# NZ Digital Health Abbreviations **URL:** \ **Category:** Forum Stuff\ **Tags:** abbreviations\ **Created:** [October 29, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/nz-digital-health-abbreviations/30085 "2023-10-29T20:10:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://ehealthforum.nz/uploads/default/original/2X/e/e0d7f74255913556c4fcfd2b43d63e8b578165ee.png) [@system](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/nz-digital-health-abbreviations/30085/1 "2023-10-29T20:10:31Z")
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explainer | | --- | --- | --- | | [Abbr](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/abbreviation/29362) | Abbreviation | The shortened form of a word or phrase. | | [ACK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acknowledgement_(data_networks)) | Acknowledge | HL7 message back to say technically message has been received | | [AD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Directory) | Active Directory | database and set of services - we use it to reference our list of users of our systems | | [ADT](https://community.intersystems.com/post/types-hl7-adt-message-and-example-adta04) | Type of HL7 message that is sending | admission, discharge or Transfer message | | AI | Artificial Intelligence | Machine functions which mimic human intelligence | | API | Application programming interface | interface that transfers data between two computer programs | | App | Application | | | [B2B](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business-to-business) | Buisness to Business vs Business to Consumer | | | BAU | Buisness as Usual | | | CAPTCHA | Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart | | | [CDA](https://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/training-clinicians-to-lead-clinical-it-projects) | Clnical Digital Acadamy / HL7 Clinical Document Architecture | | | CiLN | Clinical Informatics Leadership Network | Now defunct HiNZ-affiliated group of NZ clinical informaticians who produced the [CiLN Position Statement 2020](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/cilns-clinical-informatics-position-statement-may-2020/14228) | | COI | Conflict of interst | | | CQI | Continous Quality Improvement | | | CRAT | Cloud Risk Assessment | | | [CRUD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Create,_read,_update_and_delete) | Create Read Update Delete | | | DBA | Database Administrator | | | [DDoS](https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/ddos-attacks) | Distributed Denial of Service | | | DFD | Data Flow Diagram | | | [DICOM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DICOM) | Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine | | | eDS | electronic Discharge Summary | | | ESR | Environmental Science Research | | | ETA | Estimated Time of Arrival | | | ETL | Extract, Trasform, Load | | | EULA | End User Licence Agreement | | | eWW | electronic Ward Whiteboard | | | FAQ | Frequently asked Questions | | | FHIR | Fast Healthcare Interoperatbitliy Resources | | | FMEA | Failure Mode Effect Analysis | | | FTE | Full time Equivalent | | | GenAI | Generative AI | a subset of artificial intelligence that creates new content— including text, images, videos, audio, and software code— by identifying patterns in large, existing datasets. | | GUI | Graphical User Interface | | | HCS | Health Connect South | The Orion Clinical Portal instance for the South Island | | HiNZ | Health Informatics New Zealand | | | [HISO](https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/digital-health/data-and-digital-standards/health-information-standards-organisation-hiso/) | Health Information Standards Organisation | sets standards for health digital information in New Zealand | | HL7 | Health Level Seven | An international organisation that produces a set of standards designed to facilitate the interoperable exchange of healthcare data - including v2 messaging, [CDA](https://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/training-clinicians-to-lead-clinical-it-projects) documents and FHIR. | | HPD | Health Provider Directory | | | HSDC | Health System Design Council | | | HTML | HyperText Markup Language | | | HTTPS | HyperText Transfer Protocols Secure | | | SI&I | Service Improvement and Innovation | | | IaaS | Infrastructure as a service | | | ICD-10-AM | International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification | classification system used for coding completed inpatient events | | ICD-11 | International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Eleventh Revision | classification system used for coding completed inpatient events | | IDAM | Identity and Access Management | | | IDI | Integrated Data Infrastructure | is a large research database - can be used to provide insights into society and economy | | IP | Internet Protocol | | | iPM | Patient Management system used in hospitals for patient demographics | | | IPS | International Patient Summary | ISO standard and FHIR implementation guide | | ISO | International Standards Organisation | | | ITO | In the Office | | | [JSON](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON) | JavaScript Object Notation | open standard file format and data interchange format uses human readable text and looks a lot | | KPI | Key Performance Indicators | make sure they are not targets though as then it’s a game | | LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol | allows applications to query user information - we store in the active Directory - | | LIS | Laboratory Information System | | | LMS | Learning Management System | | | [LOINC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOINC) | Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes | Code system for lab test types | | MAC | Minimal Alvealar Concentration | | | MDM | Mobile Device Management not Multidisciplinary Meeting | | | MFA | Multi Factor Authentication | | | ML | Machine Learning | | | MVP | Minimal Viable Product | | | MYO | Make Your Own | | | NACK | Negative Acknowledgment | when no [ACK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acknowledgement_(data_networks)) is received | | NCHIP | National Child Health Information Platform | | | NDA | Non Disclosure Agreement | | | NES | National Enrolment System | central logging of who the patient is enrolled with from a GP perspective - linked to | | NHI | National Health Index | unique number per person - 3 alpha, 3 numeric and 4th numeric is a check digit based on a mathematical allowing an algorithm to know if valid without checking against source - upgrade soon to 3 alpha, 2 numeric, 1 alpha with last alpha also a check digit translated from numeric to alpha using same algorithm - allows it to stay in same | | NLP | Natural Language Processing | | | [NMDS](https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/data-and-statistics/nz-health-statistics/national-collections-and-surveys/collections/national-minimum-dataset-hospital-events) | National Minimum Data Set | | | NMWS | National Medical Warning System | | | NRA | Northern Region Alliance | | | [NZCDI](https://link.ehealthforum.nz/nzcdi) | New Zealand Core Data for Interoperability | Cross-cutting set of data definitions | | [NZePS](https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/digital-health/emedicines-and-the-new-zealand-e-prescription-service/eprescriptions/eprescription-service/) | New Zealand ePrescription Service | data feeder service of all dispensing in the country feed up nationally - allows us to send electronic signature prescriptions and know all dispensing - no opt out | | NZHTS | New Zealand Health Terminology Service | API source of all standard code sets | | NZMT | New Zealand Medicines Terminology | | | NZPOCS | New Zealand Pathology Observation Code Sets | [LOINC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOINC) and SNOMED CT subsets for pathology and laboratory results | | NZPS | New Zealand Patient Summary | based on the International Patient Summary (IPS) | | [NZULM](https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/digital-health/emedicines-and-the-new-zealand-e-prescription-service/nz-universal-list-of-medicines/) | New Zealand Universal List of Medicines | | | ODBC | Open DataBase Connectivity | standard application programming interface for accessing database management systems | | ODS | Operational Data Store | | | PACS | Picture Archiving System | | | PAS | Patient administration system | | | PDCA | Plan Do Check Act = Shewart Cycle | | | PDF | Portable Document Format | | | PMO | Portfolio management office | | | PMS | Patient Management System | generic name used for GP admin and clinical systems | | POC | Proof of Concept | vs foundation implementation | | PROMS | Patient Reported Outcome Measures | | | [PWA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_web_application) | Progressive Web Applications | allows it to be OS independent | | QA | Quality Assurance | | | RACI | Responsibility Matrix | Responsible, Accountable, Informed | | RAM | Radom Access Memory | | | [RBAC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-based_access_control) | Role Based Access Control | | | RCCC | Regional Collaberative Community Care | | | RCD | Regional Clinical Documents | | | RCP | Regional Clinical Portal too many regions but same same to HCS | | | [RFP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_proposal) | Request for Proposal | formal request to vendors for a proposed solution to our problem | | RIS | Radiology information System | | | [ROI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_on_investment) | Return on Investment | | | SaaS | Software as a Service | | | SIPICS | South Island Patient Information Clincial system | | | SIPOC | Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers | project management technique to get a high level overview | | SLA | Service Level Agreement | high level agreement on what response and time to respond to expect from the IT team | | SMART | Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound | goals - to keep us focused | | SME | Subject Matter Expert | | | SMT | Soprano Medical templates | a really old structured template note making still used to do discharge summaries and ad hoc | | SNOMED CT | Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms | clinical terminology for electronic health records | | SOP | Standardised Operating Procedure | set of rules to work by | | SOW | Statement of Work | | | SQL | language to query a database | | | SRO | Senior Responsible Owner | | | SSL | Secure Socket Layer | usually SSL certificate (or TLS) digital document binds the identiy of a website to a cryptographic key | | STEEEP | safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient | centered care - Journey supported by continuous quality | | SWE | Soprano Workflow Engine | predated SMT and included workflow on what to do next - still struggling to replace it | | SWOT | Strenghts, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats | way to assess a proposal that covers all aspects and forces us to think about | | TBC | To Be Continued…./ To Be Confirmed | | | TCO | Total Cost of ownership | | | TLDR | Too Long Did Not read | | | TLS | Transport Layer Security | over the internet | | TQM | Total Quality Management | | | Tx | Tier pick a number appears we love heirachy in NZ | | | URL | Uniform Resource Locator | unique address that allows us to find resources on the internet - behind it is a number - IP - but | | USB | Universal Serial Bus | way to transfer information to a computer | | Ux | User experience | more than just the interface | | VNA | Vendor Neutral Archive | | | VOC | Voice of the Consumer | | | VPN | Virtual Private Network | same as the internet, but with firewalls and IP/URL not publically visible | | WBIT | Wrong Blood in Tube | | | WFH | Working From Home | | | WOW | Ways of working | in theory how we will work horizontally together | | WoWs | Workstations On Wheels or Computer on Wheels | CoWs | | [WYSIWYG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG) | What You See Is What You Get | all the vogue in the 80’s as making websites involved a lot of HTML - hypertext markup language - then they made these to show you what you would get when made - making a resurgance with form ma | ### How to contribute The best way to contribute to this project is to edit the table above. Do so by hovering over the table with your mouse pointer - an edit ![image](https://ehealthforum.nz/uploads/default/original/3X/8/5/85c74c563d5bfc58a61eb54f701b029e5313628e.png) will appear. Don’t worry if you ‘break’ it - it is easily recovered / fixed. Alternatively (and less efficiently) you can drop suggestions in as a Reply to this Topic. will appear in the top right. ---
**Author:** ![NathanK](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/nathank/32/6064_2.png) [@NathanK](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/NathanK)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/nz-digital-health-abbreviations/30085/2 "2026-04-25T00:31:56Z")
@Chris.McDowall’s :heart: of the post above has made me realise how far the table functionality of Discourse has improved over the last couple of years I think that it is suitable for proper use now - let’s make this live! It is a [wiki](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/wikis-and-how-to-use-them/9723), so can be freely edited by eHealth Forum members. There will be a bit of a learning curve, but it should be quite managable. ---
**Author:** ![alastairk](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/alastairk/32/6631_2.png) [@alastairk](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/alastairk)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/nz-digital-health-abbreviations/30085/3 "2026-04-25T19:53:56Z")
Nobody thought it could be done. Super effort. And mental note to myself to add NZ Health Terminology Service, International Patient Summary, NZ Core Data for Interoperability