Test your acronym I.Q.
Healthcare thrives on acronyms, and more continue to crop up as new initiatives are born. Find the acronyms hidden in the word search based on the clues provided. Submit your answers to us by 3/21/05 and we will enter your name in a drawing for a $10 Starbucks Gift Certificate. Winner will be announced in the next issue of The PREFERRED Connection.

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Fax it to us at (623) 869-9102, be sure to include your name and company.

1. Association that speaks for the family physician _ _ _ _ _

2. Professional association that represents specially educated health information management professionals who work throughout the healthcare industry _ _ _ _ _

3. Professional association for physical therapists _ _ _ _

4. Refers to health plans in which employees have a personal health accounts such as a Medical Savings Account or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement from which they pay medical expenses directly _ _ _ _

5. Used by Medicare to adjust for variance in operating costs of medical practices located in different parts of the country _ _ _ _

6. National standards to protect the privacy of personal health information _ _ _ _ _

7. Association formed to inform/educate the public policy/regulatory arena about specialty health business practices and promote specialty health through strategic communication outlets _ _ _ _ _

8. Organizations to ensure the quality, effectiveness, efficiency and economy of health care services provided to Medicare beneficiaries _ _ _

9. Unit designed to evaluate the time, complexity, and overhead costs associated with each service provided _ _ _

10. Organization that provides leadership and guidance to the healthcare industry on how to use and leverage the industry’s collective knowledge, expertise and information resources to improve the quality of healthcare _ _ _ _

11. National association of network-based preferred provider organizations and affiliate organizations _ _ _ _ _

12. Professional organization for occupational therapists _ _ _ _

13. Professional organization for speech language pathologists _ _ _ _

14. Organizations that verify the credentials of healthcare providers _ _ _

15. A set of standardized performance measures designed to ensure that purchasers and consumers have the information they need to reliably compare the performance of managed health care plans _ _ _ _ _

16. Organization that evaluates the quality and safety of care for more than 15,000 health care organizations _ _ _ _ _

17. Organization providing accreditation for managed care organizations _ _ _ _

18. Payments for services are determined by the resource costs needed to provide them _ _ _ _ _

19. organization committed to promoting health care quality through accreditation, certification and other quality improvement activities _ _ _ _