American Hospital Association (AHA)

Organization formed in 1913 to advance the health of individuals and communities through leading, representing, and serving health care provider organizations that are accountable to the community and committed to health improvement. AHA maintains the central office on ICD-9-CM, answers coding questions, and publishes the Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM . AHA hosts the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC), which has a formal consultative role under HIPAA.

American Medical Association (AMA)

National professional society of physicians formed in 1847 that develops and promotes medical practice, research, and education on behalf of patients and physicians. The AMA publishes the Physician’s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code book and maintains the coding system. AMA is the secretariat of the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC), which has a formal consultative role under HIPAA.

American Medical Group Association (AMGA)

Organization founded in 1950 that represents medical groups including some of the nation’s largest, most prestigious integrated health care delivery systems. AMGA advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of health care delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing, benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. It was formerly known as American Association of Medical Clinics (AAMC) and became American Group Practice Association (AGPA). Then in mid-1996 it merged with Unified Medical Group Association (UMGA) to form the American Medical Group Association (AMGA).