HLHS 105 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards for HLHS 105 study guide.

Access

The availability of health care and the means to purchase health care services.

Addendum

New documentation used to add information to the original entry in a patient record.

Administrative Law

Enabling statutes enacted to define powers and procedures when an agency is created.

Agents

Individuals authorized to act on behalf of another.

Amendment

used to clarify or correct information in the electronic health record.

Artificial Insemination

The mechanical injection of viable semen into the vagina.

Assault

An intentional act that creates a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.

Assumption of Risk

A legal defense that holds the defendant is not guilty of a negligent act, since the plaintiff knew of and accepted beforehand any risks involved.

Autonomy (or Self-Determination)

The capacity to be one’s own person and make one’s own decisions without being manipulated by external forces.

Autopsy

A postmortem examination to determine the cause of death or to obtain physiological evidence, as in the case of a suspicious death.

Beneficence

Refers to the acts health care practitioners perform to help people stay healthy or recover from an illness.

Bioethics

A discipline dealing with the ethical implications of biological research methods and results, especially in medicine.

Birth Rate

Total number of live births per 1,000 women in a specific age group.

Brain Dead

Final cessation of bodily activity, used to determine when death actually occurs; circulatory and respiratory functions have irreversibly ceased, and the entire brain (including the brain stem) has irreversibly ceased to function

Breach

Any unauthorized acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of personal health information that compromises the security or privacy of such information.

Breach of Contract

Failure of either party to comply with the terms of a legally valid contract.

Case Law

Law established through common law and legal precedent.

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

A federal law, passed in 1974, requiring physicians to report cases of child abuse and to try to prevent future cases.

Civil Law

Law that involves wrongful acts against persons.

Clones/Cloning

The process by which organisms are created asexually, usually from a single cell of the parent organism.

Common Law

The body of unwritten law developed in England, primarily from judicial decisions based on custom and tradition.

Common Sense

Sound practical judgment.

Comparative Negligence

A rule in tort law that reduces the plaintiff's recovery in proportion to the plaintiff's degree of fault, rather than barring recovery completely. (An affirmative defense claimed by the defendant, alleging that the plaintiff contributed to the injury by a certain degree.)

Compassion

The identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives.

Confidentiality

The act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals.

Constitutional Law

Law that derives from federal and state constitutions.

Consumer Contract

A contract between a business and a consumer.

Contributory Negligence

A legal defense that prevents a party from recovering damages if they contributed in any way to the injury. (An affirmative defense that alleges that the plaintiff, through a lack of care, caused or contributed to his or her own injury.)

Coroner

A public official who investigates and holds inquests over those who die from unknown or violent causes; he or she may or may not be a physician, depending on state law.

Cost

In this context, the amount individuals, employers, state and federal governments, HMOs, and insurers spend on health care in the United States.

Courtesy

The practice of good manners.

Covered Entity

Health care providers who conduct administrative and financial transactions in electronic form. This includes all employees, volunteers, trainees, and all others who are under the control of the entity.

Criminal Law

Law that involves crimes against the state.

Curative Care

Treatment directed toward curing a patient’s disease.

Damages

Court-ordered monetary awards to patients, given as a result of legally recognized injuries to patients.

Deposition

Sworn testimony given and recorded outside the courtroom during the pretrial phase of a case.

Discrimination

Prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment.

Domestic Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

Provides funding for prevention and treatment programs and requires states to define and address domestic violence.

Drug Enforcement Administration

A branch of the U.S. Department of Justice that regulates the sale and use of drugs.

Emancipated Minors

Individuals in their mid-to late teens who legally live outside their parents’ or guardians’ control.

Employment-at-will

A concept of employment whereby either the employer or the employee can end the employment at any time, for any reason.

Ethics

Standards of behavior, developed as a result of one’s concept of right and wrong.

Ethics Guidelines

Publications that detail a wide variety of ethical situations that professionals (in this case, health care practitioners) might face in their work and offer principles for dealing with the situations in an ethical manner.

Etiquette

Standards of behavior considered to be good manners among members of a profession as they function as individuals in society.

Expressed Contract

A contract in which the terms are explicitly state, either orally or in writing.

Federal False Claims Act

A law that allows for individuals to bring civil actions on behalf of the U.S. government for false claims made to the federal government, under a provision of the law called qui tam (from Latin meaning “to bring an action for the king and for oneself”).

Felony

An offense punishable by death or by imprisonment in a state or federal prison for more than 1 year.

Fertility Rate

The total number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years.

Fidelity

Being faithful to the scope of practice for your profession, as in role fidelity.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

A federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees drug quality and standardization and must approve drugs before they are released for public use.

Forensics

A division of medicine that incorporates law and medicine and involves medical issues or medical proof at trials having to do with malpractice, crimes, and accidents.

Fraud

Dishonest or deceitful practices in depriving, or attempting to deprive, another of his or her rights.

Genetic Discrimination

Differential treatment of individuals based on their actual or presumed genetic differences.

Genetic Engineering

Manipulation of DNA within the cells of plants and animals, through synthesis, alteration, or repair, to ensure that certain harmful traits will be eliminated in offspring and that desirable traits will appear and be passed on.

Genome

All the DNA in an organism, including its genes.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during 1 year.

Health Care Power of Attorney

A legal document that designates someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so.

Health Disparity

Striving for the highest possible standard for all people and giving special attention to the needs of those with the greatest risk of poor health, based on social conditions. (Differences in health outcomes and their causes among groups of people.)

Health Equity

A particular type of health difference that is closely linked with economic, social, or environmental disadvantage.

Health Information Technology (HIT)

the electronic systems health care professionals—and increasingly, patients—use to store, share, and analyze health information.

Heredity

The process by which organisms pass on genetic traits to their offspring.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

A federal law passed in 1996 to protect privacy and other health care rights for patients. The act helps workers keep continuous health insurance coverage for themselves and their dependents when they change jobs, and protects confidential medical information from unauthorized disclosure and/or use. It was also intended to help curb the rising cost of health care fraud and abuse.

Hippocratic Oath

A pledge for physicians, developed by the Greek physician Hippocrates circa 400 b.c.e.

Hospice

A facility or program (often carried out in a patient’s home) in which teams of health care practitioners and volunteers provide a continuing environment that focuses on the emotional and psychological needs of the dying patient.

Implied Contract

A contract inferred by actions rather than an explicit agreement.

In Vitro Fertilization

Fertilization that takes place outside a woman’s body, literally, “in glass,” as in a test tube.

Infertility

The failure to conceive for a period of 12 months or longer due to a deviation from or interruption of the normal structure or function of any reproductive part, organ, or system.

Informed Consent

Permission granted in the knowledge of the possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with full knowledge of the possible risks and benefits.

Just Cause

An employer’s legal reason for firing an employee.

Justice

What is due an individual.

Liability

The state of being responsible for something, especially by law. (Legally responsible or obligated.

Liability Insurance

Contract coverage for potential damages incurred as a result of a negligent act.

Licensure

A mandatory credentialing process established by law, usually at the state level, that grants the right to practice certain skills and endeavors.

Life Expectancy

The number of years an individual can expect to live, calculated from his or her birth.

Life Span

The number of years an individual actually lives.

Limited Data Set

Protected health information from which certain specified, direct identifiers of individuals have been removed.

Litigious

prone to engage in lawsuits.

Living Will

An advance directive that specifies an individual’s end-of-life wishes.

Mature Minors

Individual in their mid-to late teens, who, for health care purposes, are considered mature enough to comprehend a physician’s recommendations and give informed consent.

Meaningful Use

Using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to improve quality, efficiency, and patient engagement.

Misdemeanor

A crime punishable by fine or by imprisonment in a facility other than a prison for less than 1 year.

Mutation

A permanent change in DNA.

National Childhood Vaccination Injury Act

A federal law passed in 1986 that created a no-fault compensation program for citizens injured or killed by vaccines, as an alternative to suing vaccine manufacturers and providers.

National Mandatory Childhood Vaccination Act

Proposed legislation regarding mandatory vaccinations for children.

Negligence

An unintentional tort alleged when one may have performed or failed to perform an act that a reasonable person would not or would have done in similar circumstances.

Nonmaleficence

The ethical principle of doing no harm.

Notice of Privacy Practices

A list provided by all covered entities that demonstrates adherence to HIPAA’s privacy practices rules.

Palliative Care

Treatment of a terminally ill patient’s symptoms to make dying more comfortable; also called comfort care.

Passive Euthanasia

The act of allowing a patient to die naturally, without medical interference.

Patient Portal

A secure online Web site that gives patients 24-hour availability to health care providers.

Permission

Reasons under HIPAA for disclosing patient information.

Persistent Vegetative State

Severe mental impairment characterized by irreversible cessation of the higher functions of the brain, most often caused by damage to the cerebral cortex.

Plaintiff

A person who brings a case against another in a court of law.

Privileged Communication

Information held confidential within a protected relationship.

Protected Health Information

Information that contains one or more patient identifiers.

Providers

A person or company that provides medical care.

Quarantine

To separate and restrict the movement of people with infectious diseases if they are a threat to public health. A court order is required.

Reciprocity

The process by which a professional license obtained in one state may be accepted as valid in other states by prior agreement without reexamination.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Literally, “the thing speaks for itself”; a situation that is so obviously negligent that no expert witnesses need be called. Also known as the doctrine of common knowledge.

Respondeat Superior

Literally, “let the master answer.” A doctrine under which an employer is legally liable for the acts of his or her employees, if such acts were performed within the scope of the employees’ duties.