Terminology

Accreditation: determination by the AACI that an eligible healthcare organization complies with applicable AACI standards. 

Clinical: The term "clinical" can have different meanings in different countries. In this standard "clinical" refers to all types of interactions between patients and all kinds of health care professionals. 

Clinical risk: denotes any risk that could have negative effects on the outcomes for any of the quality requirements. The risk factors could be non-clinical, but the risk is considered a clinical risk if it could have any negative impact on any of the quality requirements. Aspects of clinical risk management are integrated in this standard.  

Documented information: information required to be controlled and maintained by an organization and the medium on which it is contained. Documented information can refer to: 

— the management system , including related processes; 

— information created in order for the organization to operate (plans,policies and procedures); 

— evidence of results achieved. 

Drug: a "drug" referenced in this Standard refers to a medication or therapeutic chemical substance used in patient care. The term may also apply to commonly used terminology i.e., drug abuse.  

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA): A systematic approach to examining a design prospectively for possible ways failure may occur. The ways failure may occur are then prioritized to help organizations create design improvements that will have the most benefit. This tool assumes that no matter how knowledgeable or careful people are, errors will occur in some situations and may even be likely to occur. 

Governing Body: the overarching committee governing the healthcare organization. 

Health: The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), by WHO, identifies five health components; body function, body structure, activity, participation and environmental factors. 

Health care: In this standard health is not a stand-alone concept but is used in several terms as a prefix. 

When used as a prefix the concept of health is based on the health components in of ICF by WHO. The concept of health relates to both health care and social care. This standard is focused on requirements for health care. What is included in health care can differ from country to country and this has to be considered in national applications. In this standard health care includes e.g. primary health care, pre-hospital and hospital care, tertiary care, nursing homes, hospices, preventive health care, mental health services, dental services, physiotherapy, occupational health services, rehabilitation and pharmacies. 

Human Rights: the concept of human beings having universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction or other localizing factors, such as ethnicity, nationality and gender. As is evident in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Invasive: procedures, such as, endoscopy, radiotherapy, cytotoxic chemotherapy, biopsies and interventional radiography which penetrate the skin or body cavity. 

Licensed Independent Practitioner: An individual qualified by education and training and permitted by license and law and the organization to provide care and services, without direction or supervision, within the scope of the individual’s practice. 

Medical record: A written or electronic documentation of varied patient health information. 

Medication: see Drug above. 

Organization: a unit of people, systematically arranged and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis, for example, delivering high quality healthcare. 

Quality improvement plan: A document or several documents that together specify quality requirements, practices, resources, specifications, measurable objectives, timescales and the sequence of activities that are relevant to a particular service or project to achieve the objectives within the timescales defined. 

Patient: the generic term used in the standards for the person receiving treatment and care within the healthcare organization. 

Patient Focused Care: Providing care and support that is respectful of and responsive to individual preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical and support decisions. 

Plan: sets out a schedule of work and resources required to achieve a specific goal. 

Process: A set of actions that produce or lead to a particular result. 

Risk: a quantifiable expression of the likelihood of injury or harm resulting from a hazard. 

Risk Management: the introduction of change or control measures with the intention of eliminating or bringing the level of risk associated with a hazard within acceptable limits. 

Root cause analysis: A process for identifying the basic or causal factor(s) that underlies variation in performance, including the occurrence or possible occurrence of a sentinel event. 

Sentinel event: An unanticipated occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury. 

Sterilization: The use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life, including highly resistant bacterial endospores. 

Utility system: Organization wide systems and equipment that support the following: electrical distribution; emergency power; water; vertical and horizontal transport; heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning; plumbing, boiler, and steam; piped gases; vacuum systems; or communication systems, including data-exchange systems. May also include systems for life support; surveillance, prevention, and control of infection; and environment support. 

Utilization management: The planning, organization, direction, and control of resources.