Category: I

A hospital accreditation standard introduced by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in 1994 and being phased in during 1995 and 1996. The core of the standard is an Information Management Plan (IM Plan). JCAHO lists 53 hospital departments which should be included in the planning for and management of information.  

The policies and procedures used to prevent the transmission of infection from one infected individual to another. The term is used in connection with the protection of the professionals and other employees who may have contact with the infectious patient, and the protection of other patients. Infection-control measures include the use of protective clothing, hand-washing,…

In 1984, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued regulations under the Rehabilitation Act that hospitals should set up “Infant Care Review Committees”. These committees were designed to help health care providers develop policies and procedures to use when making medical decisions about handicapped infants. These regulations were struck down and presently, under…

The designing, installation, maintenance, and improvement of systems which integrate people, equipment, materials, and energy.  

A program of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) described as “a national comparative measurement system composed of indicators that have been developed by expert clinicians, rigorously tested for relevance, reliability, and validity, and risk adjusted using patient characteristics designed to help health care organizations measure and improve their performance, assist [JCAHO]…

A term used by physicians meaning that, taking into account the patient’s problems and condition, carrying out a given diagnostic procedure or treatment would be the wise course of action. For example, appendectomy (surgical removal of the appendix) is indicated in suspected acute appendicitis, unless there are factors in the patient’s condition which outweigh the…

A list, alphabetical or numerical, of items, created for the purpose of helping one find the items. Indexes (or indices) are common in books.  

An obligation of a managed care plan under its benefit structure which the patient has received, but which has not been reported to the plan. Distinguish from reported but not incurred (RBNI).  

Anything going to establish guilt, an admission of guilt. For example, if a defendant in a medical malpractice trial testified that she forgot to scrub before surgery, that statement would be inculpatory. Distinguished from exculpatory.  

A term applied to an individual who is considered unable to perform a task in an acceptable manner.