Efforts to reduce risk, to address and reduce incidents and accidents that may negatively impact healthcare consumers.
The development of systems to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences in an institutional setting. The concept includes prevention or reduction of adverse events or incidents involving employees, patients, or facilities. Examples include plans to reduce injuries from falls or plans for fire safety to promote a safe institutional environment.
Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.
Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property.
Beliefs and values shared by all members of the organization. These shared values, which are subject to change, are reflected in the day to day management of the organization.
The process of minimizing risk to an organization by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences, and by attempting to handle events and incidents which do occur in such a manner that their effect and cost are minimized. Effective risk management has its greatest benefits in application to insurance in order to avert or minimize financial liability. (From Slee & Slee: Health care terms, 2d ed)
Multi-step systematic review process used for improving safety by investigation of incidents to find what happened, why it happened, and to determine what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
An agency of the PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE established in 1990 to "provide indexing, abstracting, translating, publishing, and other services leading to a more effective and timely dissemination of information on research, demonstration projects, and evaluations with respect to health care to public and private entities and individuals engaged in the improvement of health care delivery..." It supersedes the National Center for Health Services Research. The United States Agency for Health Care Policy and Research was renamed Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999.
The analysis of an activity, procedure, method, technique, or business to determine what must be accomplished and how the necessary operations may best be accomplished.
Management of the internal organization of the hospital.
Errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication with the result that the patient fails to receive the correct drug or the indicated proper drug dosage.
Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.
Identifies, for study and analysis, important issues and problems that relate to health and medicine. The Institute initiates and conducts studies of national policy and planning for health care and health-related education and research; it also responds to requests from the federal government and other agencies for studies and advice.
Facilities equipped for performing surgery.
The application of industrial management practice to systematically maintain and improve organization-wide performance. Effectiveness and success are determined and assessed by quantitative quality measures.
Any adverse condition in a patient occurring as the result of treatment by a physician, surgeon, or other health professional, especially infections acquired by a patient during the course of treatment.
The function of directing or controlling the actions or attitudes of an individual or group with more or less willing acquiescence of the followers.
Institutional systems consisting of more than one health facility which have cooperative administrative arrangements through merger, affiliation, shared services, or other collective ventures.
Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.
Freedom of equipment from actual or potential hazards.
Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.
The attainment or process of attaining a new level of performance or quality.
Managerial personnel responsible for implementing policy and directing the activities of hospitals.
Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.
The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.
The obligations and accountability assumed in carrying out actions or ideas on behalf of others.
The services rendered by members of the health profession and non-professionals under their supervision.
Aid for consistent recording of data such as tasks completed and observations noted.
The science of designing, building or equipping mechanical devices or artificial environments to the anthropometric, physiological, or psychological requirements of the people who will use them.
Professional medical personnel approved to provide care to patients in a hospital.
A private, voluntary, not-for-profit organization which establishes standards for the operation of health facilities and services, conducts surveys, and awards accreditation.
Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.
Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.
Administrator-selected management groups who are responsible for making decisions pertaining to the provision of integrated direction for various institutional functions.
The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.
Disorders that result from the intended use of PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS. Included in this heading are a broad variety of chemically-induced adverse conditions due to toxicity, DRUG INTERACTIONS, and metabolic effects of pharmaceuticals.
Failure of a professional person, a physician or lawyer, to render proper services through reprehensible ignorance or negligence or through criminal intent, especially when injury or loss follows. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)
The individuals employed by the hospital.
A specialty concerned with the study of anesthetics and anesthesia.
Information systems, usually computer-assisted, that enable providers to initiate medical procedures, prescribe medications, etc. These systems support medical decision-making and error-reduction during patient care.
Care of patients by a multidisciplinary team usually organized under the leadership of a physician; each member of the team has specific responsibilities and the whole team contributes to the care of the patient.
The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)
Overall systems, traditional or automated, to provide medication to patients in hospitals. Elements of the system are: handling the physician's order, transcription of the order by nurse and/or pharmacist, filling the medication order, transfer to the nursing unit, and administration to the patient.
Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.
Consumer Product Safety refers to the measures and regulations implemented to ensure household items, toys, and other consumer products are designed, manufactured, and distributed in a manner that minimizes risks of harm, injury, or death to consumers during normal use or foreseeable misuse.
Activities involved in ensuring the safety of FOOD including avoidance of bacterial and other contamination.
Managerial personnel responsible for implementing policy and directing the activities of health care facilities such as nursing homes.
The transferring of patient care responsibility from one health-care professional to another.
Computer-based systems for input, storage, display, retrieval, and printing of information contained in a patient's medical record.
Overall systems, traditional or automated, to provide medication to patients.
Integrated, computer-assisted systems designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information concerned with the administrative and clinical aspects of providing medical services within the hospital.
Systems developed for collecting reports from government agencies, manufacturers, hospitals, physicians, and other sources on adverse drug reactions.
Payment, or other means of making amends, for a wrong or injury.
The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.
Communication, in the sense of cross-fertilization of ideas, involving two or more academic disciplines (such as the disciplines that comprise the cross-disciplinary field of bioethics, including the health and biological sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences and law). Also includes problems in communication stemming from differences in patterns of language usage in different academic or medical disciplines.
Accountability and responsibility to another, enforceable by civil or criminal sanctions.
The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)
Method of measuring performance against established standards of best practice.
Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.
Board members of an institution or organization who are entrusted with the administering of funds and the directing of policy.
Hospitals engaged in educational and research programs, as well as providing medical care to the patients.
Introduction of changes which are new to the organization and are created by management.
I'm sorry for any confusion, but the term "Lebanon" is a geographical name and not a medical condition or term. It is the name of a country located in the Middle East, known for its rich history, diverse culture, and beautiful landscapes. If you have any questions related to medical definitions or health-related topics, I would be happy to help!
On the job training programs for personnel carried out within an institution or agency. It includes orientation programs.
Societies having institutional membership limited to hospitals and other health care institutions.
The use of COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS to store and transmit medical PRESCRIPTIONS.
Physical surroundings or conditions of a hospital or other health facility and influence of these factors on patients and staff.
Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)
The circulation or wide dispersal of information.
The use of persons coached to feign symptoms or conditions of real diseases in a life-like manner in order to teach or evaluate medical personnel.
Institutions which provide medical or health-related services.
Professionals qualified by graduation from an accredited school of nursing and by passage of a national licensing examination to practice nursing. They provide services to patients requiring assistance in recovering or maintaining their physical or mental health.
An evaluation procedure that focuses on how care is delivered, based on the premise that there are standards of performance for activities undertaken in delivering patient care, in which the specific actions taken, events occurring, and human interactions are compared with accepted standards.
Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.
The capacity of an organization, institution, or business to produce desired results with a minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, personnel, materiel, etc.
The architecture, functional design, and construction of hospitals.
Adjunctive computer programs in providing drug treatment to patients.
Programs of disease surveillance, generally within health care facilities, designed to investigate, prevent, and control the spread of infections and their causative microorganisms.
The selection, appointing, and scheduling of personnel.
The total amount of work to be performed by an individual, a department, or other group of workers in a period of time.
Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of clinical pharmacy services.
Theoretical representations and constructs that describe or explain the structure and hierarchy of relationships and interactions within or between formal organizational entities or informal social groups.
The functions of the professional nurse in the operating room.
Hospitals controlled by various types of government, i.e., city, county, district, state or federal.
The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.
A set of statistical methods for analyzing the correlations among several variables in order to estimate the number of fundamental dimensions that underlie the observed data and to describe and measure those dimensions. It is used frequently in the development of scoring systems for rating scales and questionnaires.
Incorrect diagnoses after clinical examination or technical diagnostic procedures.
Programs of training in medicine and medical specialties offered by hospitals for graduates of medicine to meet the requirements established by accrediting authorities.
Computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information and provide support for decision-making in patient care.
Systematic organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specialized information, especially of a scientific or technical nature (From ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983). It often involves authenticating or validating information.
A course of study offered by an educational institution.
Evaluation procedures that focus on both the outcome or status (OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT) of the patient at the end of an episode of care - presence of symptoms, level of activity, and mortality; and the process (ASSESSMENT, PROCESS) - what is done for the patient diagnostically and therapeutically.
Individuals participating in the health care system for the purpose of receiving therapeutic, diagnostic, or preventive procedures.
The broad dissemination of new ideas, procedures, techniques, materials, and devices and the degree to which these are accepted and used.
Facilities for collecting and organizing information. They may be specialized by subject field, type of source material, persons served, location, or type of services.
Health care provided on a continuing basis from the initial contact, following the patient through all phases of medical care.
A detailed review and evaluation of selected clinical records by qualified professional personnel for evaluating quality of medical care.
Automated systems applied to the patient care process including diagnosis, therapy, and systems of communicating medical data within the health care setting.
The reciprocal interaction of two or more professional individuals.
Planning, organizing, and administering activities in an office.
A province of Canada lying between the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec. Its capital is Toronto. It takes its name from Lake Ontario which is said to represent the Iroquois oniatariio, beautiful lake. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p892 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p391)
Public or private organizations that provide, either directly or through arrangements with other organizations, home health services in the patient's home. (Hospital Administration Terminology, 2d ed)
Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.
Medical complexes consisting of medical school, hospitals, clinics, libraries, administrative facilities, etc.
An international agreement of the World Medical Association which offers guidelines for conducting experiments using human subjects. It was adopted in 1962 and revised by the 18th World Medical Assembly at Helsinki, Finland in 1964. Subsequent revisions were made in 1975, 1983, 1989, and 1996. (From Encyclopedia of Bioethics, rev ed, 1995)
Committees of professional personnel who have responsibility for determining policies, procedures, and controls related to professional matters in health facilities.
Individuals licensed to practice medicine.
Individuals who have the formal authority to manage a hospital, including its programs and services, in accordance with the goals and objectives established by a governing body (GOVERNING BOARD).
Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).
Societies whose membership is limited to nurses.
Surveillance of drugs, devices, appliances, etc., for efficacy or adverse effects, after they have been released for general sale.
Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.
The physical space or dimensions of a facility. Size may be indicated by bed capacity.
The leveraging of collective wisdom within an organization as a catalyst to increase responsiveness and innovation.
Special hospitals which provide care for ill children.
Media that facilitate transportability of pertinent information concerning patient's illness across varied providers and geographic locations. Some versions include direct linkages to online consumer health information that is relevant to the health conditions and treatments related to a specific patient.
Design, development, manufacture, and operation of heavier-than-air AIRCRAFT.
Country located in EUROPE. It is bordered by the NORTH SEA, BELGIUM, and GERMANY. Constituent areas are Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, formerly included in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES.
The quality or state of relating to or affecting two or more nations. (After Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed)
A system of medical care regulated, controlled and financed by the government, in which the government assumes responsibility for the health needs of the population.
A detailed review and evaluation of selected clinical records by qualified professional personnel to improve the quality of patient care and outcomes. The clinical audit was formally introduced in 1993 into the United Kingdom's National Health Service.
A course or method of action selected, usually by an organization, institution, university, society, etc., from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions and positions on matters of public interest or social concern. It does not include internal policy relating to organization and administration within the corporate body, for which ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION is available.
The reciprocal interaction of physicians and nurses.
The purposes, missions, and goals of an individual organization or its units, established through administrative processes. It includes an organization's long-range plans and administrative philosophy.
Pharmacy services accessed via electronic means.
The process of formulating, improving, and expanding educational, managerial, or service-oriented work plans (excluding computer program development).
Generating, planning, organizing, and administering medical and nursing care and services for patients.
The interaction of persons or groups of persons representing various nations in the pursuit of a common goal or interest.
The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.
Management of the organization of HEALTH FACILITIES.
The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)
Medical care provided after the regular practice schedule of the physicians. Usually it is designed to deliver 24-hour-a-day and 365-day-a-year patient care coverage for emergencies, triage, pediatric care, or hospice care.
The period of medical education in a medical school. In the United States it follows the baccalaureate degree and precedes the granting of the M.D.
The field of information science concerned with the analysis and dissemination of medical data through the application of computers to various aspects of health care and medicine.
The expected function of a member of a particular profession.
It is the study of social phenomena which characterize the learned, shared, and transmitted social activities of particular ethnic groups with focus on the causes, consequences, and complexities of human social and cultural variability.
Nursing care of the surgical patient before, during, and after surgery.
The reporting of observed or suspected PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT or incompetence to appropriate authorities or to the public.
Individuals enrolled in a school of medicine or a formal educational program in medicine.
The terms, expressions, designations, or symbols used in a particular science, discipline, or specialized subject area.
Those actions designed to carry out recommendations pertaining to health plans or programs.
The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.
Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.
Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in an organized facility, institution, or agency.
Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.
Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.
Hospital department which administers all departmental functions and the provision of surgical diagnostic and therapeutic services.
A specialty in which manual or operative procedures are used in the treatment of disease, injuries, or deformities.
A four-year program in nursing education in a college or university leading to a B.S.N. (Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Graduates are eligible for state examination for licensure as RN (Registered Nurse).
Great Britain is not a medical term, but a geographical name for the largest island in the British Isles, which comprises England, Scotland, and Wales, forming the major part of the United Kingdom.
Nurses professionally qualified in administration.
Individuals responsible for the development of policy and supervision of the execution of plans and functional operations.
Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project.
Use for general articles concerning medical education.
Patient-based medical care provided across age and gender or specialty boundaries.
Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).
A framework through which the United Kingdom's National Health Service organizations are accountable for continually improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish. (Scally and Donaldson, BMJ (4 July 1998): 61-65)
Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.
Hospital facilities equipped to carry out investigative procedures.
Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs.
Organized procedures for establishing patient identity, including use of bracelets, etc.
Those areas of the hospital organization not considered departments which provide specialized patient care. They include various hospital special care wards.
Those persons legally qualified by education and training to engage in the practice of pharmacy.
Procedures, strategies, and theories of planning.
Conformity in fulfilling or following official, recognized, or institutional requirements, guidelines, recommendations, protocols, pathways, or other standards.
Insurance against loss resulting from liability for injury or damage to the persons or property of others.
The formal process of obtaining a complete and accurate list of each patient's current home medications including name, dosage, frequency, and route of administration, and comparing admission, transfer, and/or discharge medication orders to that list. The reconciliation is done to avoid medication errors.
Interactions between health personnel and patients.
Patient involvement in the decision-making process in matters pertaining to health.
An excessive number of individuals, human or animal, in relation to available space.
Hospital units providing continuous surveillance and care to acutely ill patients.
A field of anatomical pathology in which living tissue is surgically removed for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment.
A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment.
Physiological or psychological effects of periods of work which may be fixed or flexible such as flexitime, work shifts, and rotating shifts.
Hospitals providing medical care to veterans of wars.
Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)
Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)
The attitude and behavior associated with an individual using the computer.
Regulations or conditions imposed on employees by management in order to correct or prevent behaviors which are counterproductive to the organization.
A cognitive process involving the formation of ideas generalized from the knowledge of qualities, aspects, and relations of objects.
Major administrative divisions of the hospital.
Persons admitted to health facilities which provide board and room, for the purpose of observation, care, diagnosis or treatment.
Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.
A course or method of action selected to guide and determine present and future decisions.
Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.
A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.
Nonexpendable apparatus used during surgical procedures. They are differentiated from SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, usually hand-held and used in the immediate operative field.
The privacy of information and its protection against unauthorized disclosure.
Any materials used in providing care specifically in the hospital.
Groups set up to advise governmental bodies, societies, or other institutions on policy. (Bioethics Thesaurus)
Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.
A medical specialty concerned with maintaining health and providing medical care to children from birth to adolescence.
Organized groups serving in advisory capacities related to health planning activities.
Components of medical instrumentation used for physiological evaluation of patients, that signal when a threshold value is reached.
Recording of pertinent information concerning patient's illness or illnesses.
The continuous measurement of physiological processes, blood pressure, heart rate, renal output, reflexes, respiration, etc., in a patient or experimental animal; includes pharmacologic monitoring, the measurement of administered drugs or their metabolites in the blood, tissues, or urine.
The transmission of messages to staff and patients within a hospital.
'Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over' refers to the maximum number of hospital beds equaling or exceeding 500 that are medically staffed and equipped to provide patient care and accommodation within a healthcare facility.
The capability to perform the duties of one's profession generally, or to perform a particular professional task, with skill of an acceptable quality.
The process by which the employer promotes staff performance and efficiency consistent with management goals and objectives.
Educational programs for pharmacists who have a bachelor's degree or a Doctor of Pharmacy degree entering a specific field of pharmacy. They may lead to an advanced degree.
Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS.