Healthcare Quality Assurance and Legal Issues

To improve performance and guarantee quality patient care by identifying and minimizing situations that pose risk to patients and employees.

To identify and minimize situations that pose risk to patients and employees.

An independent, non-profit organization that establishes standards for the operation of hospitals and other health-related facilities and services.

To establish quality standards that apply to all facilities, including clinics and physicians’ office laboratories, that test human specimens.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Quality assurance, quality control, proficiency testing, laboratory records, and personnel qualifications.

To ensure the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of patient test results regardless of the location, type or size of the laboratory.

To continuously improve performance and guarantee quality patient care.

to provide technical and scientific advice and guidance to the CMS

waived, moderate, and high complexity

Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs)

to prevent problems in the future by evaluating present and past performance

QC is a component of a QA program

preanalytical stage

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)

to make certain procedures are performed correctly

A wrongful act committed against someone's person, property, reputation or other legally protected right, for which the individual is entitled to damages awarded by the court.

An act or threat causing another to be in fear of immediate battery.

An intentional harmful or offensive touching of or use of force on another person without consent or legal justification.

A deceitful practice for false portrayal of facts either by words or by conduct, often done to obtain money or property.

The violation of one's right to be left alone, which can involve a physical intrusion or the unauthorized publishing or release of private information.

The failure to keep privileged medical information private.

Doing or not doing something that a reasonable person would not do or do.

A Latin phrase meaning 'the thing speaks for itself', which applies to the rule of evidence in a case of negligence.

To provide an aid to the practice of medicine, communication, and as a legal document, and to evaluate performance outcomes.

History of examinations, medical testing, laboratory reports, prescriptions written, and supplies used.

The chance of loss or injury.

Identifying and minimizing situations that pose risk to patients and employees.

Sex discrimination.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

To provide an objective account of the patient's past and present medical history.

To monitor and evaluate the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of care.

The patient must be prepared properly.

The individual's name, assigned ID number, telephone number, date of birth, social security number, address, and photography.

To ensure patient safety.

To compare current results of a laboratory test with previous results for the same test on the same patient.

To prevent medical errors due to wrong information.

To provide a chronological documentation of the medical care given.

Labeling must be exact.

To recognize which specimen request is the most critical and involves special collection criteria.