| Term | Definition |
| -algia | pain |
| -emia | blood condition |
| -itis | inflammation |
| -megaly | enlargement |
| -meter | measure |
| -osis | abnormal condition |
| -pathy | disease condition |
| -rrhagia | bursting forth with blood |
| -rrhea | discharge, flow |
| -scerosis | hardening |
| -scopy | to view; visual examination |
| -centesis | surgical procedure |
| -ectomy | removal; resection; excision |
| -gram | record |
| -graphy | process of recording |
| -lysis | separation; breakdown; destruction |
| -pexy | surgical fixation |
| -rrhaphy | suture |
| -stomy | opening |
| -therapy | treatment |
| -tomy | incision; cut into |
| a-, an- | without |
| ante- | before |
| anti- | against |
| brady- | slow |
| dys- | painful; difficult |
| endo- | inside; within |
| epi- | upon; above |
| ex- | out; out of |
| hemi- | half |
| hypo- | below |
| infra- | below |
| inter- | between |
| neo- | new |
| oligo- | little |
| pan- | all |
| para- | beside |
| per- | through |
| poly- | many |
| pre- | before; in front of |
| pseudo- | false |
| sub- | under |
| supra- | above; beyond |
| tetra- | four |
| arth | joint |
| cephal | head |
| cardi | heart |
| cholecyst | gall bladder |
| chondro | cartilage |
| colp | vagina |
| derm | skin |
| enter | intestine |
| episi | vulva |
| gastro | stomach |
| gloss | tongue |
| hepato | liver |
| hyster | uterus |
| lapar | abdomen |
| lact | milk |
| lith | stone |
| mast | breast |
| myo | muscle |
| nat | birth |
| oophor | ovary |
| oste | bone |
| pneum | lung |
| rhin | nose |
| salping | fallopian tube |
| stomat | mouth |
| Ambulatory | outpatient care |
| Attending Physician | a physician who has graduated college of medicine or osteopathy |
| Biopsy | the removal of a sample of tissue |
| Cardiovascular System | delivers nutrients and oxygen to every cell within the body and removes waste products |
| Central Nervous System (CNS) | conducts sensory information from the peripheral nervous system to the brain. |
| Circulatory & lymphatic system | responsible for the overall balance of body system functions. |
| Creatinine | creatinine and creatinine clearance tests measure the level of the waste product of creatinine in blood and urine. |
| Digestive System | responsible for ingesting and digesting food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating wastes. |
| Endocrine System | glands that produce and secrete hormones. |
| Family Medicine | department responsible for providing continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. |
| Fellow Physician | physician who enters a training program in a medical specialty after completing residency, usually in a hospital or academic setting. |
| Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) | a manage health care system consisting of health care providers that offer services to members for fixed payments from the HMO; also utilizes PCPs (called gatekeepers). |
| Inpatient | a person who has been admitted to the hospital. |
| Integumentary System | responisble for regulating body temperature, acting as a sensory receptor to internal and external stimuli, excreting waste from the body through sweat, absorbing vitamin D and calcium from sunlight to nourish the body. |
| Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) | a nurse who cares for patients under the direction of registered nurses (RNs) and other health care providers. |
| Medical Assistant (MA) | a health care provider who performs administration and clinical tasks to support the work of physicians and other health professionals. |
| Medical Billing & Coding Specialist | administrative support staff member with specialized training responsible for health insurance claim billing, coding, and patient financial accounting. |
| Morphology | the study of the form and structure of living things. |
| Musculoskeletal System | responsible for giving the human body form, stability, and enabling movement. |
| Nervous System | responsible for receiving information and interpreting it via electrical signals carried by nerves. |
| Outpaient | a person who has not been admitted by the hospital and receives outpatient serices from the hospital. |
| Pediatrics | specialty department that treats infants, children, and teenagers and their health concerns. |
| Peripheral Nervous System | connects the central nervous system to the limbs and organs. |
| Physician Orders | written, telephone, fax, or consultation orders for new or altered treatment. |
| Primary Care Physician (PCP) | a physician in a HMO who directs all aspects of a patient's care, including routine services, referrals to specialists within the system, and supervision of hospital admissions; also call a gatekeeper. |
| Referral | authorization issued by a PCP to a referred doctor. |
| Referring Physician | a physician who refers a patient for a service or supply that they cannot provide. |
| Registered Nurse (RN) | a graduate nurse who has been legally authorized to practice. |
| Reproductive System | responsible for human reproduction in both males and females. |
| Resident Physician | a physician who has finished medical school and his internship and is receiving training in a specialized area. |
| Respiratory System | responsible for delivering oxygenated blood to all parts of the body. |
| Urea | a nitrogen-containing substance normally cleared from the blood by the kidney into the urine. |
| Urinalysis (UA) | a group of test performed on a urine sample. |
| Urinary System | responsible for aiding in the process of secreting and eliminating urine. |
| Urology | the study of conditions related to the urinary tract. |
| Venipuncture | the puncture of a vein for any medical purpose. |
| Abstract | to collect data from a medical record. |
| Acronyms | a word formed from the initial letters of other words. |
| Alphabetic Index to Diseases and Injuries | volume 2 of the ICD-9-CM; lists words, called main terms, that describe illnesses, injuries, conditions, drugs, and diseases. |
| Benign | noncancerous |
| Bilateral | having two sides or on both sides of the body. |
| Cancer | malignant neoplasms; tissues with uncontrolled growth that can spread and invade other parts of the body. |
| Categories | three-digit ICD-9-CM codes representing a single disease or condition. |
| Chapter | the main division of the ICD-9-CM Tabular List. |
| Chapter-Specific Coding Guidelines | guidelines for specific diagnosis or conditions; apply with all health care settings, unless otherwise noted. |
| Coding Conventions | general coding rules that are independent of the guidelines and are incorporated within the Alphabetic Index and Tabular List of the ICD-9-CM as instructional notes. |
| Covered Entities | Health care providers required by law to obey HIPAA regulations. |
| CPT Category I Codes | permanent CPT codes consisting of six sections and comprised of five numeric characters. |
| CPT Category II Codes | used for performance measurement; comprised of four digits followed by the letter "F". |
| CPT Category III Codes | temporary codes for emerging technology, services, and procedures; comprised of four digits followed by the letter "T". |
| CPT Modifiers | two-digit alpha, numeric, or alphanumeric characters added to CPT codes when additional information needs to be communicated pertaining to a procedure or service. |
