Week 2 Terms Flashcards
Hospital CEOs
appointed by hospital’s board of directors or trustees, oversee the management of several hospitals within the system and are ultimately responsible to the Board of Directors
Chief of Staff (COS)
a physician who oversees hospital care, acts as the liaison between physicians and hospital executives, and ensures that medical care is necessary and proper
Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)
a registered nurse similar position to the COS for nursing, with a focus on nursing operations and protocols and quality and delivery of patient care
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
the individual responsible for all health care technology infrastructure, patient information, and health care data security issues
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
the individual responsible for running hospital operations and executing the decisions of the CEO
Chief Compliance Officer (CCO)
THe individual responsible for overseeing the organization’s regulatory compliance initiatives and internal policies and procedures
Department Managers
Administrators who manage day-to-day operations of non-clinical hospital departments
Patient Care Managers
Individuals who manage groups of professionals who provide patient care
Health Care Service Providers
vast majority of hospital workers, provide patient care, maintain records and ensure that the hospital is able to deliver care to patients in an effective manner.
Admitting/patient Flow Department
Responsible for the intake process for all inpatient and outpatient patient encounters and the assignment of all hospital beds according to medical needs and insurance coverage. All patient records flow from the initial patient registration and intake process from this department.
Bookings Departments
Responsible for booking prescheduled patient tests and surgical procedures. May include intake of referrals, pre-registration of patient encounter in system, booking of test in clinical schedule, and communicating appointment time to booking physician and/or patient.
Business Office/patient accounts
Responsible for managing and overseeing all aspects of patient billing for insured and non-insured services, including provincial health insurance plans, private health insurance plans, and self-payments. The business office also oversees billing for preferred accommodation such as private or semi-private rooms
Central Supply Reserve (CSR)/Sterile Processing Department (SPD)
Responsible for sterilizing, storing and distributing reusable medical supplies and equipment (MOAB Healthcare. 2024), such as feeding pumps or metal bedpans. CSR/SPD also supports surgical processes by selecting and arranging the required instruments for specific procedures, ensuring all components are sterilized and ready for use.
Dietary/Nutritional Services
Responsible for providing all patient snacks, meals, and special diets such as tube feeds, as well as cafeteria food for visitors. Some hospitals may prepare all meals in hospital, while others may contract some meal preparation out.
Environmental Services/Housekeeping
Responsible for the cleaning and sanitizing of the hospital facility, including terminal cleaning of isolation rooms. In some hospitals, Environmental Services is responsible for shared areas; whereas, each unit’s environmental service personnel are responsible for cleanliness of their respective unit.
Health Information Management (HIM)
Responsible for maintaining, organizing, storing and archiving all patient records. Also responsible for medical record coding, generation of reports through the medical transcription process, and release of information to patients, providers and insurance companies.
Human Resources (HR)
Responsible for recruitment and staffing, onboarding and orientation, employee relations, training and development opportunities, compensation, performance management, workforce planning, and negotiating collective agreements with trade unions representing hospital bargaining units.
IT/Information Services
Responsible for managing and supporting the hospital’s technology infrastructure including communication systems, computer services, and EMR/other software applications.
Linen/Laundry
Responsible for supplying clean, sanitized linens, including gowns, bedding and towels, to all patient care areas in the hospital. Due to cost-saving measures, these services may be subcontracted to off-site services such as LHLS.
Maintenance
Responsible for routine day-to-day facility maintenance, performing inspections of plumbing, HVAC, and refrigeration systems, ensuring that all buildings meet code, safety and security standards, implementing energy management initiatives (Accruent, 2024).
Occupational Health/Employee Health
Responsible for employees’ work-related health and wellness needs, including preventing workplace injuries, injury treatment and rehabilitation, return to work plans, immunizations, and worker’s compensation referrals.
Pharmacy
Responsible for all aspects of medication management for hospital inpatients, including storing, compounding, and dispensing drugs, consulting with physicians to make drug based decisions, providing drug education to patients and staff, and managing the patient medication profile/record. Some hospitals may also have an outpatient pharmacy, where patients may fill prescriptions upon discharge
Privacy Office
Responsible for ensuring hospital complies with legislation relating to the privacy and security of personal health information; provides advice, guidance, and education staff on on practical application of the law, including privacy procedures (Trillium Health Partners, 2024). This office may also investigate privacy breeches.
Public Relations
Responsible for managing the hospital’s media relations, internal and external communications, community engagement and marketing events, and social media presence.
Purchasing
Responsible for procuring the goods and services the hospital requires to operate efficiently, including the sourcing, acquisition, distribution, control and disposal of goods
Risk Management/Infection Control
Responsible for identifying, evaluation and mitigating risks that could negatively impact patients and staff including spread of disease or infections within the hospital. May be two separate departments in larger hospitals.
Staffing/Scheduling Office
Responsible for the delivery of centralized scheduling and staffing services for the hospital, posting staff schedules, replacing shifts, and preparing accurate time cards for payroll. These services may also be decentralized and completed by the HUC at the unit level.
Stores/Materials management
Responsible for stocking patient care units with one-time use equipment and supplies, such as urinary catheters, IV supplies, and paper goods.
Switchboard
Responsible for directing incoming communications to the hospitals. Also called “locating”, this department is also responsible for hospital wide paging and the first point of contact in hospital emergencies.
Volunteer Services
Responsible for recruiting and onboarding volunteers, training, scheduling and monitoring volunteers, and volunteer recognition and retention activities. In some hospitals, volunteer services may also be responsible for arranging student placements, while in others, this function is handled by HR or clinical educators.
Coronary Care Unit (CCU)
Provides specialized, intensive treatment for patients with a complex or unstable medical cardiac issues, such as unstable angina or myocardial infarctions. In smaller hospitals, the CCU may be combined with the ICU.
Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU)
Provides specialized, intensive treatment for patients who have had complex cardiac surgery, such as CABG
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Provides specialized, intensive treatment for patients who require close monitoring and advanced life support due to severely injuries or critical illness (Sturdy & Erikson, 2022), such as those with severe infections or trauma injuries.
neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Provides specialized, intensive treatment for critically ill newborns who require monitoring and advanced life support (Sturdy & Erikson, 2022), often premature babies or those with birth complications
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Provides specialized, intensive treatment for children and adolescents who are critically ill. Smaller facilities may have a PICU only, where infants are also treated.
