Medical terminology for medical assistants, organized by the workflows you handle every day: patient intake, vitals, procedures, EHR and SOAP documentation, and billing.
| Term / Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Chief complaint (CC) | The main reason the patient is seeking care, in their own words. |
| History of present illness (HPI) | A timeline of how the current problem started and evolved. |
| Past medical history (PMH) | Prior diagnoses, hospitalizations, and chronic conditions. |
| Past surgical history (PSH) | Prior surgeries with dates if known. |
| Allergies & ADRs | Drug allergies, environmental allergies, and adverse drug reactions. |
| Medication reconciliation | Verifying every drug a patient takes, including doses and frequency. |
| Demographics | Identifying information: name, DOB, contact, insurance, emergency contact. |
| Triage | Assessing patient acuity to prioritize who is seen first based on urgency. |
| Term / Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blood pressure (BP) | Systolic over diastolic in mmHg — e.g., 120/80. |
| Heart rate (HR) / Pulse | Beats per minute. Normal adult resting: 60-100 bpm. |
| Respiratory rate (RR) | Breaths per minute. Normal adult: 12-20. |
| Temperature (T) | In °F or °C. Normal: ~98.6°F (37°C). Documented with route (oral, tympanic, temporal, axillary). |
| SpO2 (pulse oximetry) | Peripheral oxygen saturation as a percentage. Normal: ≥95%. |
| Weight & height (wt/ht) | Used to calculate BMI and dose medications. |
| Pain scale | Self-reported on a 0-10 scale (or pediatric/non-verbal scales). |
| Term / Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Phlebotomy | Drawing blood from a vein for laboratory testing. |
| Venipuncture | The act of puncturing a vein, typically for blood draw or IV access. |
| Capillary puncture | Finger or heel stick for small blood samples (e.g., glucose). |
| Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) | Recording the electrical activity of the heart with skin electrodes. |
| Spirometry | Pulmonary function test measuring how much and how fast a patient can exhale. |
| Nebulizer treatment | Inhaled medication delivered as a fine mist via mask or mouthpiece. |
| Wound care / dressing change | Cleaning, assessing, and re-dressing a wound under provider direction. |
| Sterile technique | A method of preventing contamination during procedures. |
| PPE (personal protective equipment) | Gloves, gown, mask, and eye protection worn to prevent exposure to infectious material. |
| Term / Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| EHR / EMR | Electronic health record / electronic medical record — the digital chart. |
| SOAP note | Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan — a structured visit note. |
| Progress note | Documentation of a single visit or a change in patient status. |
| Order entry (CPOE) | Computerized provider order entry for labs, imaging, and medications. |
| Referral | A formal request for the patient to be evaluated by a specialist. |
| Authorization / pre-auth | Insurance approval required before certain services are performed. |
| Encounter | A single patient visit — what gets billed and documented. |
| Term / Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ICD-10 | Standard diagnosis code system used on every claim. |
| CPT | Procedure and service codes used for billing. |
| HCPCS | Codes for supplies, equipment, and non-physician services. |
| Copay | Fixed amount the patient pays at the time of service. |
| Deductible | Amount the patient pays before insurance starts covering services. |
| EOB | Explanation of Benefits — the insurer's summary of how a claim was processed. |
| HIPAA | Federal law protecting patient health information privacy and security. |
| Term / Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hypertension | High blood pressure — frequently managed in primary care. |
| Hyperglycemia / Hypoglycemia | High / low blood glucose, monitored in diabetic patients. |
| Tachycardia / Bradycardia | Fast / slow heart rate. |
| Dyspnea | Difficult or labored breathing. |
| Edema | Swelling caused by fluid retention. |
| Erythema | Skin redness, often from inflammation or irritation. |
| Lesion | Any area of abnormal tissue, used broadly across body systems. |
MAs need fluency across an unusually wide range — front office and intake vocabulary, vital signs, common procedures (phlebotomy, ECG, spirometry), EHR documentation terms (SOAP, HPI, ROS), and insurance/billing basics (ICD-10, CPT, copay, deductible).
It's manageable when you learn the morpheme system rather than memorizing every term. The same prefixes, roots, and suffixes appear in thousands of clinical words — once you know the parts, you can decode unfamiliar terms on the fly.
Vital signs and assessment vocabulary, common chronic conditions (HTN, DM, COPD, CHF), medication terms, EHR/SOAP note structure, and insurance terminology. These five categories cover most of what an MA reads or documents in a typical day.
Yes. Both the CMA (AAMA) and RMA (AMT) exams test medical terminology directly and indirectly through clinical scenarios. The morpheme-based approach we teach is exactly what those exams reward.
There's significant overlap, but MAs focus more on outpatient workflow, intake, and administrative vocabulary, while nurses handle more inpatient assessment and intervention vocabulary. Both rely on the same underlying morpheme system.
Our interactive medical terminology games are free to start, with no signup required. The Undergraduate and Pre-Med levels cover foundational vocabulary that every MA needs.