Navigating the complex landscape of life sciences and healthcare can feel like deciphering a never-ending alphabet soup. Don't worry, though; this guide is here to help you unravel the acronyms and make sense of the industry’s intricate terminology.
General Healthcare and Life Sciences Terms
- ACO: Accountable Care Organization
- ADL: Activities of Daily Living
- AMA: Against Medical Advice (when a patient signs out of the hospital before they are ready to go home)
- EDW: Enterprise Data Warehouse
- EHR: Electronic Health Record
- EMA: European Medicines Agency
- EMR: Electronic Medical Record
- GxP: Good Practice (a general term that includes Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), etc.)
- HCP: Health Care Provider
- HIE: Health Information Exchange
- HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
- HMO: Health Maintenance Organization
- HRA: Health Risk Assessment
- IRB: Institutional Review Board
- KOL: Key Opinion Leader
- LTACH: Long Term Acute Care Hospital
- PPO: Preferred Provider organization
- RHIO: Regional Health Information Organization
- SDoH: Social Determinant of Health
- SNF: (often pronounced as “sniff”) Skilled Nursing Facility
Federal Agencies & Medical Associations
- AARP: America Association of Retired Persons
- AMA: American Medical Association
- ARPHA-H: The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) supports transformative research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs.
- CMS: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- DOC: US Department of Commerce
- EDA: US Economic Development Administration, part of Department of Commerce
- FDA: US Food and Drug Administration
- HHS: Department of Health & Human Services
- NIH: National Institutes of Health (numerous institutes and centers)
- NIA: National Institute on Aging (part of the NIH)
- NIH SEED: NIH's Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development
- NCI: National Cancer Institute at NIH
- NSF: National Science Foundation
- SBA: Small Business Administration
Clinical Trials and Research
- CRF: Case Report Form
- CRO: Contract Research Organization
- CTMS: Clinical Trial Management System
- GCP: Good Clinical Practice
- IRB: Institutional Review Board
- PIs: Principal Investigators
Regulatory and Compliance
- CE Mark: Conformité Européenne Mark (for European market) - The CЄ mark indicates that the product may be traded freely in any part of the European Economic Area, regardless of its country of origin.
- ISO: International Organization for Standardization
- PMDA: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (Japan)
- QMS: Quality Management System
Technology and Data
- AI: Artificial Intelligence
- ADT: Admission Discharge Transfer
- API: Application Programming Interface
- CMS: Content Management System – software that helps users manage and modify content.
- CRM: Customer Relationship Management (usually a software)
- DICOM: Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine
- FHIR: Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources – a set of rules for exchanging electronic health care data.
- IoT: Internet of Things – this refers to the
networks of interconnected devices that connect and exchange data, such
as phones, thermostats, cars and more.
- LLM: Large Language Models
- MIR: Medical Information Request
- ML: Machine Learning – AI that uses data and algorithms to “learn” without being explicitly programmed to do so.
- OCR: Optical Character Recognition
- PHI: Protected Health Information
- RFID: Radio Frequency Identification
- RPM: Remote Patient Monitoring
- SaaS: Software as a Service
Business and Finance
- VC: Venture Capital
- SBIR: Small Business Innovation Research
- STTR: Small Business Technology Transfer
- DRG: Diagnostic Related Group
- FFS: Fee For Service
- RVU: Relative Value Units
- RCM: Revenue Cycle Management
- ROI: Return on Investment
- KPIs: Key Performance Indicators
- M&A: Mergers and Acquisitions
- ACV: Annual Contract Value
- SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
- OA: Operating Agreement
- MVP: Minimum Viable Product – this is an early, basic version of a product with just enough features to be used by early-adopting customers and allow for validated learning.
- YOY: Year Over Year
- GTM: Go To Market – a strategy that details how a company plans to sell its products and services to customers.
- POC: Proof of Concept
- IPO: Initial Public Offering
Diagnostics and Therapeutics
- MDD: Medical Device Directive – a law to regulate medical devices in Europe and harmonize the laws concerning them.
- IVD: In Vitro Diagnostic – tests that can detect infections, conditions, and disease.
- NDA: New Drug Application
- AND: Abbreviated New Drug Application
- BLA: Biologics License Application
Miscellaneous
- R&D: Research and Development
- DMPK: Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics
Approval Processes
- Pre-IND Meeting: A meeting with the FDA before filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to discuss study design and regulatory requirements.
- IND: Investigational New Drug - An application submitted to the FDA to begin clinical trials of a new drug or biologic.
- NDA: New Drug Application - A formal proposal for the FDA to approve a new drug for market use.
- BLA: Biologics License Application - Application for the approval of a biologic product, such as vaccines or gene therapies.
- ANDA: Abbreviated New Drug Application - Application for the approval of a generic drug.
- 510(k): Pre-market Notification - A submission to the FDA to demonstrate that a new medical device is substantially equivalent to an existing, legally marketed device.
- PMA: Pre-Market Approval - The FDA process for evaluating the safety and effectiveness of high-risk medical devices.
- De Novo Classification: A pathway for new, low- to moderate-risk devices that are not substantially equivalent to existing devices.
