As we bring together professional communities to share information, there are lots of new terms and acronyms to learn. On this page we will provide clear definitions so that we can communicate more effectively together.
Please let us know if there's anything we can add.
- Activities of Daily Living
- (ADLs) Basic personal activities which include bathing, dressing & undressing, eating, incontinence management, locomotion in home, mobility in bed, toilet use, transfer in/out of bed/chair. ADLs are used to measure how dependent a person may be on requiring assistance in performing any or all of these activities.
- Aging Services Access Point
- One of 27 regional field agencies administering the state home care program for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs. For example, Mystic Valley Elder Services. Home care consumers are assigned to an ASAP based on their address.
- ASAP
- See Aging Services Access Point.
- CDS
- See Comprehensive Data Set.
- Comprehensive Data Set
- The assessment tool utilized by an ASAP Care Manager and/or an ASAP Registered Nurse at program required intervals after a Home Visit. The CDS identifies clinical and functional information about the ASAP consumer. The assessment includes the MDS-HC version 2.0, as well as additional social questions such as: current supports, equipment needed, a nutrition assessment, and a nursing section for clinical determinations. An Assessment Narrative includes the assessor's summary of the assessment.
- Consumer
- An elder or person with disabilities who is enrolled in a Home Care Program admiinistered by an ASAP, and receives services.
- Credentials
- Userid and password used to access the Community Links Portal.
- EHR
- See Electronic Health Record.
- ELD
- See Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
- Electronic Health Record
- (EHR) The collection of facts about a consumer that is managed by ASAP staff in SIMS.
- EOEA
- See Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
- Executive Office of Elder Affairs
- (EOEA, ELD) The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs administers the state home care programs. For more information see www.mass.gov/elders.
- HCBS
- Home & Community-Based Services.
- HCO
- See Health Care Organization.
- Health Care Organization
- (HCO) Generic term used for the Community Links Portal project to denote a community health organization that serves ASAP consumers, and whose staff would get user accounts to view the Electronic Health Records of consumers served by an ASAP.
- Home & Community-Based Services
- Services or other supports to help elders and people with disabilities to live in the community.
- Home Health Aide
- A person who, under the supervision of a home health or social service agency, assists elderly, ill or disabled persons with household chores, bathing, personal care, and other daily living needs. Social service agency personnel are sometimes called personal care aides.
- Homemaker Service
- In-home assistance which may include shopping, meal preparation, laundry and light housekeeping.
- IADL
- See INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING.
- Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
- (IADLs) Include housework, laundry, locomotion outside of home, managing finances, meal preparation, medication management, shopping, telephone use, and transportation use.
- MDS-HC
- See Minimum Data Set, Home Care.
- Minimum Data Set for Home Care
- (MDS-HC) an assessment instrument that is used to collect data such as health, social support and service use information on persons receiving long term care services outside of an institutional setting. Massachusetts has extended the MDS-HC v2.1 to copmprise the Comprehensive Data Set, used to assess elegibility for its state and Frail Elder Waiver Home Care Programs, administered by Aging Services Access Points.
- PERS
- Personal Emergency Response System
- Personal Care service
- Assistance with activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, dressing and personal hygiene.
- Respite Care
- In-home services or short-term care provided to a consumer to relieve the caregiver.
- SAMS
- The computer application used in SIMS, provided by Harmony Information Services (www.harmonyis.com).
- Senior Information Management System
- (SIMS). The information system used by ASAPs to manage information about Massachusetts elders who receive Home & Community-Based Services.
- SIM Grant
- State Innovation Model Grant. Massachusetts has been awarded more than $44 million from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to advance the Commonwealth’s nation-leading health care cost containment efforts. Massachusetts was one of six states to receive funding under the Affordable Care Act’s State Innovation Models Initiative. The Community Links Portal was among the projects funded. Find out more about the SIM Grant.
- SIMS
- see Senior Information Management System.
- SIMS Support
- The help desk operated by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs to support the SIMS user community.
- Supportive Home Care Aide
- A category of direct care service for consumers with Alzheimer's or Related Dementia (ADRD). Care staff (homemakers, personal care workers, home health aides, companions) receive basic training from a staff RN. Training was developed by the Alzheimer's Association.
- Web Access Provider
- A category of Providers in the SAMS Administrator. In SAMS, the Provider record has a Web Access Provider element applied to it. If this provider is added as a Consumer Provider to a consumer, there will be some additional checkboxes available: Web Consent checkbox, and Web Consent Start/End Dates. If Web Consent is checked, then the
[Simulate View]button becomes active, and the consumer's CLP information can be previewed by a SAMS user. - Web Custodian
- An employee of a Health Care Organization who administers User Accounts for the Community Links Portal. A Web Custodian is also a point-of-contact between their organization and the ASAP community for information about Community Links Portal.
These terms in a spreadsheet: Download Glossary-v06