ACIP
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the U.S. CDC committee that publishes the recommended immunization schedule for children, adolescents, and adults. ACIP recommendations.
AAFP
American Academy of Family Physicians, the professional society for family medicine in the U.S. Publishes American Family Physician. aafp.org.
AAP
American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional society for pediatricians in the U.S. Publishes Pediatrics and the Bright Futures well-child periodicity schedule.
ACOG
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Publishes practice bulletins and committee opinions on obstetric and gynecologic care. acog.org.
AHRQ
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the U.S. agency that funds and publishes health-services research. ahrq.gov.
BNF
British National Formulary, the U.K. drug formulary published every six months by the Pharmaceutical Press in conjunction with NICE. The fixed-field structure of the BNF is the inspiration for this site's monograph format. BNF online.
Bright Futures
The AAP-published Periodicity Schedule and intake tools that define the standard well-child visit schedule from infancy through age 21. We use the schedule without deviation.
CCH-###
The internal monograph code for a service offered by the practice. CCH stands for "common clinical heads" — the practice's internal name for the fixed-field monograph structure. The number is sequential. CCH-001 through CCH-006 are the current six monographs.
CDC
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Publishes the US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, the STI Treatment Guidelines, and many other clinical references this practice cites.
Continuity of care
The proportion of a patient's primary-care visits that occur with their assigned principal clinician (or that clinician's named partner). At Pharos this number is published quarterly and currently sits at 82.1% rolling 12 months. Operational definition follows AHRQ — Care Coordination.
Contraindications
The clinical situations in which a service is not delivered, with explicit referral targets. The point of writing them down is that the front desk can give a true answer in thirty seconds.
DailyMed
The U.S. National Library of Medicine's repository of FDA drug labels. Each label has a fixed-field structure (Indications, Dosage, Adverse Reactions, Contraindications, etc.) that informed our monograph format. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov.
DPC (Direct Primary Care)
A practice model in which the patient pays a flat monthly fee directly to the practice in exchange for primary-care visits and direct access. See our membership page; AAFP — DPC policy.
Deprescribing
The deliberate process of reducing or discontinuing medications when the harms outweigh the benefits in the patient's current circumstance. We use the Bruyère Deprescribing.org algorithms.
Errata
The published log of every material change to a monograph since the practice opened. errata page.
Formulary
A deliberate document listing the items (drugs, services, etc.) that an institution stocks, the indications for which it stocks them, and the conditions under which it does not. We have applied the discipline of a pharmaceutical formulary to the practice itself.
GAHT (gender-affirming hormone therapy)
Hormone therapy delivered to transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse patients to bring secondary sex characteristics into alignment with gender identity. We deliver GAHT on the informed-consent model. See CCH-004; UCSF Transgender Care Guidelines.
IUC (intrauterine contraception)
A small contraceptive device placed inside the uterus. We place Mirena, Liletta, Skyla, Kyleena, and Paragard. Same-day for established patients. See CCH-005.
MOUD (medications for opioid use disorder)
Buprenorphine, naltrexone, or methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorder. We deliver buprenorphine and naltrexone; methadone is via an OTP (we refer). See CCH-003; SAMHSA TIP-63.
NCQA
National Committee for Quality Assurance, a non-profit that publishes practice-level quality standards including the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program. We are not formally PCMH-recognized but we use the conventions for our internal audit definitions.
OTP (Opioid Treatment Program)
A SAMHSA-accredited program that delivers methadone for OUD. SAMHSA OTP rules. The closest OTP to our practice is CommonBond Wellness in Kingston.
PMP (Prescription Monitoring Program)
The state-level database of controlled-substance prescriptions. Prescribers query the PMP before prescribing controlled substances. NY's is at health.ny.gov.
PrEP
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. We follow CDC clinician guidance.
Rondout District
The harbor neighborhood of Kingston NY where this practice is located. Originally a Dutch and English settlement; the eastern terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal through 1898; a center of the Hudson Valley cement and bluestone industries through the 1920s.
SAMHSA
U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Publishes the TIP series including TIP-63 on MOUD.
Transition (CCH-002 → CCH-001)
The scheduled handoff of an adolescent from pediatric primary care (CCH-002) to adult primary care (CCH-001), typically at age 18. The transition is not automatic on the birthday; it is a scheduled visit. The Got Transition tools inform our process.
USPSTF
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the independent body that grades preventive services on the strength of evidence and net benefit. uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.
VFC (Vaccines for Children)
The federally-funded program that provides recommended immunizations at no cost to children who would otherwise not be able to receive them due to inability to pay. We are an active VFC provider. cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc.
Wadar
The Dutch hydrographic-data back-end that replaced the Rijkswaterstaat Waterwebservices on December 5, 2025. Mentioned in our bulletin on errata as a metaphor for the discipline of public correction.
WPATH
World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Publishes the Standards of Care; current is version 8 (2022).