What's in a name change?

The Disease Management Association of America (DMAA) is changing its name to DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance. I saw big signs proclaiming this name change at this week's conference in Las Vegas. According to the organization's president, Tracey Moorhead:

“The new DMAA is envisioned as encompassing the whole care team, and is focused on population-based health that spans the care continuum.”

According to Modern Healthcare,

In its research, the group found a poor reaction to the word “disease” and wanted to shift the name’s focus to caregiving.But its leadership decided to keep the acronym DMAA because it already has good name recognition, Moorhead said.

I think Care Continuum Alliance is a lame name. But the leadership has been smart by keeping DMAA at the front, which is what everyone calls it anyway. Care Continuum Alliance will just be a tagline.On a related note, the casino industry loves to use the term "gaming" rather than "gambling." It sounds a little nicer, but really, have you ever heard someone say they like to "game"? It was interesting to read the Caesars Palace policy about "responsible gaming." They use the term "gaming" throughout, except when it comes to talking about people with a "gambling addiction," who are not wanted in the casino. No one has a "gaming" addiction, though.