P
PA - Physician Assistant (general category of healthcare professional who has a license to practice medicine under the guidance of a physician)
PaaS - Platform-as-a-Service (cloud service delivery model which enables a healthcare organization to use service provider resources to run a specific application on a shared software platform in the cloud)
PACS - picture archiving and communication system (system of storing, organizing, retrieving, and transmitting images)
PAM - Privileged Access Management (a scalable set of tools which allows an organization's management to grant or deny system access based on the level of privilege assigned to different users)
PAMS - Privileged Access Management System (a type of Identity and Access Management (IAM) system which allows an organization's management to grant or deny system access, using different elevated permission levels, often through automation, to provide assistance, along with the ability to monitor account use)
PAN - personal area network (a small network consisting of a communications area near the individual in which numerous devices are attached to convey information primarily over wireless channels)
PAP - Password Authentication Protocol (an authentication mechanism in which the user name and password are transmitted in clear text (unencrypted format) to prove identity and verified by a comparison with a table listing authorized user information)
P2P - Peer-to-Peer software (software used for sharing or transmitting files within a closed network of peers)
PC - personal computer (computers small enough to allow individuals to move or carry them, yet with the computing capabilities/power of large, mainframe systems - desktops, laptops)
PC - portable computer (type of personal computer or electronic device that is small and easy-to-carry, that is capable of storing health-related or other types of data - includes laptops, notebook computers, and/or personal digital assistants (PDA))
PCI DSS - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (security standard developed by the payment card industry to guide card issuers in protecting cardholder data in handling transactions involving payment cards, such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express)
PCI SSC - Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (organization formed by payment card vendors to develop, publish, and maintain standards for the protection of payment card information)
PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (international trade association setting standards for memory cards involving peripherals connections to portable computers)
PCMH - Patient-Centered Medical Home (patient-care model in which patient treatment is coordinated by a primary-care manager who makes sure that the patient receives appropriate levels of care)
PDA - personal digital assistant (handheld computer or mobile device, primarily used as an activities organizer, but, with increased computing power, capable of taking on greater computer functions, including supporting cell phone use, Internet browsing, and e-mail)
PDPO - Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Hong Kong data privacy law controlling the collection and use of personal data)
PGP - Pretty Good Privacy (a simple data encryption/decryption program often used for e-mail and file storage - considered to offer some protection against unsophisticated attackers, but not sufficient against sophisticated or high-end decryption programs)
PHI - Personal Health Information (another name for Protected Health Information - a subset of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) which contains elements of health data)
PHI - Protected Health Information (information protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and the HIPAA Privacy Rule -
defined as Individually Identifiable Health Information (IIHI):
1) transmitted by electronic media;
2) maintained in electronic media; or
3) transmitted or maintained in any other form or medium.
)
PHI - Protected Health Information (any individually identifiable information about a person's health, including mental and physical health data and information about paying for health care - commonly considered to be all information that is put in a person's medical record)
PHIPA - Personal Health Information Protection Act (Canadian law that is a component of the Health Information Protection Act, dealing with the collection and use by healthcare organizations of personal data and which also includes notifiation provisions relating to privacy practices)
PHR - Personal Health Record (an electronic application through which patients can maintain and manage their health information in a private, secure, and confidential environment)
PII - Personally Identifiable Information (any information about an individual maintained by an agency that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as name, Social Security number, and date of birth, as well as any other information linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information)
PIN - Personal Identification Number (number which user creates or is assigned to identify that user)
PIPEDA - Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canadian law relating to data privacy that applies to private sector organizations and regulates how they collect, use, store, and disclose personal information - including online information sharing - to conduct required business operations)
PIRT - Privacy Incident Response Team (organizational group with responsibility for responding to breaches or incidents involving personal data or privacy issues)
PKI - Public Key Infrastructure (system consisting of technology, personnel, and policies used to support the encrypted transfer of healthcare, or other information, through the use of encrypted key cryptography - a secure method for exchanging information over networks through the use of public and private keys for encrypting and decrypting data and information)
PMI - Privilege Management Infrastructure (system mechanism with the capability to define user access privileges in an environment that has to support multiple applications and vendors)
POS - Point-of-Service Plan (managed healthcare plan that combines the most attractive elements of both Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) - in exchange for a deductible and higher coinsurance payment on a one-time basis, an HMO enrollee can choose to use a service that falls outside of the HMO plan)
POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service (phone system using traditional land lines and a telephone to connect to a public switched telephone network (PSTN))
PPACA - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010 Act, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare, designed to increase the availability of health insurance and coverage)
PPO - Preferred Provider Organization (organization providing health care services to its members, consisting of a network of physicians and hospitals)
PPRA - Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (1978 amendment to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, which gave parents access to certain instructional materials and required parental consent for minor participation in certain surveys)
PPS - Prospective Payment System (hospital reimbursement system which uses diagnosis-related groups (DRG) and predetermined reimbursement rates for services and treatment of specific conditions to help determine prospective payment rates)
PSQIA - Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (act establishing a voluntary reporting system with the goal of enhancing the data available to assess and resolve patient safety and healthcare quality issues - effective in 2009)