Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care (2012)
Chapter: Appendix A: Glossary
Adverse event—An event resulting in unintended harm to a patient from a medical intervention (IOM, 2004)
Deployment—Phase when a health IT product is initially installed in a health care system
Implementation—Deployment and integration of a health IT product into clinical workflow
Interoperability—Ability for two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged (IEEE, 1990)
Maintenance—Processes for manufacturers and health care organizations to sustain the good working condition of a health IT product and keep versions up to date
Metadata—Data describing attributes of the data themselves
Patient engagement tools—Technologies used primarily by patients to help them track, manage, and take part in their own health care
Performance requirements—A set of criteria delineating what a health IT product should achieve
Quality management principles and practices—A set of principles and practices an organization uses to improve performance and quality
Safe—Avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them (IOM, 2001)
Sociotechnical systems—A construct identifying the interactions between people, processes, technology, organizations, and environment that influence complex systems
Usability—Extent to which a product can be used by specific users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specific context of use (ISO, 1998)
Users—Health professionals, health care organizations, and patients who may actively use health IT products
Vendors—Companies that make, sell, and may provide support for health IT products and homegrown systems
REFERENCES
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). 1990. IEEE standard computer dictionary: A compilation of IEEE standard computer glossaries. New York: IEEE.
IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2001. Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
IOM. 2004. Patient safety: Achieving a new standard for care. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 1998. International standard 9241 ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals, part 11: Guidance on usability. Geneva, Switzerland: ISO.
