The vocabulary a survey is conducted in
Accreditation, patient safety, workforce and risk terms as they are used on a survey day and inside the platform. Written for the quality manager who has to answer to them, not for a search engine.
- Measurable element
- The smallest auditable unit of an accreditation standard. Surveyors score at this level, so our compliance model must work at this level.
- CAPA
- Corrective and preventive action. The tracked fix arising from any finding, whatever its source.
- RCA and RCA2
- Root cause analysis. RCA2 is the updated methodology emphasising action strength and measurable improvement.
- FMEA
- Failure mode and effects analysis. Proactive rather than reactive, required by JCI for high-risk processes.
- Sentinel event
- A safety event causing death or severe harm. Carries mandatory investigation and usually mandatory regulator notification within a fixed window.
- WHO ICPS
- The international classification for patient safety. The taxonomy incidents should be coded against.
- NCC MERP
- The medication error severity index, from no-harm through to death.
- SQE
- The JCI chapter covering staff qualifications and education. Where credentialing, privileging and competency requirements live.
- FMS
- The JCI chapter covering facility management and safety. Where the asset, utility and environment requirements live.
- Tracer methodology
- How surveyors actually audit: follow one patient's journey and test every standard it touches. Our mock survey mode must work this way.
- Primary source verification
- Confirming a qualification directly with the issuing body rather than accepting a copy. Required for clinical credentialing.
- Privileging
- Authorising a specific clinician to perform specific procedures. Distinct from holding a licence.
- Three lines of defence
- The risk ownership model: operational management, risk and compliance oversight, internal audit.
- Inherent vs residual risk
- The risk before controls and after them. Appetite thresholds apply to residual.
- Break-glass access
- Emergency override to view a record outside normal permissions. Must require justification and must be reviewed afterwards.
- Effective dating
- Recording when a price, rate or rule applies from, so historical transactions never change when today's value does.
See the evidence behind the vocabulary
Every term here maps to something the platform records. We will show you which, against the standards you are surveyed on.