CAHIMS key terms

The process of gathering what users and stakeholders need a system to do, using interviews, observation, workshops, or surveys. It captures needs before design begins and is the foundation for later requirements documentation.

Identifying everyone affected by or interested in a system, then assessing their influence and needs. It helps teams decide who to involve, how to communicate with them, and whose requirements carry the most weight.

A written description of how an actor interacts with a system to achieve a goal, including the normal flow and possible exceptions. Use cases translate user needs into behavior the system must support.

A person, role, or external system that interacts with the system being analyzed. Actors are named by the role they play, not by an individual, and each use case is written from their perspective.

The ability to link each requirement forward to design, build, and test artifacts, and backward to its source. It supports impact analysis when changes occur and confirms that every requirement was delivered and verified.

A structured comparison of current-state capabilities with desired future-state capabilities to identify what is missing. In health IT it often precedes system selection by showing where existing workflows or tools fall short.

Documenting the sequence of steps, decisions, roles, and handoffs by which work gets done, often through observation or shadowing. It reveals inefficiencies and informs how a new system should fit clinical or operational processes.

A documented picture of how a process actually operates today, including informal workarounds. It serves as the baseline against which the effect of a new system or redesigned process is measured.

A designed description of how a process should operate after a system change or redesign. It is built from the current-state analysis plus agreed improvements, and it guides configuration, training, and testing.

A short, plain-language statement of a need written from the user's point of view, typically in the form of a role, a goal, and a reason. Stories are small enough to prioritize and discuss with users.

A statement of a specific behavior or capability a system must provide, such as capturing a vital sign or generating a report. Functional requirements describe what the system does rather than how well it does it.

A statement about qualities or constraints rather than specific behaviors, such as performance, availability, security, usability, or regulatory compliance. These requirements shape architecture and acceptance criteria and are often harder to test.

The specific, testable conditions a deliverable must meet to be accepted by the customer or stakeholder. They clarify requirements and are used to decide whether work is complete.

A set of preconditions, inputs, and expected results used to verify that a requirement or feature behaves correctly. Test cases trace back to requirements and forward to defects when results do not match expectations.

Re-running previously passed tests after a change to confirm that existing functionality still works. It protects against new code or configuration inadvertently breaking features that were already validated.

End-to-end testing of a complete, integrated system to verify that it meets specified requirements. It occurs after unit and integration testing and often precedes user acceptance testing.

Testing performed by intended users or their representatives to confirm the system supports real business and clinical needs. Passing it typically signals readiness for go-live and formal sign-off.

The ability of different systems to exchange data and use the exchanged information meaningfully. In health care it depends on shared standards for data content, transport, and terminology.

A family of standards developed by Health Level Seven International that defines formats and protocols for exchanging health data between systems. Common versions include the older v2 messaging standard and the newer FHIR specification.

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, a modern HL7 standard that models health data as modular resources exchanged using web technologies. It is widely used for application programming interfaces and mobile health applications.

A defined set of rules and protocols that lets one software system request data or services from another without knowing its internal design. APIs enable integration between electronic health records and third-party tools.

Software that receives, translates, routes, and delivers messages between systems that use different formats or protocols. It centralizes integration logic so each connected system only needs one connection.

The electronic movement of health information among organizations according to recognized standards, or the organization that enables it. It supports care coordination by making patient data available across settings.

Moving data from a legacy system into a new system, including extraction, transformation, cleansing, and loading. It requires validation to confirm that records, relationships, and values arrived intact.

Checking that data meets defined rules for format, completeness, range, and consistency before or after it is loaded or entered. It protects data quality and catches migration or entry errors early.

Tools embedded in health IT that give clinicians patient-specific information or recommendations at the point of care, such as alerts, order sets, or reference links. Well-designed support improves safety while poorly designed support causes alert fatigue.

The desensitization that occurs when users receive so many warnings that they begin to ignore or dismiss them, including important ones. Reducing low-value alerts is a common informatics improvement goal.

A system that lets clinicians enter orders such as medications, laboratory tests, and imaging electronically instead of on paper. It reduces transcription errors and enables decision support at the moment of ordering.

A preconfigured group of orders and related guidance for a common clinical scenario, such as a diagnosis or procedure. Order sets standardize care and reduce the effort and variation of ordering individual items.

An integrated process in which prescribing, dispensing, and bedside administration are electronically linked and verified, often with barcode scanning. It confirms the right patient receives the right drug and dose and records administration.

A bedside safety process in which clinicians scan the patient's identification and the medication to confirm a match before administration. It helps prevent wrong-patient and wrong-drug errors and documents the event.

A standardized, managed set of terms and codes with defined meanings and relationships, used so data means the same thing everywhere. Examples include SNOMED CT, LOINC, and ICD codes.

A comprehensive clinical terminology covering diseases, findings, procedures, and other health concepts with defined relationships. It supports detailed clinical documentation and semantic interoperability across systems.

Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, a standard terminology for identifying laboratory tests and clinical observations. It enables results from different laboratories to be compared and exchanged consistently.

The degree to which data is accurate, complete, timely, consistent, and fit for its intended use. Poor data quality undermines reporting, decision support, and patient safety, so it is monitored and remediated.

The extent to which a system can be used by intended users to achieve goals effectively, efficiently, and with satisfaction. In health IT it strongly influences safety, adoption, and clinician workload.

An approach that involves representative users throughout design to fit the system to their tasks, environment, and needs. It typically uses observation, prototyping, and iterative testing rather than design in isolation.

A document that formally authorizes a project by stating its purpose, objectives, scope, key stakeholders, and high-level constraints. It gives the project manager authority and aligns sponsors on what success means.

The defined boundaries of what a project will and will not deliver, including products, services, and outcomes. Clear scope protects against unapproved expansion and supports realistic planning.

The uncontrolled expansion of project work beyond its agreed boundaries, often through small unapproved additions. It threatens schedule and budget and is managed through formal change control.

A hierarchical decomposition of project work into smaller, manageable deliverables and tasks. It provides the basis for estimating effort, assigning responsibility, and tracking progress.

A significant point or event in a project schedule that marks completion of a major deliverable or phase, with no duration. Milestones help sponsors and teams track progress against key commitments.

A bar chart that displays project tasks along a timeline, showing start and end dates, durations, and dependencies. It gives stakeholders a visual view of schedule and sequencing.

The longest sequence of dependent tasks through a project schedule, which determines the shortest possible project duration. Any delay on the critical path delays the whole project.

A formal process for reviewing, approving, and documenting changes to project scope, schedule, or budget. It prevents unapproved work from entering the project and preserves an auditable history of decisions.

A documented proposal to modify an approved deliverable, scope, schedule, or budget. It is evaluated for impact and then approved or rejected through change control.

A living log of identified project risks with their likelihood, impact, owner, and planned response. It is reviewed regularly so the team can act on threats before they become issues.

A defined set of actions to reduce the likelihood or impact of an identified risk. It assigns responsibility and timing so the response is executed if the risk materializes.

A record of problems that have already occurred and are affecting the project, along with owners and resolution status. Unlike risks, issues are current realities requiring action.

The senior leader who provides resources, authority, and political support for a project and who owns its business case. An engaged sponsor helps resolve escalated issues and champions the change.

A group of senior leaders who provide governance for a project or program, approving major decisions, resources, and scope changes. It meets at intervals to review status and remove barriers.

An ordered list of work items, such as user stories, features, or defects, awaiting prioritization and completion. In iterative projects the backlog is refined continuously and reflects current priorities.

A fixed, short time period in an iterative or agile project during which a selected set of backlog items is completed. Each sprint ends with a reviewable increment of work.

A shared checklist of criteria that work must satisfy before it is considered complete, such as testing and documentation. It creates a consistent quality bar across the team.

The point at which a new system is put into operational use for end users. It is preceded by testing, training, and readiness checks and followed by intensive support.

The planned transition from an old system or process to a new one, including activities such as data conversion, final configuration, and activation. Careful sequencing minimizes disruption to operations.

The period immediately after activation when additional staff, such as at-the-elbow coaches, help users adapt and resolve problems quickly. It aims to stabilize operations and build confidence.