Glossary

Keywords and Abbreviations :

  • DHIndia – Digital Health India Association
  • CAHO – Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisation
  • HIMSS(India) – Healthcare Information and Management System Society
  • CHIME – College of Healthcare Information Management Executives
  • NRCeS – National Resource Centre for EHR Standards
  • DCHCN Model (DHIndia, CAHO, HIMSS, CHIME, NRCeS) Model- This is the model for maturity level of telemedicine solutions formed by the Alliance of DHIndia, CAHO, HIMSS, CHIME, NRCeS
  • HIS – Hospital Information System
  • EMR – Electronic Medical Record
  • EHR – Electronic Health Record
  • PHR – Personal Health Record
  • RMP- Registered Medical Practitioner
  • LIS – Laboratory Information system
  • CIS –  Clinical Information System
  • RIS – Radiology Information System
  • CDSS – Clinical decision support system
  • API- Application Programming Interface
  • Interaction – Exchange of audio / video / both gaze  between two parties mediated by technology (Audio/Video/Chat teleconsultation)
  • Communication – exchange of information (in terms of images or voice recording, for eg. clinical documents pdf/images)
  • TPG- Telemedicine Practice Guidelines [Released on March, 2020, Available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Telemedicine.pdf]
  • PDP Bill- Personal Data Protection Bill [https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Personal_Data_Protection_Bill,2018.pdf] 
  • NDHM- National Digital Health Mission – aim to provide the necessary support for integration of digital health infrastructure in the country [https://www.nhp.gov.in/national-digital-health-mission-(ndhm)_pg]
  • NDHB- National Digital Health Blueprint [Available at https://nha.gov.in/home/ndhb]

Terminologies :

  • Asynchronous: It refers to the “store-and-forward” technique, whereas a patient or physician collects medical history, images, and pathology reports for the treatment  
  • Activity monitoring – Device performing continuous monitoring (communication or interaction) in order to identify situations or circumstances that reflect adverse changes in or threats to personal well-being. 
  • Circle of care: It includes the care-givers and their dependants
  • Complete ICU Solution – Along with all features of eICU, it also provides connection with HIS/EMR/LIS, training and education to the doctors, eICU nurses, paramedical staff, CDSS, on-site & off-site monitoring
  • Consent Manager – a data fiduciary which enables a data principal to gain, withdraw, review and manage their consent through an accessible, transparent and interoperable platform (Sec. 21(1) and 23, pdp bill 2019)
  • Digital Signature: Digital signatures introduce another level of authenticity by using a cryptographic operation to bind the signature and the data being signed
  • DICOM – Digital Imaging and communication in medicine is standard for communication and management of medical imaging information and related data. 
  • eICU – The eICU program uses a suite of information technology tools to support the remote team and the on-site team to monitor the patient continuously. The core information system collects data from a variety of sources and reconfigures it to optimize data presentation and facilitate physician workflow. 
  • Explicit Consent – If, a Health worker, RMP or a Caregiver initiates a Telemedicine consultation, then the consent is explicit (as per TPG, 2020). 
  • E-prescription –  Digital copy of a signed prescription or e-Prescription to the patient via email or any messaging platform. 

(Note : – In case the RMP is transmitting the prescription directly to a pharmacy, he/ she must ensure explicit consent of the patient that entitles him/her to get the medicines dispensed from any pharmacy of his/ her choice) (as per TPG, 2020). 

  • E Signature: An electronic signature is created or captured through a computer or other electronic device. 
  • E-Health – Healthcare practice supported by electronic processes and communication.
  • HL7 V2/V3/FHIR – Fast interoperability resources is a standard describing data formats and elements and an application programming interface for exchanging electronic health records. 
  • ICD 10 – International classifications of diseases is a globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology , health management and clinical purposes.
  • Interoperability: It is the ability of the system(healthcare information technology (HIT)) to exchange, interpret and use data cohesively
  • Implicit Consent- If, the patient initiates the telemedicine consultation, then the consent is implied.(as per TPG, 2020)
  • LOINC – Logical observation identifiers names and codes is a database and universal standard for identifying medical laboratory observations.
  • Level of Specialization (We are considering WHO India categorization
  1.  Primary Care  (out-patient care, including noncommunicable diseases and maternal and child health service, providing essential drugs and diagnostic services as well as referral access to secondary and tertiary health care)
  2. Secondary Care (Specialist) focuses either on a specific system of the body or a specific disease or condition. (includes acute,cardiac, continued care)
  3. Tertiary Care consists of complex procedures given in a health care center that has highly trained specialists and often advanced technology.
  • Multi-party Video Facility – Providing interaction with More than two people interacting at the same time
  • PACS – Picture archiving and communication system is a medical imaging which provides economical storage and convenient access to images. 
  • Rule-based Triaging – Capturing symptoms and predicting the triaging level based on predefined rules (particularly used for emergency situations)
  • Real time communication – Real time communication involves the capture, processing and presentation of data at the time of consultation
  • Remote Patient Monitoring –This includes components of solutions providing support for remote patient monitoring involving digital technologies (  vital signs monitoring , tele ECG ) to capture medical and other forms of health-related data and electronically transfer the information to the providers in a secured manner for assessment and recommendations. For eg. : Healthcare at home for chronic conditions.
  • Specialized Telemedicine Services – These types of services are from specific health issues.Services such as teleradiology, telecardiology, telepathology, telepsychiatry, Health & Wellness etc.
  • Synchronous: It refers to a mode of interaction that allows live interaction between Doctor and the Patient in real-time
  • SNOMED CT – Snomed clinical terms is a systematically organised computer processable collection of medical terms providing codes and reporting.
  • Scanned Signature: A written signature, which has been scanned into a “picture” in a pdf format that can be embedded into an electronic document
  • SaaS (Software as a Service) – SaaS provides a method of software delivery method in which the software is delivered on a subscription basis and is   hosted by the vendor. 
  • Size of the healthcare provider – 
    • Individual Clinic
    • Clinics
    • Nursing Home/Small Hospital (less than 100 bed)
    • Hospital (more than hundred bed)
  • Telemedicine -Telemedicine is the exchange of medical information from one location to another using electronic communication which improves patient health status. Telemedicine has multiple applications and other methods of telecommunications technologies.
  • Teleconsultation – Solutions providing support for immediate interaction and communication between the doctor and the patient (including the caregivers of patients) to facilitate diagnosis and treatment. Systems should also provide interaction between two or more geographically separated healthcare providers (for example physicians or nurses or remote healthcare workers) and should be used for one-time, followup or continuous care.

At top level we are categorizing Teleconsultation platform  –

  1. Mobile telemedicine platform (app ecosystem, more like a discovery platform) B2C
  2. Virtual OPD (past record, follow up, conti in nued care–for hospital kind of simulated environment in virtual) B2B  
  3. Telemedicine remote location (HCW, asynchronous, rural) 
  • Tele-ICU – Solutions providing support for effective and efficient use of an off-site command centre in which a critical care team is connected with patients in distant ICUs to exchange health information through real-time audio and electronic means. Design that supports local / bedside caregivers of patients to capture and transmit information, along with the integration of devices that enable such data capturing is critical. The exchange can happen within the hospital premises or outside.
  • TeleCardiology – Telecardiology is modern medical practice , which uses the power of telecommunication to achieve remote diagnosis and treatment of health disease .With the development of real-time ultrasound imaging transmission technology, telecardiology enables remote cardiologists to guide the sonographer, conduct timely diagnosis and propose effective therapeutic strategies for patients in rural areas where professional cardiologists are rarely accessible. 
  • TeleRadiology – Teleradiology is transmission of radiological patient images such as X Rays , CTs and MEIs.The major functions of the RIS can include patient scheduling, resource management, examination performance tracking, reporting, results distribution, and procedure billing

References:

  1. Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, March 25, 2020.[Online]. Available: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, https://main.mohfw.gov.in/. [Accessed June 11, 2020].
  2. http://www.americantelemed.org/files/public/standards/glossaryofterms.pdf (2010-11-03) 
  3. Framework of Guidelines. Ottawa 2003: NIFTE. https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/42967/3/NIFTEguidelines2003eng.pdf (2010-11-03) 
  4. Glossary of Technical Terms. http://www.impact-in-europe.eu/images/downloads/impact-%20in-europe_glossary-of-technnical-terms_v1_10mar10.pdf (2011-01-05) . http://www.persa.com.au/downloads/Code_of_Practice (2010-12-21) 
  5. International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (IsfTeH):Zurich2011:IsfTeH. http://www.isft.net/cms/index.php?available_documents (2011-06-24)
  6. Code of Practice. Wilmslow, UK 2010: TSA. http://www.telecare.org.uk/information/42281/46396/45293/code_of_practice/ (2010-12-21) 
  7. TelecareAware. http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/what-is-telecare.html (2011-06-24
  8. THE PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION BILL, 2019, http://164.100.47.4/BillsTexts/LSBillTexts/Asintroduced/373_2019_LS_Eng.pdf