, bills, or is paid for healthcare in the normal course of business. Includes physicians and healthcare provider staff, as well as ancillary healthcare personnel (e.g., laboratory personnel).

Health IT Vendor

A vendor or supplier is a company/consortium that provides health information technology products and/or services, in this case, for supporting health or healthcare.

Intermediary 

An organization that is in the information flow between a healthcare organization and a PHA regarding case reporting. An intermediary may be acting on behalf of either the healthcare organization as a business associate or public health as an authorized agent. Examples include a Health Information Exchange (HIE) organization, a clinical trust and exchange network, or a shared infrastructure and routing platform.

Laboratory 

The laboratory is a producer of laboratory test results (filler or, at times, placer of a laboratory order).

Laboratory Information System (LIS)

An application to streamline the management of laboratory processes including data collection, workflow management, and report generation. May provide an automatic interface to laboratory analytical instruments to transfer verified results to nurse stations, chart carts, and remote physician offices. Also referred to as a Laboratory Information Management System.

Public Health Agency (PHA)

For the purposes of this IG, a PHA is a governmental entity at the federal, state, territorial, local, or tribal level that is legally entitled to establish public health case reporting requirements and receive case reports. 

Public Health Decision Support (PHDS)

For the purposes on this IG, PHDS provides clinicians, staff, and public health practitioners with knowledge about reporting cases to public health and information about the condition that has been identified. 

Public Health System 

Jurisdictional information systems that may, among other things, receive public health case reports.

Standards Development Organization 

An organization that identifies the need for, locates interested parties, and writes specifications that all parties in a particular field of human endeavor can use to their mutual benefit. For the purpose of this document, the field is health or health interoperability and recognition by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the International Standards Organization (ISO) is accepted as evidence that a particular organization is a standards development organization.