Appendix A
Abbreviations and Acronyms
| AACOM | American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine |
| AACOMAS | AACOM Application Service |
| AAHC | Association of Academic Health Centers |
| AAMC | Association of American Medical Colleges |
| ABA | American Board of Anesthesiology |
| ABEM | American Board of Emergency Medicine |
| ABIM | American Board of Internal Medicine |
| ABMS | American Board of Medical Specialties |
| ABP | American Board of Pediatrics |
| ABPN | American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology |
| ABR | American Board of Radiology |
| ABS | American Board of Surgery |
| ACA | Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act |
| ACCME | Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education |
| ACGME | Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education |
| AHA | American Hospital Association |
| AHME | Association for Hospital Medical Education |
| AMA | American Medical Association |
| AOA | American Osteopathic Association |
| AODME | Association of Osteopathic Directors and Medical Educators |
| APRN | advanced practice registered nurse |
| BBA | Balanced Budget Act |
| BCRS | Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service |
| BOH | Bureau of Hospitals (AOA) |
| BOME | Bureau of Osteopathic Medical Educators |
| BOS | Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists |
| CHGME | Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education |
| CME | Council on Continuing Medical Education (AOA) |
| CMMI | Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation |
| CMS | Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |
| CMSS | Council of Medical Specialty Societies |
| COBRA | Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act |
| COCA | Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation |
| COGME | Council on Graduate Medical Education |
| COM | College of Osteopathic Medicine |
| COPT | Council on Osteopathic Postgraduate Training |
| COPTI | Council on Osteopathic Postgraduate Training Institutions |
| CPI-U | Consumer Price Index-All Urban |
| DGME | direct graduate medical education (payments that Medicare makes for the direct costs of GME) |
| D.O. | Doctor of Osteopathy |
| DoD | Department of Defense |
| DRG | diagnosis-related group |
| DSH | Disproportionate Share Hospital payments |
| ECFMG | Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates |
| EMR | electronic medical record |
| FFS | fee-for-service |
| FSMB | Federation of State Medical Boards |
| FTE | full-time equivalent |
| FY | fiscal year |
| GAF | geographic adjustment factor |
| GAO | Government Accountability Office |
| GME | graduate medical education |
| HHS | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| HIT | health information technology |
| HRSA | Health Resources and Services Administration |
| IM | internal medicine |
| IME | indirect medical education (payments that Medicare pays for higher patient care costs associated with teaching activities) |
| IMG | international medical graduate |
| IOM | Institute of Medicine |
| IRB | intern and resident-to-bed ratio used in the Medicare payment formula for IME |
| LCME | Liaison Committee for Medical Education |
| M.D. | Medical Doctor (allopathic) |
| MedPAC | Medicare Payment Advisory Commission |
| MMA | Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act |
| MSA | Metropolitan Statistical Area |
| NBME | National Board of Medical Examiners |
| NBOME | National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners |
| NHSC | National Health Service Corps |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health |
| NMA | National Medical Association |
| NP | nurse practitioner |
| NRMP | National Resident Matching Program |
| OBRA | Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act |
| OPTI | Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution |
| PA | physician assistant |
| PCMH | patient-centered medical home |
| PGY | postgraduate year of residency training |
| PPS | Prospective Payment System |
| PRA | per-resident amount (Medicare’s DGME payments are based on its share of the PRA) |
| RRC | Residency Review Committee for a given specialty/subspecialty that establishes program-specific accreditation requirements |
| SCHIP | State Children’s Health Insurance Program |
| THC | Teaching Health Center |
| VA | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |
| VERA | Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation |
| VHA | Veterans Health Administration |
| VISN | Veterans Integrated Service Network |