Dynamics of Healthcare

Career Development

An organized planning method used to form an individual’s work identity.

Common Core Knowledge (CCK)

Topics that fall under CCK include Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, Technical Skills, Safety and Infection Control, Medical Math, Healthy Behavior, and Communication.

Medical Terminology

Language used in medicine that allows practitioners to communicate with one another.

Anatomy and Physiology

Structures of organisms, their parts, and their functions.

Technical Skills

Skills usually involving direct patient contact, such as taking vitals and performing CPR.

Safety and Infection Control

Applying procedures and protocols to reduce the potential for bodily injury and prevent disease spread.

Medical Math

Applying mathematical computation to healthcare procedures.

Healthy Behavior

Actions taken to attain, maintain, or regain good health and prevent illness.

Communication

Sharing of information between two people, which can be verbal or written.

Verbal Communication vs. Written Communication

Verbal communication conveys instructions and reports to other healthcare providers, while written communication includes health records and documentation.

Professionalism

Acting in an accountable and ethical manner in the workplace while maintaining composure in adversity.

Professional

A person with specialized learning engaged in a specified activity as an occupation.

Ethics

Formal study of moral choices that conform to standards of conduct.

Code of Ethics

A written list of a profession’s values and standards of conduct.

Hippocratic Oath

A pledge taken by all physicians that serves as a code of ethics.

Confidentiality

Healthcare professional’s obligation to maintain patient information securely.

HIPAA

U.S. law that safeguards protected health information (PHI) by setting privacy and security standards.

Covered under HIPAA

Individually identifiable health information like name, address, birth date, and health conditions.  Past, present, future physical/mental health or condition, provision of HC to the individual, and payment (past, present future) for the provision of HC to the individual.

Not Covered under HIPAA

De-identified health information.

• Employment and education records

• To the individual

• Treatment, payment and HC operations

• Opportunity to agree or object

• Incident to an otherwise permitted use and disclosure

• Public interest and benefit activities

• Limited data set for the purposes of research, public health or health care operations

Functional Team

A healthcare team that takes care of a specific problem, usually consisting of doctors and nurses.

Patient Centered Team

A healthcare team where patients, families, and doctors make healthcare decisions together.

Licensing

A right conferred by a government body to practice an occupation or provide a service.

Professions: physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists (physical, occupational, respiratory)

Accreditation

The process by which an external entity reviews an organization or program to determine if standards are met.

Professions: hospitals, nursing programs, medical schools

Certification

The action of providing an official document attesting to an individual’s status or level of achievement.

Professions: addiction/behavioral health, health info administrator and technologists, mental health aids, home health aids

Malpractice

Professional misconduct that results in harm to a patient.

Negligence

A common type of malpractice involving failing to do something that a reasonably prudent person would do in the same or similar situation or doing something that a reasonably prudent person would not do in the same or similar situation.

Continuing Education

The process of recurrent learning activities and training beyond initial licensing to remain current in the field.

Importance of Continuing Education

• Keep up to date on medical advances

• Provide better care to patients

• Experience professional growth

• Experience personal growth 

• Keep NHA certification active