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Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Glossary of Terms, Acronyms & Abbreviations: A - F

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A Definition
AA/CRC Affirmative Action/Civil Rights Compliance - Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Management and Technology, Bureau of Personnel and Employment Relations.
AAA Area Agency on Aging; substate planning and coordinating agency authorized by federal Older Americans Act; 6 in Wisconsin.
AAIS Affirmative Action Information System.
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act; PL 101- 336, as amended; 42 USC 12101 - 12213.
ADAMBG Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Block Grant.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTIVES Formal DHFS directives that establish basic Department policy and procedure for general operations, that apply only to Department staff and that are issued by the Secretary's Office from time to time in a standard written format following a determination that the particular policy and procedure should be disseminated throughout the Department. Included in the Department's Operations Directives Manual.
ADP Average daily population.
ADULT FAMILY HOME (a) A home certified by a county social services or human services department, in which 1 or 2 adults unrelated to the operator reside and which provides a structured living arrangement for residents.
ADULT FAMILY HOME (b) A home for 3 to 4 developmentally disabled adults who receive care and maintenance above the level of board and room, but not nursing care, from the person whose home it is, and who for the most part lived in the home when they were younger and it was regulated as a foster home for children. Certified under ch. HSS 82 rules.
ADULT FAMILY HOME (c) A home for 3 or 4 adults who receive care, treatment and services above the level of board and room, but not nursing care. Licensed under ch. HSS 88 rules.
AFDC Aid to Families with Dependent Children; former income maintenance program providing payments to low - income households with children. Replaced by W-2.
AFH Adult Family Home
AGE DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 1967 Federal law, 29 USC 621 to 634, prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of age.
AGE DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 1975 Federal law, 42 USC 6101 et seq., prohibiting discrimination on the basis of age in federally funded programs or activities.
AGING NETWORK Refers to Department's Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources, Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), county and tribal aging units (C-TAUs), nutrition projects for the elderly, senior centers, and all other public a and nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin that plan for, develop, and provide services for older adults.
AIAC American Indian Advisory Committee; advisory to the DHFS Secretary.
AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER A facility operated exclusively to provide surgical services to patients who do not require overnight hospitalization. Term usually refers to distinct, freestanding centers certified under federal Medicare program. There are also hospital-affiliated ambulatory surgery centers.
ANTABUSE A drug used to help in the treatment of alcohol abuse; a person on this drug becomes violently ill following ingestion of alcoholic beverages.
AOA Administration on Aging in HHS; responsible at federal level for Older Americans Act programs.
AODA Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.
APPLIED RECEIPTS Revenues, usually federal, available to offset expenditures for specific services or programs.
APPOINTING AUTHORITY Any staff person in the Department who has been given the power to appoint individuals to, or to remove them from, subordinate positions.
APS Automated Personnel System; payroll-related timekeeping system.
ARC Association for Retarded Citizens
ARFOD Assistant to Regional Field Operations Director (OQA)
ASC ambulatory surgical center
ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY Popular name for a place where 5 or more adults reside which consists of independent apartments and which provides each tenant with up to 28 hours of supportive, personal and nursing services per week; 1997 Wisconsin Act 13 amended statutes to change official name to residential care apartment complex.
AWARE Activities within a Restricted Environment; a unit at Winnebago Mental Health Institute that provides long-term care for persons who have not responded to treatment in other settings and who have demonstrated an inability to function outside of an institution.
 
B Definition
B&C Billings and Collections
B-FORM Any of various forms required in preparation of the Department's budget request to show the details of that request.
BAC Blood alcohol content.
BADGERCARE Wisconsin's program to implement a child health plan block grant under Title XXI of the Federal Social Security Act and to expand Medicaid eligiblity to ensure that all children and parents in families with income below 185% of the federal poverty level that do not have health insurance have access to health care.
BADR Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources in the DHS Division of Long Term Care.
BALTCR (Formerly) Bureau of Aging and Long-Term Care Resources in the DHFS Division of Supportive Living. Is now part of function in BLTS and BADR
BCA Basic County Allocation; that part of a county's allocation from the total funds appropriated under s. 20.435 (7)(b), (i) and (o), Stats., for community aids that can be used broadly to pay for social services and services for mentally disabled persons; administered by DSL/DCFS.
BCMH (Formerly) Bureau of Community Mental Health in the DHFS Division of Supportive Living. Merged with Substance Abuse and is now Bureau of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
BDD Bureau of Disability Determination in the DHFS Division of Health Care Financing.
BDDS (Formerly) Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services in the DHFS Division of Supportive Living. In now Division of Disability and Elder Services in DHFS.
BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT (MODIFICATION) Systematic application of behavioral techniques, such as positive reinforcement, to persons with behavioral problems in order to establish, change, maintain, or eliminate specified behaviors.
BENEFIT SPECIALIST A person in each county, usually in the county aging office, who helps elderly persons obtain and keep Medicare, Medical Assistance and other human services program benefits.
BFS Bureau of Fiscal Services in the DHFS Division of Enterprise Services.
BHI The former Bureau of Health Information in the DHFS Division of Health Care Financing.
BHIP Bureau of Health Information and Policy in the Division of Public Health. (Formerly the Bureau of Health Information in the Division of Health Care Financing.)
BHR Bureau of Human Resources located in the Division of Enterprise Services. Previously known at Bureau of Personnel and Employment Relations (BPER).
BID Background Information Disclosure
BIRCM Bureau of Intergovernmental Relations and Contract Management. It is one of the bureaus in the Division of Enterprise Services. Services include: Area Administration, Audit, Contract Administration, Parking, Purchasing and Printing
BIRTH TO 3 A program of early intervention services for children from birth through age 2 with disabilities, and for their families. Administered by DDES and county administrative agencies in accordance with ch. HFS 90 Adm. Codes.
BIS Formerly the Bureau of Information Systems in the DHFS Division of Management and Technology. It is now BITS, the Bureau of Information Technolody Services
BITS Bureau of Information and Technology Services in the Division of Enterprise Services.
BLOCK GRANTS Federal grants of aid to states; the 6 annual block grants to DHFS are Social Services, Community Services, Maternal and Child Health, Preventive Health and Health Services, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health; Department develops proposals for use of grants and obtains comments of public. Legislature holds hearings, and the final applications are submitted to the Federal government for the next year's funding.
BLTS Bureau of Long-Term Support in the DHFS Division of Long Term Care.
BMHSAS Bureau of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
BOALTC Board on Aging and Long Term Care; an independent state agency that advocates on behalf of elderly and disabled persons who are receiving long-erm residential care, mainly by monitoring development and implementation of policies and programs and investigating complaints about care.
BPER Previously known as the Bureau of Personnel and Employment Relations in the DHFS Division of Enterprise Services. Has been renamed Bureau of Human Resources.
BRFS Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a telephone survey of Wisconsin residents age 18 and older; part of the CDC-supported BRFSS.
BRFSS Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a CDC-supported system of surveys in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
BSAS (Formerly) Bureau of Substance Abuse Services in the DHFS Division of Supportive Living; AODA prevention and treatment. Merged with Mental Health and is now the Bureau of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
BSD (Formerly) Bureau for Sensory Disabilities in the DHFS Division of Supportive Living. In now Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources, both the Office of Hard of Hearing and Deaf and Office of Blind and Visually Impaired.
BUDGET MANDATE A directive from the Legislature to a state agency transmitted through a budget act, requiring the agency to do something by a certain date, e.g., carry out a study and submit a report with recommendations.
BWRS Fiscal Work Reporting System
 
C Definition
C-TAU County or tribal aging unit.
CAA Community Action Agency, a local anti-poverty agency.
CAH critical access hospital
CAP Community Action Program.
CAREGIVER MISCONDUCT REGISTRY The Department's record of persons who while working as caregivers in specified Department-regulated facilities or for specified Department-regulated programs were found to have abused or neglected a client or misappropriated a client's property.
CARS Community Aids Reporting System.
CBRF Community-based residential facility; a place in which 5 or more unrelated adults live and where they receive care, treatment, or services, but not nursing care on any permanent basis, in addition to board and room. CBRFs are licensed by DHFS under ch. HFS 83 rules.
CDSD Center for Delivery System Development in the Department's Division of Disability and Elder Services.
CEO chief executive officer
CERT REQUEST A personnel form used to obtain permission to take action to fill a vacant position.
CERTIFICATION A type of approval in the form of a written assurance or declaration that an individual, household, service provider or program meets specified conditions for receiving something or doing something as, for instance, a household to receive food stamps or a health care provider to receive reimbursement for providing services to Medicaid-covered patients.
CFR Code of Federal Regulations.
CHAP Community Housing Alternatives Program; provides Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority financing (generally, revenue bond authority) to developers of housing for low-income elderly and chronically disabled persons.
CHAPTER 153 Chapter 153 of the Wisconsin Statutes: governs the collection and dissemination of certain kinds of health care information.
CHAPTER 46 of the Wisconsin Statutes: basic statute for the Department of Health and Family Services.
CHAPTER 49 Chapter 49 of the Wisconsin Statutes: governs public assistance programs including Medical Assistance.
CHAPTER 50 of the Wisconsin Statutes: nursing home, CBRF, adult family home, hospital and hospice regulation.
CHAPTER 51 of the Wisconsin Statutes: commitment for treatment of mental illness; and services for persons who are mentally ill, developmentally disabled, alcohol-abusing or drug abusing.
CHAPTER 55 of the Wisconsin Statutes: protective services for adults, and for developmentally disabled youths age 14 to 17, including court-ordered protective placements.
CHAPTER 69 Chapter 69 of the Wisconsin Statutes: governs the collection of vital statistics.
CHAPTER 971 of the Wisconsin Statutes: includes criminal commitments of the mentally ill. A criminal commitment to a mental health facility is for the purpose of examining a defendant with respect to competency to proceed, treatment directed at regaining competency or for treatment after a finding of not guilty due to mental disease or defect.
CHAPTER 980 of the Wisconsin Statutes; civil commitments of sexually violent persons.
CHORE SERVICES A variety of nonprofessional services for clients provided or purchased by county social service or human service departments, including lawn care, shopping, errands.
CHOW change of ownership
CHS Former Center for Health Statistics in the DHFS Division of Health; now the Bureau of Health Information and Policy in the Division of Public Health.
CHSD County human services department organized under s. 46.23, Wisconsin Statutes.
CIP Community Integration Program: CIP-IA is for persons relocated or diverted from DD centers; CIP-IB is for developmentally disabled persons relocated or diverted from nursing homes; CIP II is for elderly and physically disabled persons diverted or relocated from nursing homes to appropriate community settings with the assistance of home and community
CIU Caregiver Investigation Unit (OQA)
CLIA Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988, PL 100-578, and implementing final federal regulations, 42 CFR 493.
CLU Clinical Lab Unit (CLIA -OQA)
CMI Chronically mentally ill, in reference to an adult.
CMO Care Management Organization
CMS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly the Health Care Financing Administration), in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
CNA certified nursing assistant
CNM certified nurse midwife
CNP certified nurse practitioner
CNS Clinical Nurse Specialist
CO Central Office (CMS) state - Madison/federal - Baltimore
COALITION FOR ADVOCACY A Madison-based organization that advocates on behalf of developmentally and physically disabled persons.
COBRA Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
COMMUNITY INTEGRATION PROGRAM See CIP.
COMMUNITY LIVING ARRANGEMENTS A generic name for community-based residential facilities for adults (CBRFs), group homes for children, and private child care institutions, for purposes of s. 46.03(22), Wisconsin Statutes, dealing with the siting of these facilities and overriding of local zoning ordinances.
COMMUNITY OPTIONS PROGRAM See COP.
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION Usually refers to federal regulations governing provider certification under Medicare. Under a federal-state contract, DHFS/OQA certifies that hospitals, home health agencies, hospices and other health care providers comply with those regulations and therefore may participate in Medicare.
COP Community Options Program; a Department-financed, county-administered program to reduce the number of persons admitted to and resident in nursing homes; involves assessing the need of MA
COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMS The county agency established under s. 51.42, Wisconsin Statutes.
COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SERVICES The county agency established under s. 51.437, Wis. Stats.
CPI consumer protection investigator
CRC Civil Rights Compliance.
CRD Chronic renal disease; see also ESRD.
CRO Client Rights Office in the DHFS Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
CSA Client services assistant.
CSB Controlled Substances Board; administers subch.II of Chapter 961, Wis. Stats.
CSBG Community Services Block Grant.
CSP Community support program; in communities, a program that coordinates care and treatment services provided to persons with severe and persistent mental illness. Regulated under ch. HFS 63 Adm. Code.
CTST EVALUATION Competency-to-stand-trial evaluation; the assessment by a psychiatrist or psychologist of a person charged with a criminal offense who because of a mental disorder may be unable to understand the proceedings or help with his or her defense.
CWC Central Wisconsin Center, a DHS residential facility in Madison for developmentally disabled persons.
 
D Definition
DATAMANAGER A software system that serves as a dictionary of DHFS data.
DCF Department of Children and Families (DCF). Created on July 1, 2008.
DCTF Former DHFS Division of Care and Treatment Facilities, merged into Division of Disability and Elder Services (DDES)
DD As a noun, developmental disability or disabilities; as an adjective or adverb, developmentally disabled.
DDB Disability Determination Bureau in the DHFS Division of Health Care Financing.
DDES Former Division of Disability and Elder Services, split into Division of Long Term Care and the Division of Mental Health and Subustance Abuse
DEMONSTRATION PROJECT A short-term experiment to determine if a new activity is worthwhile, feasible or cost-effective, and to understand its consequences, before any commitment is made to make it permanent.
DES Former Division of Economic Support in DHSS. Is Now Department of Workforce Development (DWD).
DETOXIFICATION Emergency treatment for the acutely intoxicated person. Can be medical or non-medical.
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY A disability of a person manifested before the age of 22, and expected to continue indefinitely, attributable to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, brain injury or another neurological condition closely related to mental retardation or requiring treatment similar to that required for mental retardation, and that results in substantial functional limitations in three or more major areas of life activity.
DHCF Former name of DHCAA, DHFS Division of Health Care Financing; administers MA program.
DHFS (now known as DHS) Wisconsin State Department of Health and Family Services, began July 1, 1996. Changed to Department of Health Sevices on July 1, 2008.
DHS Department of Health Services. Renamed on July 1, 2008 from Department of Health & Family Services.
DHS 120 DHS administrative rules for the collection and dissemination of certain kinds of health care information.
DHSS (Formerly) Wisconsin State Department of Health and Social Services, to July 1, 1996. Is now Department of Health Services (DHS).
DIN Decision Item Narrative, a statement justifying a proposal included in a budget request.
DIVESTMENT In reference to eligibility for Medicaid, the disposal of resources at less than fair market value in order to qualify for benefits.
DJC Division of Juvenile Corrections in DOC; formerly DYS in DHSS.
DLTC Division of Long Term Care - previously was part of Division of Disability and Elder Services (DDES)
DMHSAS Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services - previously was part of the Division of Disability and Elder Services (DDES)
DMT Formerly the DHFS Division of Management and Technology. Currently is named Division of Enterprise Services (DES)
DOC Wisconsin State Department of Corrections.
DOE U.S. Department of Energy.
DOJ Department of Justice (Wisconsin)
DOL U.S. Department of Labor.
DON director of nursing (nursing home)
DQA Division of Quality Assurance; responsible for licensing nursing homes, home health agencies CBRFs and hospices, approving hospitals, certifying health care providers for Medicare, certifying programs that train and test nurse assistants and aides and operating a registry of qualified nurse assistants and aides.
DRGs Diagnosis-Related Groups; specific classifications of illnesses into which hospital inpatients are grouped. Under Medicare and MA, hospitals are reimbursed a fixed amount, determined in advance, for each patient admitted for an illness in a given classification.
DRL Department of Regulation & Licensing (Wisconsin)
DSL Former DHFS Division of Supportive Living, merged into Division of Disability and Elder Services (DDES)
DSM-IV The 4th edition (1994) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.
DSS County department of social services; administers public assistance and social service programs; same as SSD, CDSS.
DVR Former Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in DHSS.
DWD Wisconsin State Department of Workforce Development.
DYS Former Division of Youth Services in DHSS. Is now Division of Juvenille Corrections (DJC), Department of Corrections.
 
E Definition
EAP Employee Assistance Program; in places of employment, identification and referral for counseling of persons who exhibit alcohol abuse, drug abuse or emotional problems which affect their work.
EBT Electronic Benefits Transfer; a DWD/DHFS project under s. 49.129(7), Stats., to develop an electronic benefit transfer system for delivery of food stamp benefits as an alternative to issuing food stamp coupons.
ED/DD Developmentally disabled persons who are also emotionally disturbed.
EDS Electronic Data Systems - the firm which currently serves as fiscal agent (the payer of claims) for Wisconsin's Medical Assistance program and for the HIRSP program.
EEN Exceptional educational needs.
EPSDT Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program for children from low-income families; financed by Title XIX; called HealthCheck in Wisconsin.
ESRD End-Stage Renal Disease, the stage of kidney impairment that is irreversible and requires a regular course of dialysis or renal transplantation to maintain life; also called chronic renal disease (CRD).
ETN educational teleconference network
EXECUTIVE ORDER 12372 Replaces the former A-95 review process. This federal executive order establishes a process by which parties affected by or otherwise interested in an application made for a federal grant have an opportunity to comment on it at the time it is submitted.
 
F Definition
FAMILY SUPPORT A DHFS program under s. 46.985, Wis. Stats., and ch. HFS 65 Adm. Codes, that provides support to families with a severely handicapped child living at home by helping pay for the services and goods that a family needs to care for the family member at home.
FAS Fetal alcohol syndrome; physical and/or mental anomalies in a newborn child resulting from the mother's drinking of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.
FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
FDD Facility for the developmentally disabled. A type of nursing home primarily for developmentally disabled persons. State centers for developmentally disabled persons are FDDs. Licensed under ch. HFS 134 Adm. Codes.
FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL Poverty income thresholds by family size; originally developed by the Social Security Administration in 1964; annually updated by the Census Bureau for inflation, with a version simplified for administrative purposes published each February as "poverty income guidelines" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Federal Register; in 1998, a family of 4 with an income at or below $16,450 is considered poor under the guidelines; income excludes Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and WIC drafts.
FFP Federal financial participation, i.e., Federal aid.
FFY Federal fiscal year, October 1 to September 30.
FHS Family Health Survey, a Wisconsin statewide random-sample telephone survey of all household residents, including children.
FL/CIS Facility Licensing/Certification Information System; for DHFS institutions, CCIs, group homes.
FMS Fiscal Management System.
FNS Food and Nutrition Service, the part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for Food Stamps.
FORENSICS The intersection of medicine, especially psychiatry, and the law. Forensic patients of concern to the Department have psychiatric problems and are involved with either the criminal courts or the correctional system. Among these are prisoners who become mentally ill while serving sentence, persons found unable to stand trial because of mental illness or mental defect, and mentally ill or mentally defective persons who have been civilly committed but who are violent or dangerous and need treatment in a secure hospital setting.
FOSTER GRANDPARENTS Older adults employed by the Department in half-time substitute grandparent capacities at residential institutions for children and youth.
FR Federal Register. A daily (weekdays) publication containing federal proposed and final regulations and other official federal government announcements.
FS Food Stamps.
FWRS Fiscal Work Reporting System
FY Fiscal year, the twelve-month period used for financial planning purposes; the state's fiscal year is July-June whereas the counties' is January-December and the Federal government's is October-September; FY 06 in state financial planning means the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2006.

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