# Glossary The interoperability world is complex, with many specialized terms and acronyms. This glossary defines common healthcare technology and integration terms you’ll encounter when working with Redox.
Acknowledgement (ACK) A network protocol that means “I got the message.”
Admission, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) Refers to hospital operational activities related to a patient‘s admission, movements within the hospital, general coordination, and discharge details. Regarding integration, you might hear **ADT** when referring to the particular brand of HL7v2 messages you‘re receiving. These types of messages include notifications triggered by a patient‘s ADT activities or changes to their personal information, including patient ID changes.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) The national organization that oversees standards and guidelines that impact nearly every sector of business. [Explore ANSI‘s mission](https://www.ansi.org/about/introduction#mission).
Application Programming Interface (API) Allows communication or data exchange between different systems by using a set of defined protocols. If you want a crash course in APIs, [check out AWS‘s article on API basics](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/api/).
API key Authenticates a system to communicate or exchange data with another. With Redox, a legacy API key can also identify a system in a data exchange, since it has a 1:1 relationship with a source. [Learn about our authentication methods and API keys.](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/authenticating-and-sending-data-via-redox)
Applicability Statement 2 (AS2) A file transfer protocol specification used to exchange data over a secure point-to-point integration. This is mostly used as a **business-to-business** (**B2B**) messaging protocol. [See the definition of business-to-business](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/7aqDvWFkbPqsQ6pkQwZPUk/#business-to-business-b-2-b).
Backfill A part of the implementation process if you want to ingest historical data from your connection‘s system before go-live. Backfilling is useful if you want to access patient data that existed before your go-live date. [Check out our recommendations for backfilling](/implementation-guide/backfill-your-database-before-go-live).
Business associate A legal term referring to an individual or organization that uses or discloses **protected health information** (**PHI**) on behalf of, or provides services to, a **covered entity**. For our customers, Redox serves as your **business associate**.
Business Associate Agreement (BAA) A contract between business associates that holds each accountable for securing any data they house within their system as part of their integration. You and your connection must have a BAA in order to integrate and exchange data with each other.
Business-to-business (B2B) Refers to the type of business that sells products or services to other businesses, rather than directly to consumers. This term is commonly shortened to **B2B**, whereas **business-to-consumer** is known as **B2C**. To give an example, Redox is a B2B company. You integrating with your connections is another example of B2B.
Cardiology-specific Picture Archiving and Communications System (CPACS) A system used for storing cardiological imaging data.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) A federal agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and programs focused on quality standards that directly impact EHRs (i.e., Meaningful Use, PQRS, CDS). [Visit the CMS website for more information](https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/About-CMS).
Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) An XML standard created by Health Level 7 International (HL7) for representing clinical documents.
Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) A system used for storing clinical data and protocols related to research and clinical trials.
Config Short for “configuration.” In the Redox context, a **config** is a YAML-formatted file that defines how Redox reads and transforms data to enable the exchange of data between two systems.
Config library The Redox library of pre-built configs with customizable logic to match integration specifications for our customers.
Consolidated-Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA) A collection of templates defining how to represent most clinical concepts in CDA. As of Meaningful Use 2, most systems can exchange C-CDA version 1.1 documents. Version 2.1 is intended to be backwards-compatible and is required by Meaningful Use 3. [Read Particle‘s documentation on C-CDA](https://www.particlehealth.com/blog/what-is-ccda-consolidated-clinical-document-architecture) for a more in-depth overview.
Continuity of Care Document (CCD) A type of CDA that typically summarizes a patient‘s chart or visit. A CCD may correspond to the patient‘s entire chart, a single visit, or a longer period of care like a pregnancy or specific date range. The latest version of CCD is defined in the C-CDA template collection.
Continuity of Care Record (CCR) A base set of clinical concepts representing an electronic summary of health. This is an old XML standard which hasn‘t been used since Meaningful Use 1. The CCD maps the CCR dataset into CDA.
Covered entity Defined in the HIPAA rules as (1) health plans, (2) healthcare clearinghouses, and (3) healthcare providers who electronically transmit any health information in relation to HHS standards.
Cross-Community Access (XCA) Refers to querying and retrieving medical data from other “communities,” which are facilities that agree to share patient data.
Cross-Community Patient Discovery (XCPD) A SOAP-based technology that locates communities that may have relevant patient health data and translates patient identifiers across communities. This can map to Redox `PatientSearch`. [Review the `PatientSearch` schema](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/patient-search).
Cross-enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) A system that facilitates the exchange of clinical documents between facilities.
Data model Describes the categories of data that can be exchanged with your connection via the **Redox Data Model API**. You can combine Redox data models to perform a given action to accomplish your unique workflow. [Learn more about our Data Model API](/api-reference/redox-data-model-api).
Data on demand A Redox capability that enables query-based data exchanges, even if your connection doesn‘t support it but is still willing to provide data with a push-based (or asynchronous) method. [Learn more about data on demand](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/data-on-demand).
Data Protection Officer (DPO) An enterprise security leadership role that‘s responsible for overseeing their company‘s data collection and protection, as well as ensuring GDPR compliance. The DPO must be notified of all security breaches and issues. [Learn more about Redox‘s GDPR compliance](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/7xi8L9ah8bJDhFpNh1m9wR#gdpr).
Detailed Financial Transaction (DFT) An HL7v2 message format used for exchanging charges and financial data.
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) The international standard to exchange, store, retrieve, print, process, and display medical imaging and related data. [Learn how Redox translates DICOM to FHIR](/basics/redox-fhir-api/translating-dicom-to-fhir).
Document Management System (DMS) A tool for storing document imaging, which are often scanned documents. This type of system may also convert and store data from external sources (e.g., PDFs produced by external systems).
Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Refers to a system that collects clinical data in an electronic format.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) We use this term to refer to teams focused on integration. In the healthcare industry, **EDI** often refers to the Claims team handling X12 transactions. [Learn how Redox translates X12 to FHIR](/basics/redox-fhir-api/translating-x12-to-fhir).
Electronic Health Information Exchange (HIE) Refers to healthcare organizations or professionals securely exchanging patient medical information. HIE could also refer to the organization responsible for exchanging data. [Read more about HIE](https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-and-health-information-exchange-basics/what-hie).
Electronic Health Record (EHR) A database system that a healthcare organization uses to store their patients‘ medical history.
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) A database system that a healthcare organization uses to store their patients‘ medical history. This term has largely been replaced by the term **Electronic Health Record** (**EHR**).
Electronic Protected Health Information (EPHI) Any PHI that‘s created, stored, transmitted, or received electronically. [See the definition of PHI](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/7aqDvWFkbPqsQ6pkQwZPUk/#protected-health-information-phi).
Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) A patient database used by a health system to track patients across systems or departments. An EMPI assigns a unique identifier to a patient, which is used throughout the health system. With that unique identifier, the patient‘s medical data can be consistent and tracked correctly. [Learn how to match patients with Redox EMPI powered by Verato](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/760c1cad-07a0-5a62-98a2-42b2a25c0534-$match).
Episode Several patient encounters grouped together for a specific treatment or functionality, typically in a hospital setting.
Extensible Markup Language (XML) A common format that defines and stores data to be exchanged. Redox commonly supports XML for documents like CCDs. [Read AWS‘s article about XML](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/xml/#:~:text=Extensible%20Markup%20Language%20(XML)%20is,implemented%20for%20structured%20data%20management.).
Extract, Transfer, Load (ETL) A process for extracting data from external sources, importing it into a data storage warehouse, and transforming it into other formats. [Read dbt‘s article about ETL](https://docs.getdbt.com/terms/elt?utm_term=extract%20load%20transform%20data%20warehouse&utm_campaign=q3-2023_ae-glossary_awareness&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=8253637521&hsa_cam=18437919778&hsa_grp=144530489449&hsa_ad=624287620048&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-1301056156733&hsa_kw=extract%20load%20transform%20data%20warehouse&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtvSdBhD0ARIsAPf8oNnIi32C1x4U55pgudiKZhpjNTAevdsGpg6YH-KhzlGLy4ofnu8XWdsaAkDaEALw_wcB).
Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) The latest standard developed by the HL7 organization to exchange healthcare data. [Learn more about our FHIR API](/basics/redox-fhir-api).
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Represents a data exchange method where files are placed in a predefined location on a system‘s server and picked up at predetermined intervals by another system. **FTP** is the traditional unsecured form of SFTP.
Filters Rules that you define to allow or block a subset of data payloads that you receive asynchronously from one of your connections. [Learn more about filters](/how-to-use-redox/define-and-manage-filters).
First-in, first-out (FIFO) Indicates the order that asynchronous messages are processed in. **FIFO** means that the first message received is the first one processed. [Read more about how we sequence asynchronous events](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/handling-notifications-and-responses).
Go-live The date when an organization has completed the required steps for implementing with their connection and is ready to move to production. [Review our implementation guide](/implementation-guide) for more information.
Health Information Service Provider (HISP) An accredited role that provides certificates and authorization for **Direct Secure Messaging**. [Review all our supported methods and specifications](/implementation-guide/supported-methods-and-specifications).
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) Passed in 2009 to incentivize Meaningful Use for EHR systems that demonstrate adoption of health information technology. [Read more about HITECH](https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/hitech-act-enforcement-interim-final-rule/index.html#:~:text=The%20Health%20Information%20Technology%20for,use%20of%20health%20information%20technology.).
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) A U.S. bill that was passed in 1996 to help maintain health insurance for patients, protect the confidentiality and security of protected health information (PHI), and offer regulatory guidelines for healthcare administrative costs.
Health Level 7 (HL7) An organization that develops standards for exchanging health data. [Explore HL7‘s mission](https://www.hl7.org/about/index.cfm?ref=nav). The acronym “HL7” may also refer to the HL7v2 message format standard, which EHR systems commonly use to communicate with Redox. You can recognize HL7v2 messages with these symbols: `|^&~/`. HL7v3 (version 3) is XML-formatted and typically associated with CDA messages.
History and Physical (H&P) The part of the provider‘s progress note that contains a clinical summary of a patient‘s medical history.
History of Present Illness (HPI) The part of the provider’s progress note that summarizes the onset and extent of a patient’s illness.
Hospital Information Management (HIM) The name of the department responsible for supporting the integrity and quality of the health system’s data. For example, HIM tracks how data is kept private or shared with appropriate parties (e.g., releasing information upon request) and maintains the master patient index (MPI).
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) An application protocol that facilitates communication between web servers and web browsers, which essentially makes up the foundation of the internet. Check out these resources for more: - [Cloudflare‘s article on HTTP](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/hypertext-transfer-protocol-http/) - [MDN Plus‘s tutorials on HTTP](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP#:~:text=Hypertext%20Transfer%20Protocol%20(HTTP)%20is,be%20used%20for%20other%20purposes.)
Identity provider (IdP) A third-party system that stores and manages users in your organization. This is useful for anyone that wants to enable SSO for their Redox organization. [Learn how to set up SSO](/how-to-use-redox/manage-your-redox-setup/set-up-sso-login-to-the-redox-dashboard) for your organization. Some examples of common **identity providers** are Okta, Jumpcloud, Entra, or OneLogin. [Read TrustBuilder‘s docs about identity providers](https://www.trustbuilder.com/what-is-identity-provider).
IdP-initiated login In terms of SSO, you can initiate a login through your **identity provider** (**IdP**) or the **service provider** (**SP**) can initiate a login. If SSO is configured to be **IdP-initiated**, it means you must click somewhere in the app to launch SSO login for the service provider. Some examples of IdP-initiated login are Gmail, Slack, and Salesforce.
Inpatient Refers to patients in a hospital setting, typically residing in hospital beds. Inpatient applications are systems that cater to the needs of hospitalized patients.
Integration of Healthcare Enterprise International (IHE) An organization that promotes standards to improve how healthcare software systems share information. [Explore IHE‘s mission](https://www.ihe.net/about_ihe/).
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) An organization of global experts that develop standards for quality management, environmental management, health and safety, energy management, food safety, and IT security. [Explore ISO‘s mission](https://www.iso.org/about-us.html).
Internet of Things (IoT) Refers to devices, applications, equipment, appliances, or buildings that enable data exchange over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. [Read AWS‘s article about IoT](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/iot/).
Interoperability (I14Y) Describes the ability for two different systems to establish a common data format and structure to share data. Sometimes, the acronym **I14Y** is used as an abbreviation, with _14_ replacing the fourteen letters between _I_ and _Y_. Check out these articles on interoperability for more information: - [What is interoperability?](https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/interoperability) (from IBM) - [Integration vs. Interoperability](https://www.oracle.com/interoperability/#integration) (from Oracle)
ISO 27001 / ISO 27002 The international standards that describe best practices for an **Information Security Management System** (**ISMS**) and any information security controls that organizations may choose to implement.
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) The data format standard used commonly in web-based development. **Redox data models** are based on JSON object structures. [Learn more about the Redox Data Model API](/api-reference/redox-data-model-api).
Kickoff The start of a new implementation project when all parties come together to discuss the project and what needs to be done to establish integration. [Learn more about a kickoff call](/implementation-guide/kick-off-your-implementation).
Lab Information System (LIS) A type of system used for processing, storing, and managing data for lab processes and testing.
Meaningful Use (MU) A government program that certifies EHR systems and requires health systems, including small provider offices, to implement technology.
Medical Document Management (MDM) An HL7v2 message format that can be used for exchanging notes or documents. MDM-formatted messages may contain plain text, marked up text (e.g., RTF, HTML), or encoded multimedia like PDFs, images, or sound files.
Medical Record Number (MRN) A common type of patient identifier used in EHR systems.
Medication Administration Record (MAR) A chart used to track what medications were given to a patient and how it was administered (e.g., swallowed, refused, regurgitated). [Review the Redox `MedicationAdministration` schema](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/bcc97b5a-3239-5ee2-ba05-0e87fa7f85c5-read) used to exchange this type of data via FHIR.
Message Refers to a type of data exchange from one system to another. [Learn more about data exchange via Redox](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox). Sending a message via Redox creates a log, which contains details about the exchange. [Learn more about logs](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/logs-for-data-exchange).
Minimal Lower Layer Protocol (MLLP) A communication method that can be used for delivering HL7v2 messages.
Modality A diagnostic imaging term that refers to either a specific machine (e.g., MRI machine 123) or a category of machines (e.g., CT, X-ray, MRI, ultrasound).
National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) A council dedicated to creating standards to improve communication within the pharmacy industry. The acronym “NCPDP” may also refer to an XML-based standard message type that SureScripts and the rest of the pharmacy community use.
Negative acknowledgement (NAK) A network protocol that means “There was something wrong with the message.”
Normalization Refers to Redox translating data from one system’s data fields, structure, or coding to another.
Observation Result (ORU) An HL7v2 message format that can be used for representing lab or test results data (e.g., radiology). ORU-formatted messages may contain discrete data or text notes.
Office for Civil Rights (OCR) The department of HHS that enforces federal civil rights laws, conscience and religious freedom laws, HIPAA privacy, security, and breach notification rules, as well as the Patient Safety Act and Rule. Together, these rules protect patients’ fundamental rights of nondiscrimination, conscience, religious freedom, and health information privacy.
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) A national organization responsible for overseeing the administration of health IT laws. [Explore ONC's mission](https://www.healthit.gov/topic/about-onc).
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) An integration method that involves connecting directly to a database.
Outpatient Refers to patients receiving treatment either in a hospital setting or standalone clinic, not residing in hospital beds.
Patient Demographics Query (PDQ) An HL7v3 message format that can be used to query for patient demographic and visit data. PDQ-formatted messages aren’t widely supported within the healthcare community.
Physical Exam (PE) The part of the provider’s progress note that summarizes the provider’s examination of the patient.
Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) A system used for storing radiological imaging data. [Learn more about retrieving a patient‘s data from a PACS.](/fhir-api-actions/results-and-vitals/retrieve-a-patients-imaging-data)
Polling Refers to an asynchronous integration methodology where a client system (i.e., Redox) repeatedly queries a server at set intervals to check for new data (i.e., EHR system). This is in contrast to a push-based notification (like a webhook) where the server sends data as soon as an event occurs. [Learn more about polling with Redox](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/using-polling-for-notifications). Alternatively, Redox offers **data on demand** to support querying an on-demand repository when your connection only supports polling or push notifications. [Learn more about data on demand](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/data-on-demand).
Protected Health Information (PHI) Any personally identifiable information regarding an individual’s physical or mental health, medical services, or payment of related services that a **covered entity** stores. [See the definition of covered entity](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/7aqDvWFkbPqsQ6pkQwZPUk/#covered-entity).
Radiology Information System (RIS) A type of system used for documenting clinical data related to radiological procedures and tests.
Referral A transfer of care from one provider to another, typically for treating a specialty condition.
Release of Information (ROI) In the healthcare context, **ROI** is the process of making medical records available to parties who requested access.
Representational State Transfer (REST) An architectural paradigm that relies on a client-server framework to enable communication on the World Wide Web. [Read this intro on REST](https://restfulapi.net/) for more information. You might read that a particular type of communication is **RESTful** either if it’s stateless or fits into the `create`, `read`, `update`, `delete` (**CRUD**) framework.
Review of Systems (ROS) The part of the provider’s progress note that summarizes the provider’s observations of the patient’s main systems.
Scheduling Information Unsolicited (SIU) An HL7v2 message format that’s used for communicating new, rescheduled, updated, and canceled appointments.
Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) Represents a data exchange method where files are placed in a predefined location on a system’s server and picked up at predetermined intervals by another system. **SFTP** is the secured form of **FTP**.
Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) An XML-based markup language and open standard for authentication and authorization for data exchange between two parties. See how SAML relates to Redox: - [Learn about handling app launch with SSO](/basics/handling-app-launch-sso-from-ehr-systems). - [Set up SSO login to the Redox dashboard](/how-to-use-redox/manage-your-redox-setup/set-up-sso-login-to-the-redox-dashboard).
Service provider (SP) A vendor or site that someone wants to log into in order to perform some type of action. In the Redox world, the Redox dashboard is an example of a **service provider**. Authentication and user management is handled by the **identity provider**.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) An application protocol used for electronic mail messaging.
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) A standard communication protocol that allows systems with different operating systems like Linux and Windows to communicate XML messages via HTTP. SOAP-based APIs are designed to create, recover, update, and delete records like accounts, passwords, leads, and custom objects. **SOAP** is an alternative to REST. [See the definition of REST]( https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/7aqDvWFkbPqsQ6pkQwZPUk/#representational-state-transfer-rest).
Single Sign-On (SSO) A type of integration that either stores user credentials or communicates patient identity between systems. With Redox, you can set up SSO to the Redox dashboard for your organization or app launch from an EHR system. Both of these launch a system within the context of another and authorizes access to the user. Learn more about SSO with Redox: - [Handling app launch from EHR systems](/basics/handling-app-launch-sso-from-ehr-systems) - [Set up SSO login to the Redox dashboard](/how-to-use-redox/manage-your-redox-setup/set-up-sso-login-to-the-redox-dashboard)
Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) A type of healthcare facility that provides care for patients in between acute and home care. These patients are ready for discharge from acute care facilities but still require monitoring and support before going home. An SNF can provide a stepping stone in patient treatment, offering care over an extended period of time. SNFs might also be called **long-term acute care** (**LTAC**) facilities.
Slug Part of an endpoint URL that contains the human-readable safe name for a destination. Keep in mind that a Redox destination must contain these: - name - ID - slug For a simple breakdown, [check out the difference between a slug and a URL](https://techstacker.com/whats-the-difference-between-slug-and-url/).
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) A communication protocol that works with IP to send data between two disparate systems on a network. [Read GeeksforGeeks‘s article on TCP](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/what-is-transmission-control-protocol-tcp/).
U.S. Core Data Interoperability (USCDI) A standardized set of health data classes and constituent data elements for nationwide, interoperable health information exchange. [Learn more about USCDI](https://www.healthit.gov/isa/united-states-core-data-interoperability-uscdi).
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) The national organization that oversees medical programs, public health, and social services. [Learn more about HHS](https://www.hhs.gov/about/index.html).
Virtual Private Network (VPN) An encryption method that allows two systems to exchange data securely and privately. You might see references to a VPN tunnel, which is a way to explain the private pathway for data between two systems. VPN is required for HL7v2 messaging. [Learn how Redox supports private VPNs](/security/redox-support-for-public-and-private-vpns). Or, [learn how to check a VPN status in the Redox dashboard](/how-to-use-redox/check-a-vpn-status).
Webhook Describes event-based messaging sent over HTTP to notify a system of something that’s occurred in another system. Webhooks differ from queries or polling, which are initiated by a user in a system. Instead, webhooks are notifications sent to a system when a user indicates which events they want to know about. You may see “webhook” used interchangeably with “notification.” [Learn about handling notifications](/basics/data-exchange-with-redox/handling-notifications-and-responses) or [see which FHIR notifications we support](https://docs.redoxengine.com/permalink/fhir-notification-landing-page).
X12 A message format used primarily for exchanging insurance data (e.g., billing, claims, eligibility). [Learn how Redox translates X12 to FHIR](/basics/redox-fhir-api/translating-x12-to-fhir).