Acknowledgments
HIMSS sincerely thanks the student volunteers, led by Christine Hudak and Gary Ozanich, and HIMSS subject matter experts for the time and effort dedicated to the development of the fifth edition of this dictionary. Without their leadership, expertise, and consideration, this dictionary would not have become a reality.
Christine Hudak, PhD, CPHIMS, FHIMSS
Professor and Director, Health Informatics
Kent State University Kent, Ohio
Gary W� Ozanich, PhD
Director, Health Informatics College of Informatics
Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, Kentucky
HIMSS Staff
Joyce Sensmeier MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, FAAN Vice President Informatics
Katie Crenshaw, MPA Manager Informatics
Mari Greenberger, MPPA Director Informatics
Jessica Bird, CAE Manager Strategic Relations
Jeff Coughlin, MPP
Senior Director Federal & State Affairs
Mara Daiker, MS, CPHIMS, RHIA, SHIMSS Director Professional Development
Rich Delort, VP Information Technology
Stephanie Denvir, CAE Senior Director Strategic Relations
Audrey Garnatz, PhD, CAPM Program Manager Informatics
James Gaston, FHIMSS, MBA
Senior Director Healthcare Advisory Services Group HIMSS Analytics
Lee Kim, BS, JD, CISSP, CIPP/US, FHIMSS Director, Privacy and Security
Michael Kirwan Vice President Continua Personal Connected Health Alliance
JoAnn Klinedinst, MEd, CPHIMS, PMP, DES, FHIMSS Vice President Professional Development
Rod Piechowski, MA, CPHIMS
Senior Director Health Information Systems
John Sharp, MSSA, PMP, FHIMSS
Senior Manager, Personal Connected Health Alliance
DonVielle Young
Senior Associate Professional Development
AAA (Attribute authority): A directory or database in which systems can securely add, modify, and save attributes. An attribute authority is a trusted source of data for attribute-based access control (ABAC) decisions.21
AAA (Authentication, authorization, and accounting): A principle that is the cornerstone of security, whether IT or otherwise, and is comprised of access control, authentication, and accounting.422 See Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.
ABAC (Attribute-based access control): A logical access control model that is distinguishable because it controls access to objects by evaluating rules against the attributes of the entities (subject and object) actions and the environment relevant to a request.1
ABC (Activity-based costing): An accounting technique that allows an organization to determine the actual cost associated with each product and service produced by the organization, without regard to organizational structure. A cost accounting approach concerned with matching costs with activities (called cost drivers) that cause those costs. It is a more sophisticated kind of absorption-costing and replaces labor-based costing systems. ABC states that (1) products consume activities, (2) it is the activities (and not the products) that consume resources, (3) activities are the cost drivers, and (4) activities are not necessarily based on the volume of production. Instead of allocating costs to cost centers (such as manufacturing, marketing, finance), ABC allocates direct and indirect costs to activities such as processing an order, attending to a customer complaint, or setting up a machine.4
ABC codes (Alternative billing codes): Terminology to describe alternative medicine, nursing, and other integrative healthcare interventions that include relative value units and legal scope of practice information. ABC codes are five-digit Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant alpha codes (e.g., AAAAA) used by licensed and non-licensed healthcare practitioners on standard healthcare claim forms (e.g., CMS 1500 Form) to describe services, remedies, and/or supply items provided and/or used during patient visits.40
Abend: Abnormal termination of software. 1. A type of system error in which a task or program fails to execute properly (i.e., “ab-normally ends”). The term is also used as the name for a type of error message that indicates such a failure has occurred. 2. ABnormal END or ABortive END. System
Acrash or other abnormal termination of a computer program caused by memory conflict or some other (usually unidentifiable) glitch.6,4
Abort: In data transmission, an abort is a function invoked by a sending station to cause the recipient to discard or ignore all bit sequences transmitted by the sender since the preceding flag sequence. To terminate a program or process abnormally and usually suddenly, with or without diagnostic information.8,135
Abstract message: The basic level of definition within HL7 is that of the abstract message associated with a particular trigger event. The abstract message includes the data fields that will be sent within a message, the valid response messages, and the treatment of application level errors or the failure of the underlying communications system. An HL7 abstract message is defined in terms of HL7 segments and fields.9
Abstract syntax: A form of representation of data that is independent of machineoriented structures and encodings and also of the physical representation of the data. Abstract syntax is used to give a high-level description of programs being compiled or messages passing over a communications link. 8
Abstract syntax notation: See ASN.
Abstracting: An application that facilitates the collection and maintenance of coded patient information with selected patient demographic, clinical, and admissions data from the medical record, usually post-discharge. This information can be used for internal control, analysis, regulatory reports, etc.2
Abstraction: 1. The process of extracting essential properties while omitting unessential details. 2. The process of taking away or removing characteristics from something in order to reduce it to a set of essential characteristics. In object-oriented programming, abstraction is one of three central principles (along with encapsulation and inheritance). Through the process of abstraction, a programmer hides all but the relevant data about an object in order to reduce complexity and increase efficiency.11, 2 See Encapsulation and Inheritance.
ACA (Affordable Care Act): On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which sought to extend healthcare coverage to more individuals and makes coverage more affordable for many others. Section 1561 requested the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), in consultation with the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee, and the HIT Standards Committee (the Committees), to develop interoperable and secure standards and protocols that facilitate electronic enrollment of individuals in federal and state health and human services programs.12
Acceptable downtime: See Maximum tolerable period of disruption and MAO.
Acceptable risk: Level of risk at which, given costs and benefits associated with risk reduction measures, no action is deemed to be warranted at a given point in time.13
Acceptable use policy: See AUP.
Acceptance testing: A user-run testing event that demonstrates an application’s ability to meet business objectives and system requirements. Also known as beta testing.2
Access: The ability and means to communicate with or otherwise interact with a system, to use system resources to handle information, to gain knowledge of the information the system contains, or to control system components and functions.15
Access control: The process of granting or denying specific requests for or attempts to (1) obtain and use information and related information processing services; and (2) enter specific physical facilities.15
Access control decision function: See ADF.
Access control enforcement function: See AEF.
Access control information: See ACI.
Access control list: See ACL
Access control policy: The way an organization will manage access control and under which rules users have access to which systems and information. It also defines the access control model that an organization may use.423
Access level: A category within a given security classification limiting entry or system connectivity to only authorized persons.1
Access mode: A distinct operation recognized by the protection mechanisms as a possible operation on an object. Read, write, and append are possible modes of access to a file, while execute is an additional mode of access to a program.16
Access point: A device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi or related standards.1
Access provider: See ISP
Access to radiology information: See ARI.
Accountability: Refers to identifying the healthcare party (i.e., individuals, organizations, business units) or agent (e.g., software, device, instrument, monitor) that is responsible for data origination, amendment, verification, translation, stewardship, access and use, disclosure, and transmission and receipt.17
Accountable Care Organization: See ACO.
Accounting: Systematic and comprehensive recording of financial transactions pertaining to a business. Also refers to the process of summarizing, analyzing, and reporting these transactions to oversight agencies and tax collection entities.18
AAccounting of disclosures: Individuals have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information made by a covered entity in the six years prior to the date on which the accounting is required, subject to certain exceptions as set forth in 45 CFR 164.528.424
Accreditation: 1. Formal declaration by a designated approving authority that an information system is approved to operate in a particular security mode using a prescribed set of safeguards at an acceptable level of risk. 2. A process of review that healthcare organizations participate in to demonstrate the ability to meet predetermined criteria and standards established by a professional accrediting agency. Accreditation represents agencies as credible and reputable organizations dedicated to ongoing and continuous compliance with the highest standard of quality.100,22
ACDF (Access control decision function) or ADF: A specialized function that makes access control decisions by applying access control policy rules to an access request, access control decision information (of initiators, targets, access requests, or that retained from prior decisions), and the context in which the access request is made.16
ACG (Ambulatory care group): Also known as an adjusted clinical group. A method of categorizing outpatient episodes: preventative, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, and/or rehabilitative that are based on resource use over time and are modified by principal diagnosis, age, and sex.23 See ADG and APG .
ACI (Access control information): Information used for access control purposes, including contextual information. An ACI controls user access by defining the access privileges of an ITIM group or ACI principal. Members of an ITIM group or an ACI principal can view and perform operations on attributes within a target class (context) as defined by the scope of the ACI.24, 25
ACID (Atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability): An acronym and mnemonic device for learning and remembering the four primary attributes ensured to any transaction by a transaction manager (which is also called a transaction monitor). The ACID concept is described in ISO/IEC 10026-1:1992 Section 4. Each of these attributes can be measured against a benchmark.2 See Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability.
ACK (General acknowledgment message): In data networking, an acknowledgment is a signal passed between communicating processes or computers to signify acknowledgment, or receipt, of response, as part of a communications protocol. The ACK message is used to respond to a message where there has been an error that precludes application processing or where the application does not define a special message type for the response.9
ACL (Access control list): A list of permissions associated with an object. The list specifies who or what is allowed to access the object and what operations are allowed to be performed on the object.1
ACO (Accountable care organization): Groups of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to the patients they serve. Coordinated care helps ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, with the goal of avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. When an ACO succeeds in both delivering high-quality care and spending healthcare dollars more wisely, it will share in the savings it achieves.26
Acquisition modality: A system that acquires medical images, waveforms, or measurements while a patient or specimen is present (e.g., a computed tomography scanner, a specimen microscope, or a hemodynamic measurement system).27
Acquisition modality importer: A system that integrates a non-DICOM-ready modality into workflows.27
Active directory: See AD.
Active server pages: See ASP.
Activity-based costing: See ABC .
Activity tracker: A device or application for monitoring and tracking fitness-related metrics such as distance walked or run, calorie consumption, heartbeat, and quality of sleep. Most often refers to dedicated electronic monitoring devices that are synced to a computer or smartphone for long-term data tracking.52 See Wearable technology
Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation: See APACHE .
AD (Active directory): A system that automates network management of user data, security, and distributed resources.2
AD (Addendum): New documentation used to add information to an original entry. Addenda should be timely and bear the current date and reason for the additional information being added to the health record.28
Addendum: See AD.
Address resolution protocol: See ARP.
ADE (Adverse drug event): An injury resulting from the use of a drug. Under this definition, the term ADE includes harm caused by the drug (adverse drug reactions and overdose) and harm from the use of the drug (including dose reductions and discontinuations of drug therapy). Adverse drug events may result from medication errors, but most do not. ADEs are injuries resulting from drug-related medical interventions. ADEs can occur in any healthcare setting, including: inpatient, such as acute care hospitals, outpatient, and long-term care settings, such as nursing homes.31,67,32
ADG (Ambulatory diagnostic group): A method of categorizing outpatient episodes. See ACG and APG . 23
Ad hoc query: 1. A query that is not determined prior to the moment it is run against a data source. 2. A nonstandard inquiry created to obtain information as
the need arises and contrasts with a query that is predefined and routinely processed.71
Administrative code sets: Code sets that characterize a general business situation, rather than a medical condition or service. Under HIPAA, these are sometimes referred to as nonclinical, or nonmedical, code sets. Compare to code sets and medical code sets.26
Administrative record: A record concerned with administrative matters, such as length of stay, details of accommodation, and billing.4
Administrative safeguards: Administrative actions, policies and procedures to manage the selection, development, implementation, and maintenance of security measures to safeguard electronic protected health information; and to manage the conduct of the covered entity’s or business associate’s workforce in relation to the protection of that information.79
Administrative services only: See ASO.
Administrator user access level: Administrator accounts are generally for users who require full access to the computer system.425
Admission date: The date the patient was admitted for inpatient care, outpatient service, or start of care.26
ADPAC (Automated data processing application coordinator): The person responsible for implementing a set of computer programs (application package) developed to support a specific functional area such as Immunology Case Registry, PIMS, etc.37
ADR (Adverse drug reaction): An unwanted response to a therapeutic drug. Health professionals must report all adverse reactions related to drugs or medical devices to the manufacturer and the FDA to aid in monitoring the safety of marketed medical products.38
ADR (ADT response message): Admission, discharge, and transfer response message.9
ADSL (Asymmetric digital subscriber line): A type of DSL broadband communications technology used for transmitting digital information at a high bandwidth on existing phone lines to homes and businesses. Unlike dialup phone services, ADSL provides continuously available, “always on” connection. ADSL is asymmetric in that it uses most of the channel to transmit downstream to the user and only a small part to receive information from the user. ADSL simultaneously accommodates analog (voice) information on the same line.2
ADT (Admission, discharge, and transfer): Admission, discharge, and transfer message for patients in a healthcare facility.9
ADT response message: See ADR
Advance directive: A document by which a person makes provision for healthcare decisions in the event that he or she becomes unable to make those decisions. There are two main types of advance directive—the “Living Will” and the “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.” There are also
hybrid documents that combine elements of the Living Will with those of the Durable Power of Attorney.81
Advanced analytics: The autonomous or semi-autonomous examination of data or content using sophisticated techniques and tools, typically beyond those of traditional business intelligence, to discover deeper insights, make predictions, or generate recommendations. Advanced analytic techniques include those such as data/text mining, machine learning, pattern matching, forecasting, visualization, semantic analysis, sentiment analysis, network and cluster analysis, multivariate statistics, graph analysis, simulation, complex event processing, and neural networks.142
Advanced APM (Advanced Alternative Payment Model): A track in the CMS Quality Payment Program where Eligible Clinicians (ECs) can earn a 5 percent incentive payment for achieving a threshold level of payments or patients that are achieved through a specific, designated APM. If ECs achieve these thresholds, they become a Qualifying APM Participant (QP) and are excluded from the Merit-based Incentive Payment Systems (MIPS) reporting requirements and payment adjustment under QPP.26
Advanced persistent threat: See APT
Advanced technology attachment: See ATA .
Adverse drug event: See ADE .
Adverse drug reaction: See ADR .
Adverse event: See AE
AE (Adverse event/adverse experience): Any untoward medical occurrence associated with the use of a drug or a medical product in humans, whether or not considered drug related. Pre-marketing: Any untoward medical occurrence in a patient or clinical investigation subject administered a pharmaceutical product and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with this treatment. Post-marketing/US: Any adverse event associated with the use of a drug in humans, whether or not considered drug related, including the following: An adverse event occurring in the course of the use of a drug product in professional practice; an adverse event occurring from drug overdose; an adverse event occurring from drug withdrawal; and any failure of expected pharmacologic action. Post-marketing/European Union: Any undesirable experience occurring to a patient treated with a pharmaceutical product whether or not considered related to the medicinal product.9,41
AE Title (Application entity title): An identifier utilized by picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) to uniquely name devices that can send and/or receive information to the imaging/PACS system.42
AEF (Access control enforcement function): A specialized function that is part of the access path between an initiator and a target on each access request and enforces the decision made by the access control decision function.16
Affinity domain policy: Clearly defines the appropriate uses of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) affinity domain. Within this policy is a defined set of acceptable use privacy consent policies that are published and understood.27
Affordable Care Act: See ACA
Aggregate: The collection or gathering of elements into a mass or whole.29
Aggregate data: 1. Data elements assembled into a logical format to facilitate comparisons or to elicit evidence of patterns. 2 . A data type composed of multiple elements. An aggregate can be homogeneous (all elements have the same type), e.g., an array, a list in a functional language, a string of characters, a file; or it can be heterogeneous (elements can have different types), e.g., a structure. In most languages, aggregates can contain elements which are themselves aggregates, e.g., a list of lists.43,44
Aggregation logics: Logic for aggregating detailed data into categories.45
AHT (Average handling time/average handle time): The average duration of a call handled by a customer service associate.2
AI (Artificial intelligence): The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.107
AIDC (Automatic identification and data capture): A broad category of technologies used to collect information from an individual, object, image, or sound without manual data entry. AIDC systems are used to manage inventory, delivery, assets, security, and documents. Sectors that use AIDC systems include distribution, manufacturing, transportation, medicine, government, and retail, among many others. AIDC applications typically fall into one of a few categories: identification and validation at the source, tracking, and interfaces to other systems. The actual technologies involved, the information obtained, and the purpose of collection vary widely. Current AIDC technologies include: barcodes, 2D barcodes, magnetic strips, smart cards, optical character recognition, radio frequency identification, biometrics applications including finger scanning, and voice recognition.2
AIMS (Anesthesia information management system): An information system that allows integrated communication with other hospital and provider systems throughout the perioperative period (such as clinical information systems used by nurses, clinical data repositories used by hospitals, and professional billing systems). AIMS are a specialized form of electronic health record (EHR) systems that allow the automatic and reliable collection, storage, and presentation of patient data during the perioperative period. In addition to providing basic record-keeping functions, most AIMS also allow end users to access information for management, quality
assurance, and research purposes. AIMS typically consist of a combination of hardware and software that interface with intraoperative monitors, and in many cases hospital clinical data repositories or EHRs. Although the primary role of an AIMS is to capture data during the intraoperative phase, most systems also can incorporate pre- and postoperative patient information.47
AIS (Automated information system): An assembly of computer hardware, software, firmware, or any combination of these, configured to automatically accomplish specific information handling operations, such as communication, computation, dissemination, processing, and storage of information. Included are computers, word processing systems, networks, or other electronic information handling systems, and associated equipment.109
Alert: Written or acoustic signal to announce the arrival of messages and results and to avoid possible undesirable situations, such as contradictions, conflicts, erroneous entry, tasks that are not performed in time, or an exceptional result. A passive alert will appear on the screen in the form of a message. An active alert calls for immediate attention, and the appropriate person is immediately notified (e.g., by electronic pager).34 See Decision support system.
Alert fatigue: Multiple false alarms by smart technology or computer programs that cause workers to ignore or respond slowly to them.48
Algorithm: Step-by-step procedure for problem-solving or calculating; a set of rules for problem-solving. In data mining, it defines the parameters of the data mining model.2
ALOS (Average length of stay): Refers to the average number of days that patients spend in hospital. It is generally measured by dividing the total number of days stayed by all inpatients during a year by the total number of admissions or discharges. Day cases, such as same day surgeries, are excluded.49
Alpha/beta testing: A pre-production development stage comprised of an initial trial (alpha test) by a select set of users. This initial test is to ensure that the system is stable enough for a rigorous trial (beta test) by additional users, or in a variety of settings.50,51 See Beta testing.
Alternative payment models: See APMs.
ALU (Arithmetic logic unit): A major component of the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer system. It does all processes related to arithmetic and logic operations that need to be done on instruction words. In some microprocessor architectures, the ALU is divided into the arithmetic unit and the logic unit.2
Ambulatory care: Clinical care, including diagnosis, observation, treatment, and rehabilitation that is provided on an outpatient basis. Ambulatory care is given to persons who are able to ambulate or walk about.96
Ambulatory care group: See ACG .
AAmbulatory care information system: Information systems used to improve the quality of care and promote business systems integration in the ambulatory care setting.53
Ambulatory EHR: The electronic health record (EHR) that supports the ambulatory/clinic/physician office environments. Provides all of the functions of an EHR, which may include: clinical documentation, order entry, clinical data repository, practitioner order entry, physician or nurse clinical documentation, etc.2
Ambulatory medical record: See AMR
Amendments and corrections: Documentation meant to clarify health information within a health record. An amendment is made after the original documentation has been completed by the provider. All amendments should be timely and bear the current date of documentation. A correction is a change in the information meant to clarify inaccuracies after the original electronic document has been signed or rendered complete.28
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: See ARRA .
American standard code for information interchange: See ASCII.
AMR (Ambulatory medical record): An electronic or paper-based medical record used in the outpatient or ambulatory care setting.53
Analog: Representing data by measurement of a continuous physical variable, as voltage or pressure, as opposed to digital, which represents data as discrete units.39
Analog signal: In telecommunications, an analog signal is one in which a base carrier’s alternating current frequency is modified in some way, such as by amplifying the strength of the signal or varying the frequency, in order to add information to the signal.2 See Digital signal.
Analog-to-digital conversion: An electronic process in which a continuously variable (analog) signal is changed, without altering its essential content, into a multi-level (digital) signal.2
Analytics: A process that uses mathematics, statistics, predictive modeling and machine learning techniques to find meaningful patterns and knowledge in recorded data.116
Analytics Competency Center: A cross-functional organizational team that has defined tasks, roles, responsibilities, and processes for supporting and promoting the effective use of business intelligence and/or analytics across an organization.7
Analytics strategy: A formal document presenting an organizational plan that outlines the goals, methods, and responsibilities for achieving analytics maturation.10
Ancillary care: Refers to the wide range of healthcare services. These services can be classified into three categories: diagnostic, therapeutic, and custodial. Diagnostic services include laboratory tests, radiology, genetic testing, diagnostic imaging, and more. Therapeutic services range from rehabilitation to physical and occupational therapy, as well as massage, chiropractic services,
and speech therapy. Custodial services include hospice care, long term past acute care (LTPAC). urgent care and nursing facility care.54
Anesthesia information management system: See AIMS.
ANN (Artificial neuron network): An artificial neuron network (ANN) is a computational model based on the structure and functions of biological neural networks. Information that flows through the network affects the structure of the ANN because a neural network changes—or learns, in a sense—based on that input and output. ANNs are considered nonlinear statistical data modeling tools where the complex relationships between inputs and outputs are modeled or patterns are found, and are among the main tools used in machine learning.52
Anonymization: A process that removes or replaces identity information from a communication or record. Communications and records may be made pseudonymous, in which case the same subject will always have the same replacement identity, but cannot be identified as an individual.56
Anti-tearing: The process or processes that prevent data loss when a smartcard is withdrawn during a data operation.2
Anti-virus software: A program specifically designed to detect many forms of malware and prevent them from infecting computers, as well as cleaning computers that have already been infected.1
APACHE (Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation): 1. A severity-ofdisease classification scoring system widely used in the United States. APACHE II is the most widely studied version of this instrument (a more recent version, APACHE IV, is proprietary, whereas APACHE II is publicly available); it derives a severity score from such factors as underlying disease and chronic health status. Other points are added for 12 physiologic variables (e.g., hematocrit, creatinine, Glasgow Coma Score, mean arterial pressure) measured within 24 hours of admission to the ICU. The APACHE II score has been validated in several studies involving tens of thousands of ICU patients. 2. A widely used web server platform written by the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). The Apache web server browser had a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web.58
APC (Ambulatory payment class): A payment type for outpatient prospective payment system (PPS) claims.59
APG (Ambulatory patient group): A reimbursement methodology developed by 3M Health Information Systems for the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA); APGs are to outpatient procedures as DRGs are to inpatient days; APGs provide for a fixed reimbursement to an institution for outpatient procedures or visits and incorporate data regarding the reason for the visit and patient data; APGs prevent unbundling of ancillary services; see also ACG and ADG . 60
API (Application program interface): 1. A set of standard software interrupts, calls, functions, and data formats that can be used by an application
Aprogram to access network services, devices, applications, or operating systems. 2. A set of pre-made functions used to build programs. APIs ask the operating system or another application to perform specific tasks. A variety of types of APIs exist, including messaging APIs for e-mail, telephony APIs for calling systems, Java APIs, and graphics APIs, such as DirectX.2 See Socket , SSL .
APMs (Alternative payment models): Models that offer healthcare providers added incentive payments to deliver high-quality and cost-efficient care. APMs are outlined in MACRA as a path for participation in MACRA’s Quality Payment Program (QPP). Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH), and bundled payment models are some examples of APMs.26 See MACRA , ACO.
Application: A software program or set of related programs that provide some useful healthcare capability or functionality.132
Application architecture: Defines how applications are designed and how they cooperate; promotes common presentation standards to facilitate rapid training and implementation of new applications and functions. Good application architecture enables a high level of system integration, reuse of components, and rapid deployment of applications in response to changing business requirements.57
Application entity title: See AE title.
Application integration: Sometimes called enterprise application integration or EAI; the process of bringing data or a function from one application program together with that of another application program. Where these programs already exist, the process is sometimes realized by using middleware, either packaged by a vendor or written on a custom basis. A common challenge for an enterprise is to integrate an existing (or legacy) program with a new program or with a web service program of another company. In general, for new applications, the use of objectoriented programming and actual or de facto standard development tools and interfaces (such as Java or .NET) will help ensure that new application programs can be easily integrated with those that may be needed in the future. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) promises to serve as a tool for exchanging data among disparate programs in a standard way. 2
Application layer: See OSI. Layer 7 of the OSI (open systems interconnection) model. Responsible for information transfer between two network applications. This involves such functions as security checks, identification of the two participants, availability checks, negotiating exchange mechanisms, and most importantly initiating the exchanges themselves.52
Application metadata: See Metadata .
Application program interface: See API.
Application protocol services: These are services supporting application level protocols. Simple object access protocol (SOAP) will be supported. Other remoting protocols, such as remote method invocation, DICOM, etc., can be plugged into the application protocol service.57
Application role: A characteristic of an application that defines a portion of its interfaces. It is defined in terms of the interactions (messages) that the role sends or receives in response to trigger events. Thus, it is a role played by a healthcare information system component when sending or receiving health information technology messages; a set of responsibilities with respect to an interaction.9
Application server: 1. Program on a distributed network that provides business logic and server-side execution environment for application programs. 2. A computer that handles all operations between a company’s back-end applications or databases and the users’ computers’ graphical user interface or web browsers. 3. The device that facilitates the hosting and delivery of applications, used by multiple and simultaneously connected local and remote users.2,10,52
Appointment: An appointment represents a booked slot or group of slots on a schedule, relating to one or more services or resources. Two examples might include a patient visit scheduled at a clinic, and a reservation for a piece of equipment.9
Appropriate Use Criteria: See AUC
APT (Advanced persistent threat): An adversary that possesses sophisticated levels of expertise and significant resources which allow it to create opportunities to achieve its objectives by using multiple attack vectors (e.g., cyber, physical, and deception). These objectives typically include establishing and extending footholds within the information technology infrastructure of the targeted organizations for purposes of exfiltrating information; undermining or impeding critical aspects of a mission, program, or organization; or positioning itself to carry out these objectives in the future. The advanced persistent threat: (i) pursues its objectives repeatedly over an extended period of time; (ii) adapts to defenders’ efforts to resist it; and (iii) is determined to maintain the level of interaction needed to execute its objectives.1
Archetype: 1. A named content type specification with attribute declarations. 2. Model (or pattern) for the capture of clinical information—a machinereadable specification of how to store patient data.61,62
Archetype instance: Metadata class instance of an archetype model, specifying the clinical concept and the value constraints that apply to one class of record component instances in an electronic health record extract.63
Archetype model: Information model of the metadata to represent the domainspecific characteristics of electronic health record entries, by specifying
values or value constraints for classes and attributes in the electronic health record reference model.63
Archetype repository: Persistent repository of archetype definitions accessed by a client authoring tool, or by a run-time component within an electronic health record service.63
Architecture: 1. A term applied to both the process and the outcome of specifying the overall structure, logical components, and the logical interrelationships of a computer, its operating system, a network, or other conception. 2. A framework from which applications, databases, and workstations can be developed in a coherent manner, and in which every part fits together without containing a mass of design details. Normally used to describe how a piece of hardware or software is constructed and which protocols and interfaces are required for communications. Network architecture specifies the function and data transmission needed to convey information across a network.134
Archive: Long-term, physically or digitally separate storage.64
Archiving: Data archiving is the process of moving data that is no longer actively used to a separate storage device for long-term retention. Archive data consists of older data that is still important to the organization and may be needed for future reference, as well as data that must be retained for regulatory compliance. Data archives are indexed and have search capabilities so files and parts of files can be easily located and retrieved.2
Arden syntax: A language created to encode actions within a clinical protocol into a set of situation-action rules for computer interpretation, and to facilitate exchange between different institutions.65
Argonaut Project: A private sector initiative to advance industry adoption of modern, open interoperability standards. The purpose of the Argonaut Project is to rapidly develop a first-generation FHIR-based API and Core Data Services specification to enable expanded information sharing for electronic health records and other health information technology based on Internet standards and architectural patterns and styles.138
ARI (Access to radiology information): Specifies a number of query transactions providing access to radiology information, including images and related reports, in a DICOM format, as they were acquired or created. Such access is useful, both to the radiology department and to other departments, such as pathology, surgery, and oncology.27
Arithmetic logic unit: See ALU.
ARP (Address Resolution Protocol): Performs a required function in IP routing. ARP finds the hardware address, also known as Media Access Control (MAC) address with its associated IP address.2
ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009): An economic stimulus bill enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law
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PREFACE
The year after Mr. Emerson’s death, Mr. Cabot, in editing his works, gathered into a volume the occasional writings which had never been included in previous editions, although six of them had been printed, either as pamphlets or in periodicals, long before, by the author. These were the Sermon on The Lord’s Supper, the Historical Address at Concord in 1835, that at the dedication of the Soldiers’ Monument there in 1867, and that on Emancipation in the British West Indies, the Essay on War, and the Editors’ Address in the Massachusetts Quarterly Review. “American Civilization” had been a portion of the article of that name in the Atlantic in 1862. “The Fortune of the Republic” also had been printed as a pamphlet in 1874. Mr. Cabot said in his prefatory note, “In none was any change from the original form made by me, except in the ‘Fortune of the Republic,’ which was made up of several lectures, for the occasion upon which it was read.” This was after Mr. Emerson was no longer able to arrange his work and his friends had come to his aid.
The speeches at the John Brown, the Walter Scott, and the Free Religious Association meetings had been printed, probably with Mr. Emerson’s consent. The other pieces included by Mr. Cabot, namely, the speeches on Theodore Parker, the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, at the Harvard Commemoration, “Woman,” the addresses to Kossuth, and at the Burns Festival, had not been published.
All that were in Mr. Cabot’s collection will be found here, although the order has been slightly changed. To these I have added Mr. Emerson’s letter to President Van Buren in 1838, his speech on the Fugitive Slave Law in Concord soon after its enactment, that on Shakspeare to the Saturday Club, and his remarks at the Humboldt Centennial, and at the dinner to the Chinese Embassy; also the addresses at the consecration of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and at the opening of the Concord Free Public Library. The oration before the
New England Society of New York in 1870, printed by them in their recent volume, is not included, as most of the matter may be found in the Historical Discourse at Concord and in the essay “Boston,” in Natural History of Intellect.
I have given to the chapters mottoes, the most of them drawn from Mr. Emerson’s writings.
EDWARD W. EMERSON.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
SERMON DELIVERED BEFORE THE SECOND CHURCH IN BOSTON, SEPTEMBER 9, 1832
I like a church; I like a cowl, I love a prophet of the soul; And on my heart monastic aisles Fall like sweet strains, or pensive smiles: Yet not for all his faith can see Would I that cowlèd churchman be. Why should the vest on him allure, Which I could not on me endure?
The word unto the prophet spoken Was writ on tables yet unbroken; The word by seers or sibyls told, In groves of oak, or fanes of gold, Still floats upon the morning wind, Still whispers to the willing mind.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.— R xiv. 17.
In the history of the Church no subject has been more fruitful of controversy than the Lord’s Supper. There never has been any unanimity in the understanding of its nature, nor any uniformity in the mode of celebrating it. Without considering the frivolous questions which have been lately debated as to the posture in which men should partake of it; whether mixed or unmixed wine should be served; whether leavened or unleavened bread should be broken;— the questions have been settled differently in every church, who should be admitted to the feast, and how often it should be prepared. In the Catholic Church, infants were at one time permitted and then forbidden to partake; and since the ninth century the laity receive the bread only, the cup being reserved to the priesthood. So, as to the time of the solemnity. In the Fourth Lateran Council, it was decreed that any believer should communicate at least once in a year,—at Easter. Afterwards it was determined that this Sacrament should be received three times in the year,—at Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas. But more important controversies have arisen respecting its nature. The famous question of the Real Presence was the main controversy between the Church of England and the Church of Rome. The doctrine of the Consubstantiation taught by Luther was denied by Calvin. In the Church of England, Archbishops Laud and Wake maintained that the elements were an Eucharist, or sacrifice of Thanksgiving to God; Cudworth and Warburton, that this was not a sacrifice, but a sacrificial feast; and Bishop Hoadley, that it was neither a sacrifice nor a feast after sacrifice, but a simple commemoration. And finally, it is now near two hundred years since the Society of Quakers denied the authority of the rite altogether, and gave good reasons for disusing it.
I allude to these facts only to show that, so far from the Supper being a tradition in which men are fully agreed, there has always been the widest room for difference of opinion upon this particular. Having recently given particular attention to this subject, I was led to the conclusion that Jesus did not intend to establish an institution for perpetual observance when he ate the Passover with his disciples; and further, to the opinion that it is not expedient to celebrate it as we do. I shall now endeavor to state distinctly my reasons for these two opinions.
I. The authority of the rite.
An account of the Last Supper of Christ with his disciples is given by the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
In St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matt. xxvi. 26-30) are recorded the words of Jesus in giving bread and wine on that occasion to his disciples, but no expression occurs intimating that this feast was hereafter to be commemorated. In St. Mark (Mark xiv. 22-25) the same words are recorded, and still with no intimation that the occasion was to be remembered. St. Luke (Luke xxii. 19), after relating the breaking of the bread, has these words: “This do in remembrance of me.” In St. John, although other occurrences of the same evening are related, this whole transaction is passed over without notice.
Now observe the facts. Two of the Evangelists, namely, Matthew and John, were of the twelve disciples, and were present on that occasion. Neither of them drops the slightest intimation of any intention on the part of Jesus to set up anything permanent. John especially, the beloved disciple, who has recorded with minuteness the conversation and the transactions of that memorable evening, has quite omitted such a notice. Neither does it appear to have come to the knowledge of Mark, who, though not an eye-witness, relates the other facts. This material fact, that the occasion was to be remembered, is found in Luke alone, who was not present. There is no reason, however, that we know, for rejecting the account of Luke. I doubt not, the expression was used by Jesus. I shall presently consider its meaning. I have only brought these accounts together, that you may judge whether it is likely that a solemn institution, to be continued to the end of time by all mankind, as they should come, nation after nation, within the influence of the Christian religion, would have been established in this slight manner—in a manner so slight, that the intention of commemorating it should not appear, from their narrative, to have caught the ear or dwelt in the mind of the only two among the twelve who wrote down what happened.
Still we must suppose that the expression, “This do in remembrance of me,” had come to the ear of Luke from some disciple who was present. What did it really signify? It is a prophetic
and an affectionate expression. Jesus is a Jew, sitting with his countrymen, celebrating their national feast. He thinks of his own impending death, and wishes the minds of his disciples to be prepared for it. “When hereafter,” he says to them, “you shall keep the Passover, it will have an altered aspect to your eyes. It is now a historical covenant of God with the Jewish nation. Hereafter it will remind you of a new covenant sealed with my blood. In years to come, as long as your people shall come up to Jerusalem to keep this feast, the connection which has subsisted between us will give a new meaning in your eyes to the national festival, as the anniversary of my death.” I see natural feeling and beauty in the use of such language from Jesus, a friend to his friends; I can readily imagine that he was willing and desirous, when his disciples met, his memory should hallow their intercourse; but I cannot bring myself to believe that in the use of such an expression he looked beyond the living generation, beyond the abolition of the festival he was celebrating, and the scattering of the nation, and meant to impose a memorial feast upon the whole world.
Without presuming to fix precisely the purpose in the mind of Jesus, you will see that many opinions may be entertained of his intention, all consistent with the opinion that he did not design a perpetual ordinance. He may have foreseen that his disciples would meet to remember him, and that with good effect. It may have crossed his mind that this would be easily continued a hundred or a thousand years,—as men more easily transmit a form than a virtue, —and yet have been altogether out of his purpose to fasten it upon men in all times and all countries.
But though the words, “Do this in remembrance of me,” do not occur in Matthew, Mark or John, and although it should be granted us that, taken alone, they do not necessarily import so much as is usually thought, yet many persons are apt to imagine that the very striking and personal manner in which the eating and drinking is described, indicates a striking and formal purpose to found a festival. And I admit that this impression might probably be left upon the mind of one who read only the passages under consideration in the New Testament. But this impression is removed by reading any narrative
of the mode in which the ancient or the modern Jews have kept the Passover. It is then perceived that the leading circumstances in the Gospels are only a faithful account of that ceremony. Jesus did not celebrate the Passover, and afterwards the Supper, but the Supper was the Passover. He did with his disciples exactly what every master of a family in Jerusalem was doing at the same hour with his household. It appears that the Jews ate the lamb and the unleavened bread and drank wine after a prescribed manner. It was the custom for the master of the feast to break the bread and to bless it, using this formula, which the Talmudists have preserved to us, “Blessed be Thou, O Lord, our God, who givest us the fruit of the vine,”—and then to give the cup to all. Among the modern Jews, who in their dispersion retain the Passover, a hymn is also sung after this ceremony, specifying the twelve great works done by God for the deliverance of their fathers out of Egypt.
But still it may be asked, Why did Jesus make expressions so extraordinary and emphatic as these—“This is my body which is broken for you. Take; eat. This is my blood which is shed for you. Drink it”?—I reply they are not extraordinary expressions from him. They were familiar in his mouth. He always taught by parables and symbols. It was the national way of teaching, and was largely used by him. Remember the readiness which he always showed to spiritualize every occurrence. He stopped and wrote on the sand. He admonished his disciples respecting the leaven of the Pharisees. He instructed the woman of Samaria respecting living water. He permitted himself to be anointed, declaring that it was for his interment. He washed the feet of his disciples. These are admitted to be symbolical actions and expressions. Here, in like manner, he calls the bread his body, and bids the disciples eat. He had used the same expression repeatedly before. The reason why St. John does not repeat his words on this occasion seems to be that he had reported a similar discourse of Jesus to the people of Capernaum more at length already (John vi. 27-60). He there tells the Jews, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” And when the Jews on that occasion complained that they did not comprehend what he meant, he added for their better understanding, and as if for our understanding, that
we might not think his body was to be actually eaten, that he only meant we should live by his commandment. He closed his discourse with these explanatory expressions: “The flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.”
Whilst I am upon this topic, I cannot help remarking that it is not a little singular that we should have preserved this rite and insisted upon perpetuating one symbolical act of Christ whilst we have totally neglected all others,—particularly one other which had at least an equal claim to our observance. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and told them that, as he had washed their feet, they ought to wash one another’s feet; for he had given them an example, that they should do as he had done to them. I ask any person who believes the Supper to have been designed by Jesus to be commemorated forever, to go and read the account of it in the other Gospels, and then compare with it the account of this transaction in St. John, and tell me if this be not much more explicitly authorized than the Supper. It only differs in this, that we have found the Supper used in New England and the washing of the feet not. But if we had found it an established rite in our churches, on grounds of mere authority, it would have been impossible to have argued against it. That rite is used by the Church of Rome, and by the Sandemanians. It has been very properly dropped by other Christians. Why? For two reasons: (1) because it was a local custom, and unsuitable in western countries; and (2) because it was typical, and all understood that humility is the thing signified. But the Passover was local too, and does not concern us, and its bread and wine were typical, and do not help us to understand the redemption which they signified. These views of the original account of the Lord’s Supper lead me to esteem it an occasion full of solemn and prophetic interest, but never intended by Jesus to be the foundation of a perpetual institution.
It appears, however, in Christian history that the disciples had very early taken advantage of these impressive words of Christ to hold religious meetings, where they broke bread and drank wine as symbols. I look upon this fact as very natural in the circumstances of the Church. The disciples lived together; they threw all their property into a common stock; they were bound together by the memory of
Christ, and nothing could be more natural than that this eventful evening should be affectionately remembered by them; that they, Jews like Jesus, should adopt his expressions and his types, and furthermore, that what was done with peculiar propriety by them, his personal friends, with less propriety should come to be extended to their companions also. In this way religious feasts grew up among the early Christians. They were readily adopted by the Jewish converts, who were familiar with religious feasts, and also by the Pagan converts, whose idolatrous worship had been made up of sacred festivals, and who very readily abused these to gross riot, as appears from the censures of St. Paul. Many persons consider this fact, the observance of such a memorial feast by the early disciples, decisive of the question whether it ought to be observed by us. There was good reason for his personal friends to remember their friend and repeat his words. It was only too probable that among the half-converted Pagans and Jews, any rite, any form, would find favor, whilst yet unable to comprehend the spiritual character of Christianity.
The circumstance, however, that St. Paul adopts these views, has seemed to many persons conclusive in favor of the institution. I am of opinion that it is wholly upon the Epistle to the Corinthians, and not upon the Gospels, that the ordinance stands. Upon this matter of St. Paul’s view of the Supper, a few important considerations must be stated.
The end which he has in view, in the eleventh chapter of the first Epistle, is not to enjoin upon his friends to observe the Supper, but to censure their abuse of it. We quote the passage nowadays as if it enjoined attendance upon the Supper; but he wrote it merely to chide them for drunkenness. To make their enormity plainer, he goes back to the origin of this religious feast to show what sort of feast that was, out of which this riot of theirs came, and so relates the transactions of the Last Supper. “I have received of the Lord,” he says, “that which I delivered to you.” By this expression it is often thought that a miraculous communication is implied; but certainly without good reason, if it is remembered that St. Paul was living in the lifetime of all the apostles who could give him an account of the
transaction; and it is contrary to all reason to suppose that God should work a miracle to convey information that could so easily be got by natural means. So that the import of the expression is that he had received the story of an eye-witness such as we also possess.
But there is a material circumstance which diminishes our confidence in the correctness of the Apostle’s view; and that is, the observation that his mind had not escaped the prevalent error of the primitive Church, the belief, namely, that the second coming of Christ would shortly occur, until which time, he tells them, this feast was to be kept. Elsewhere he tells them that at that time the world would be burnt up with fire, and a new government established, in which the Saints would sit on thrones; so slow were the disciples, during the life and after the ascension of Christ, to receive the idea which we receive, that his second coming was a spiritual kingdom, the dominion of his religion in the hearts of men, to be extended gradually over the whole world. In this manner we may see clearly enough how this ancient ordinance got its footing among the early Christians, and this single expectation of a speedy reappearance of a temporal Messiah, which kept its influence even over so spiritual a man as St. Paul, would naturally tend to preserve the use of the rite when once established.
We arrive, then, at this conclusion: first, that it does not appear, from a careful examination of the account of the Last Supper in the Evangelists, that it was designed by Jesus to be perpetual; secondly, that it does not appear that the opinion of St. Paul, all things considered, ought to alter our opinion derived from the Evangelists.
One general remark before quitting this branch of this subject. We ought to be cautious in taking even the best ascertained opinions and practices of the primitive Church for our own. If it could be satisfactorily shown that they esteemed it authorized and to be transmitted forever, that does not settle the question for us. We know how inveterately they were attached to their Jewish prejudices, and how often even the influence of Christ failed to enlarge their views. On every other subject succeeding times have learned to form a judgment more in accordance with the spirit of Christianity than was the practice of the early ages.
II. But it is said: “Admit that the rite was not designed to be perpetual. What harm doth it? Here it stands, generally accepted, under some form, by the Christian world, the undoubted occasion of much good; is it not better it should remain?” This is the question of expediency.
I proceed to state a few objections that in my judgment lie against its use in its present form.
1. If the view which I have taken of the history of the institution be correct, then the claim of authority should be dropped in administering it. You say, every time you celebrate the rite, that Jesus enjoined it; and the whole language you use conveys that impression. But if you read the New Testament as I do, you do not believe he did.
2. It has seemed to me that the use of this ordinance tends to produce confusion in our views of the relation of the soul to God. It is the old objection to the doctrine of the Trinity,—that the true worship was transferred from God to Christ, or that such confusion was introduced into the soul that an undivided worship was given nowhere. Is not that the effect of the Lord’s Supper? I appeal now to the convictions of communicants, and ask such persons whether they have not been occasionally conscious of a painful confusion of thought between the worship due to God and the commemoration due to Christ. For the service does not stand upon the basis of a voluntary act, but is imposed by authority. It is an expression of gratitude to Christ, enjoined by Christ. There is an endeavor to keep Jesus in mind, whilst yet the prayers are addressed to God. I fear it is the effect of this ordinance to clothe Jesus with an authority which he never claimed and which distracts the mind of the worshipper. I know our opinions differ much respecting the nature and offices of Christ, and the degree of veneration to which he is entitled. I am so much a Unitarian as this: that I believe the human mind can admit but one God, and that every effort to pay religious homage to more than one being goes to take away all right ideas. I appeal, brethren, to your individual experience. In the moment when you make the least petition to God, though it be but a silent wish that he may approve you, or add one moment to your life,—do you not, in the
very act, necessarily exclude all other beings from your thought? In that act, the soul stands alone with God, and Jesus is no more present to your mind than your brother or your child.[1]
But is not Jesus called in Scripture the Mediator? He is the mediator in that only sense in which possibly any being can mediate between God and man,—that is, an instructor of man. He teaches us how to become like God. And a true disciple of Jesus will receive the light he gives most thankfully; but the thanks he offers, and which an exalted being will accept, are not compliments, commemorations, but the use of that instruction.
3. Passing other objections, I come to this, that the use of the elements, however suitable to the people and the modes of thought in the East, where it originated, is foreign and unsuited to affect us. Whatever long usage and strong association may have done in some individuals to deaden this repulsion, I apprehend that their use is rather tolerated than loved by any of us. We are not accustomed to express our thoughts or emotions by symbolical actions. Most men find the bread and wine no aid to devotion, and to some it is a painful impediment. To eat bread is one thing; to love the precepts of Christ and resolve to obey them is quite another.[2]
The statement of this objection leads me to say that I think this difficulty, wherever it is felt, to be entitled to the greatest weight. It is alone a sufficient objection to the ordinance. It is my own objection. This mode of commemorating Christ is not suitable to me. That is reason enough why I should abandon it. If I believed it was enjoined by Jesus on his disciples, and that he even contemplated making permanent this mode of commemoration, every way agreeable to an Eastern mind, and yet on trial it was disagreeable to my own feelings, I should not adopt it. I should choose other ways which, as more effectual upon me, he would approve more. For I choose that my remembrances of him should be pleasing, affecting, religious. I will love him as a glorified friend, after the free way of friendship, and not pay him a stiff sign of respect, as men do those whom they fear. A passage read from his discourses, a moving provocation to works like his, any act or meeting which tends to awaken a pure thought, a
