Healthcare Policies: Safety, Compliance, and Legal Fundamentals

Vocabulary flashcards covering safety agencies, clinical laboratory standards, transmission precautions, and legal terms based on lecture notes.

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

An agency that strictly regulates workplace safety and the standard use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

Legislation that protects patients' privacy and health information.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

An agency that helps identify and educate about infections, illnesses, and disease prevention.

The Joint Commission

An organization that updates standards regularly to reflect rapid advances in health care and medicine.

CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute)

An organization that provides high-quality care for patients by developing standards and guidelines to help laboratories achieve accreditation, and established the order of draw for venipuncture.

CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments)

Regulations that ensure accurate test results.

NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)

An institute that develops new knowledge in the field by conducting research to improve guidelines.

MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)

A document that contains information on potential hazardous chemicals in laboratories and how to work safely with the chemical product.

Airborne precautions

Transmission-based precautions used for patients who have infections smaller than $5\,\text{microns}$ in diameter (varicella, tuberculosis, measles), requiring the use of a mask or N95 respirator.

Droplet precautions

Transmission-based precautions used for patients who have infections larger than $5\,\text{microns}$ in diameter (rubella, meningitis, and some respiratory infections), requiring the use of a mask.

Contact precautions

Transmission-based precautions used for patients who have infections that spread via direct contact or contact with the environment (herpes simplex, wound infections, some bacterial infections, scabies, C. difficile), requiring gloves and gowns.

Battery

The intentional touching or handling of a person without permission, defined as the act of causing harm to another person.

Assault

The intentional creation of apprehension leading to a fear of harm, referring to touching another person or threatening to do so without their consent.