Glossary Terms
Accept button
Noun (Epic)
Button that appears on many Hyperspace windows and forms. Clicking this button saves the data you
have entered and closes the window or form.
Account Number (HAR)
Noun (Epic)
A system-generated number assigned to a patient's hospital account at registration that acts as an
identifier for that hospital account. This identifier is separate from the guarantor account number, which
is used to identify accounts for billing.
Activity
Noun (Epic)
The main place where users or administrators enter and view data in Hyperspace. For example, the
Order History activity is used to view information for an order and the Medications activity is used to
manage a patient's prescriptions. An activity can consist of a form, a report, or a series of forms.
Activity Toolbar
Noun (Epic)
A series of buttons appearing at the top of an activity that allow you to perform related actions.
Addendum
Noun (Application-Specific)
Information added to or edited in an encounter or a study after the encounter is closed or the study is
signed.
ADT
Noun (Epic Product)
Short for Admission/Discharge/Transfer. A system for tracking inpatient visits. Used by organizations to
track inpatients from their arrival (admission), to their movements inside the hospital (transfer), to their
departure (discharge).
ASAP
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's emergency department information system application.
Audit Trail
Noun (Epic)
The audit trail tracks changes to a record. It keeps track of the old and new information, who changed
the information, and when the information was changed.
Benefits Engine
Noun (Epic Product)
Used by Epic to adjudicate, or calculate, the patient portion of a procedure, referral, claim or visit. The
Benefits Engine can store information about what is covered, how it is covered and to what extent it is
covered.
Break-the-Glass
Noun (Epic)
An Epic feature that allows users to gain emergency access to a restricted patient record. The act of
gaining access to the restricted record is called breaking the glass. An audit trail stores details of the
event when a user chooses to break the glass, and an In Basket message can be sent to the user's
supervisor to ensure that the access was warranted.
Cadence
Noun (Epic Product)
Name for Epic's Enterprise Scheduling product. Used to schedule and track patient appointments.
Completion Matching
Verb (Epic)
Process by which you enter a partial value in a field (for example, "amox" for amoxicillin) and the system
returns all related matches. Any related terms starting with the characters entered are returned, and
the results appear in a selection list.
Constellation
Noun (Epic Product)
Stand-alone release note management tool used to manage release notes and FYIs.
Contact Serial Number
Noun (Epic)
A unique value used to identify something, such as a patient encounter. Often abbreviated CSN. Once it
is assigned, the CSN does not change.
Encounter
Noun (Epic)
A clinical contact with a patient. For example, an office visit, an admission, or a triage call. If more than
one evaluation or procedure takes place at that visit, it is still usually considered one encounter. In
billing applications, charges or other transactions can be associated with encounters.
Environment
Noun (Epic)
A stand-alone set of code and data defined within an instance of Caché. For example, production,
training, and test environments. Each individual environment contains data (globals) and code (routines)
accessible only to users who are given access to that environment. One environment is represented by
two or more namespaces that define what globals and routines are accessible.
Epic Button
Noun (Epic)
A button (available as of the Summer 2009 release) that allows you to access additional menus, such as
the Tools and Admin menus. These menus were available individually from the Hyperspace menu bar in
previous releases.
EpicCare Ambulatory
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's ambulatory electronic medical record application for outpatient settings, or the Epic division that
produces this application.
EpicCare Inpatient
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's electronic medical record application for inpatient settings, or the Epic division that produces this
application.
Guarantor Account
Noun (Epic)
Record that contains information about the party ultimately responsible for a given set of professional
charges. Guarantor accounts are service area-specific.
HPF Charge Entry
Noun (Epic)
A type of charge entry designed to handle situations where outpatient providers are billing for services
performed in a hospital. HPF stands for hospital professional fee.
Hyperspace
Noun (Epic)
The integrated platform that hosts most Epic applications.
Immunization Clinic
Noun (Epic)
Activity that allows you to document immunization administrations for many patients in succession
without opening a separate patient workspace each time.
In Basket
Noun (Epic)
Electronic messaging system used within Epic applications.
In Basket pool
Noun (Epic)
Used to send a shared message to a group of recipients. When you send a message to a pool, everyone
in that pool gets the message, but after one person marks it asDone it disappears from the other users'
In Baskets. Used if any member of the group can perform the requested action. Common examples
include transcription pools and phlebotomist pools.
Location
Noun (Epic)
The level of your facility structure between service areas and departments. Locations can be attached to
service areas or to other locations. A location can be classified as a hospital, wing, floor, or other.
Navigator
Noun
A series of sections meant to follow a particular workflow, such as an office visit or medication
reconciliation. Common examples include the Visit Navigator and the Discharge Navigator.
Nurse Triage
Noun (Epic Product)
An Epic application that allows staff to deliver care advice and document clinical information while on
the phone with a patient.
Nurse Triage Message
Noun (Epic)
In Basket message notifying a nurse that another nurse has routed a patient encounter to her. When
this happens, she becomes responsible for that patient encounter. Patient encounters are usually
routed to other nurses so that they can take a particular action with the patient.
On The Fly
Adverb (Epic)
Used to describe an action that happens on the spot. For example, you can add a medication to your
preference list on the fly without opening the Preference List Composer.
OpTime
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's operating room management application.
Patient Call Message
Noun (Epic)
Patient Call In Basket messages notify clinicians of telephone encounters created for their patients.
When a telephone encounter is created, the user documenting the call can choose to send Patient Call
messages to other users directly from the encounter workspace.
Patient FYI
Noun (Epic)
Short, free-text note associated with a patient record. Types of FYIs include patient flags, patient
messages, patient notices, permanent comments, registration notes, and reported registration
comments.
Playground
Noun (Epic)
Common term given to an environment in which trainees are allowed to practice.
Price Inquiry
Noun (Application-Specific)
Module from which users can view and quote, in Hyperspace, procedure prices that are stored in your
facility's fee schedules. Price Inquiry consists of two tools: price lookup and fee schedule viewer.
Preference List
Noun (Epic)
A set of frequently used orders. Orders can be added to facility preference lists by members of your
project team and you can also maintain your own personal preference list to include orders you have
pre-configured based on your preferences.
Quick Note
Noun (Epic Product)
A note that a user can document in a narrator with a single click. A quick note might include information
about referrals or a patient's status, or it might be a blank note in which a clinician can insert SmartText,
SmartLists, or SmartLinks as needed.
Radiant
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's radiology application.
Real Time Eligibility
Noun (Epic)
Functionality associated with sending electronic verification queries for a coverage to a payor or
clearinghouse using the Electronic Eligibility Verification Query Interface.
Refresh
Noun (Epic)
Term used to describe a process in which old instances of an environment are replaced with a new
instance. Generally used for training environments. Refreshes are set up at regular intervals.
Release of Information - ROI
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's Health Information Management (HIM) application used to track and fulfill requests for patient
health information.
Resolute Hospital Billing
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's Patient Accounting product for hospitals, or a product for the the facility fees for an organization
with both hospitals and clinics.
Resolute Professional Billing
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic's Patient Accounting product for clinics; an Epic division supporting the Resolute Professional Billing
product.
Retroadjudication
Noun (Epic)
The process of automatically voiding a charge and reposting it with the correct coverage, properly priced
and adjudicated. Certain changes made to a coverage trigger this process.
Schegistrar
Noun (Epic)
A role that combines scheduling and registration. To ensure consistent spelling, use "schegistration" and
"schegistrar."
SmartLink
Noun
A SmartTool that pulls (or "links") information from the patient record directly into your documentation.
For example, if you enter .name, the patient's name is pulled in.
SmartPhrase
Noun
A SmartTool that allows you to type a few characters that automatically expand into a longer phrase or
block of text. For example, .pt becomes patient.
SmartSet
Noun
A documentation template. A group of orders and other elements, such as notes, chief complaints,
SmartGroups, and levels of service, that are commonly used together to document a specific type of
visit.
SmartText
Noun
A text template for charting that can include text, SmartPhrases, SmartLists, and SmartLinks. Frequently
used in progress notes.
SnapShot
Noun
Activity or report that shows a quick overview of patient data, such as the problem list, medications,
allergies, and comments.SnapShot might be available as a separate activity or as a tab in the Chart
Review activity.
Stop Sign
Noun (Epic)
An icon that indicates that you must enter something in that field before continuing.
Summary Sentence
Noun
A summary of order details that serves as a hyperlink to additional order information. Available from
order entry activities and navigator sections. The text of the Summary Sentence itself is configurable.
Clicking the Summary Sentence opens the Order Composer, where you can modify order details, such as
the number of refills for a prescription or instructions for a lab test.
System List
Noun
A list of all patients in the system who meet certain criteria. This list is used in the Patient List activity.
Tab
Noun
A tab includes a categorized listing of records associated with a patient.
Toolbar
Noun (Computer)
The row of buttons at the top of the Hyperspace window, including the Epic button.
Track Board
Noun
One of the main activities in ASAP, which allows you to view filtered lists of the patients you are working
with.
Wildcard
Noun
Often denoted by three asterisks (***) and used in various SmartTools, wildcard text allows the user to
insert free text into his documentation. To replace the wildcard, a user can simply select it and delete or
begin typing over the asterisks.
Willow Ambulatory
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic application designed to support the workflows and routinesfamiliar to pharmacists and technicians
in integrated outpatient pharmacysettings.
Willow Inpatient
Noun (Epic Product)
Epic application designed to support the workflows and routines familiar to most health care
professionals in inpatient pharmacy settings.
Workqueue
Noun
Generic term for a workable list in Epic. Common workqueues include patient workqueues, follow-up
workqueues, claim edit workqueues, charge review workqueues, and many others.
Workspace
Noun (Epic)
An area with a particular set of activities in Hyperspace, such as a patient's chart, your In Basket, or your
Home screen. Tabs appear for you to select the workspace you want to access.
Yield Sign
Noun (Epic)
An icon indicating that it is recommended to enter something in the field before continuing.