Acronyms and Abbreviations
| ACSI | American Customer Satisfaction Index | |
| AHCPR | Agency for Health Care Policy and Research | |
| AHRQ | Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality | |
| AMA | American Medical Association | |
| AMI | acute myocardial infarction | |
| BRFSS | Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey | |
| CABG | coronary artery bypass graft | |
| CAHPS | Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey | |
| CDC | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| CHCF | California HealthCare Foundation | |
| CPI | Consumer Price Index | |
| CSFII | Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals | |
| DHHS | Department of Health and Human Services | |
| DQuIP | Diabetes Quality Improvement Project | |
| FACCT | Foundation for Accountability | |
| FEHBP | Federal Employees Health Benefit Program | |
| FOBT | fecal occult blood test | |
| GP | general practitioner | |
| HCFA | Health Care Financing Administration | |
| HCQIP | Health Care Quality Improvement Program | |
| HCUP | Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project | |
| HEDIS | Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set | |
| HIPAA | Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 | |
| HIV | human immunodeficiency virus | |
| HMO | health maintenance organization | |
| HOS | Health Outcomes Survey | |
| IOM | Institute of Medicine | |
| IPA | independent practice association | |
| JAMA | Journal of the American Medical Association | |
| JCAHO | Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations | |
| MCBS | Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey | |
| MEPS | Medical Expenditure Panel Survey | |
| MHCC | Maryland Health Care Commission | |
| NAEP | National Assessment of Educational Progress | |
| NAMCS | National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey | |
| NAS | National Academy of Sciences | |
| NCDB | National Cancer Data Base | |
| NCHS | National Center for Health Statistics | |
| NCQA | National Committee for Quality Assurance | |
| NCVHS | National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics | |
| NHAMCS | National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey | |
| NHANES | National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey | |
| NHIS | National Health Interview Survey | |
| NHS | National Health Service | |
| NIS | National Immunization Survey | |
| NIS | Nationwide Inpatient Sample | |
| NQF | National Quality Forum | |
| NRC | National Research Council | |
| NVSS | National Vital Statistics System | |
| PHC4 | Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council | |
| PRO | peer review organization | |
| QI | quality indicator | |
| QuIC | Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force | |
| S-CHIP | State Children's Health Insurance Program | |
| SEER | Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program | |
| SID | State Inpatient Database | |
| SLAITS | State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey | |
| STD | sexually transmitted disease | |
| VPQHC | Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care | |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
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