MLT 101

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)

International association that sets blood bank standards, accredits blood banks, and promoted high standards of performance in the practice of transfusion medicine.

Waived test

a category of test defined under CLIA'88 as being simple to perform and having an insignificant risk for error

Provider-Performed Microscopy Procedure (PPMP)

a certificate category under CLIA'88 that permits a laboratory to perform waived tests and also permits specified practitioners to perform on-site microscopy procedures

anticoagulant

a chemical or substance that prevent blood coagulation

electronic medical record (EMR)

a digital form of a patient chart created in a physician's office or a hospital where a patient received treatment

Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA'88)

a federal act that specifies minimum performance standards for clinical laboratories

phlebotomist

a healthcare worker trained in blood collection

Laboratory Response Network (LRN)

a nationwide network of public and private laboratories coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the ability for rapid response to threats to public health

pathologist

a physician specially trained in the nature and cause of disease

proficiency testing (PT)

a program in which a laboratory's accuracy in performing analyses is evaluated at regular in compared to the performance of similar laboratories

accreditation

a voluntary process in which an independent agency grants recognition to institutions or programs that meet or exceed established standards of quality.

COLA

agency that offers accreditation to physician office laboratories hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities; formerly the Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation

Joint Commission (JC)

an independent agency that accredits hospitals and large healthcare facilities; formerly known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)

reference laboratory

an independent regional laboratory that offers routine and specialized testing services to hospitals and physicians

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)

an international, nonprofit organization that establishes guidelines and standards of best current practice for clinical laboratories; formerly National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

central laboratory for the national public health system

blood bank

clinical laboratory department where blood components are test and stored until needed for transfusion; immunohematology department; transfusion services; also the refrigerated unit used for storing blood components.

electronic health record (EHR)

comprehensive, portable electronic patient health record

Health Care financing Administration (HCFA)

see Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS)

see Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)

physician office laboratory (POL)

small medical laboratory located within a physician office, group practice, or clinic

point-of-care testing (POCT)

testing outside the traditional laboratory setting; also called bedside testing, off-site testing, near-patient testing or alternative-site testing

Centers for Medicace and Medicaid Service (CMS)

the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) responsible for implementing CLIA'88

microbiology

the branch of biology dealing with microbes

immunology

the branch of medicine encompassing the study of immune processes and immunity

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

the division of the department of health and human services (DHHS) responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of foods, drugs, biological products, medical devices, and cosmetics

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

the governmental agency that oversees public healthcare matters; also called HHS

clinical chemistry

the laboratory section that uses chemical principles to analyze blood and other body fluids

Serum

the liquid obtained from blood that has been allowed to clot

plasma

the liquid portion of blood in which the blood cells are suspended; the straw-colored liquid remaining after blood cells are removed from anticoagulated blood

accessioning

the process by which specimens are logged in, labeled, and assigned a specimen identification code

coagulation

the process of forming a fibrin clot

serology

the study of antigens and antibodies in serum using immunological methods; laboratory testing based on the immunological properties of serum

bacteriology

the study of bacteria

Hematology

the study of blood and the blood-forming tissues

mycology

the study of fungi

epidemiology

the study of the factors that cause disease and determine disease frequency and distribution

Immunohematology

the study of the human blood groups; in the clinical laboratory, often called blood banking or transfusion services

virology

the study of viruses

Standard operating procedure (SOP)

established procedure to followed for a given operation or in a given situation with the purpose of ensuring that a procedure is always carried out correctly and in the same manner

quality assessment

in the laboratory, a program that monitors the total testing process with the aim of providing the highest-quality patient care

college of American Pathologists (CAP)

organization that offers accreditation to clinical laboratories