(2026/2027) – American College of Healthcare
Executives
Bargining Unit - answerA group of employees recognized by the National Labor Relations Board
to be an appropriate body for collective bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act.
Barriers to entry - answerObstacles that impede an organization as it seeks to enter a market
Branding - answerA community-wide communication effort to convey the mission and the
competitive advantage of an organization
Breach of contract - answerA contracting party's failure or refusal to perform its obligations
specified in a contract
Business model - answerThe underlying structure of an organization; the means through which
an organization creates and delivers value to its customers and earns revenues
Business plan - answerA model of a specific strategy or function that guides design, operations,
and goal setting
Magnet Recognition Program - answerA program by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
that recognizes healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence, and
,innovations in professional nursing practice; Magnet designation is the ultimate credential for
high-quality nursing
Medicare recovery audit program - answerA program to identify and correct improper
payments from Medicare to providers, with the aim of preventing future improper payments by
Medicare; a common improper payment is for surgical services provided in the wrong setting
(inpatient instead of outpatient)
Medigap - answerHealth insurance sold by private insurance companies to fill the "gaps" in
original Medicare plan coverage
Morbidity - answerThe incidence and severity of illness and accidents in a population
Mortality - answerThe incidence of death in a population
Occupational Safety and Health Administration - answerAn agency of the US Department of
Labor whose mission is to ensure safe and healthful working conditions
Outcome - answerThe end result of medicare care, as indicated by recovery, disability,
functional status, mortality, morbidity, or patient satisfaction
Palliative care - answerInterdisciplinary care provided to a patient with a serious, life-
threatening, or life-limiting illness that aims not to provide curative treatment but rather to
manage symptoms; relive pain and discomfort; improve quality of life; and meet the emotional,
social, and spiritual needs of the patient and the patient's family
Patient autonomy - answerA patient's self-determination, or the right to make decisions
regarding his or her own healthcare
patient satisfaction score - answerThe measure of a patient's overall satisfaction with the level
of care received from a healthcare professional, hospital, or other healthcare provider; the
,HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare providers and Systems) survey is the
firsts national standardized survey of patient satisfaction
Patient-centered care - answerCare that is respectful of and responsive to the individuals
patient's preference, needs, and values
Point-of-service plan - answerA type of managed care insurance plan that combines
characteristics of a health maintenance organization and a preferred provider organization;
enrollees choose a primary care physician in the healthcare network as their "point of service,"
but the primary care physician can make referrals outside the network for lesser compensation
from the insurance company
Population health - answerThe health outcomes of a defined group of individuals
Preferred provider organization - answerA type of health plan that contracts directly with
providers to create a network; enrollees pay less if they use providers in the network
Safety-net provider - answerA hospital or health system that provides a significant level of care
to low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable populations; may be publicly owned and operated by
local or state governments, or may be not-for-profit
Service excellence - answerAnticipating and meeting or exceeding customer needs and
expectations on the basis of an organization's mission and values
Shared governance - answerA nursing model in which staff nurses share the authority and
accountability for practice decisions and other activities that influence their work environment
Supply chain management - answerManagement of the flow of goods and services, including
the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-progress inventory, and of finsihed
goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption
, Triage - answerThe evaluation of patient conditions for urgency and seriousness and the
establishment of a priority list to direct care and ensure the efficient use of medical and nursing
staff and facilities
Urgent care - answerCare for the injury, illness, or another type of condition (usually not life
threatening) that should be treated within 24 hours; also refers to after-hours care and to a
health plan's classification of hospital admissions as urgent, semi-urgent, or elective
US Department of Health and Human Services - answerA department of the US federal
government that aims to protect the health and well-being of all Americans
Value-based pruchasing - answerLinking financial incentives to the quality of care provided
Adjustment - answerA statistical technique to aggregate values from specified populations
subsets, allowing comparison of samples from populations with differences in the relative size
of subset populations
Administrative information system - answerAn information system designed to assist in the
performance of administrative support activities, such as payroll accounting, accounts
receivable, accounts payable, facility management, intranet management, and human
resources management
Big data - answerLarge and complex data sets that may be analyzed for patterns
Clinical data repository - answerA database that consists of information from various sources of
care and from various departments and/or facilities; the database may represent a longitudinal
description of an individual's care
Clinical decision support system - answerAn application that accesses structured databases of
clinical information to aid a clinician provider in defining probable diagnoses or in selecting
appropriate diagnostic tests or treatment options