Glossary
Healthcare compliance, in plain language
The terms behind Canadian facility accreditation and clinic inspections — what each one actually means, why regulators care, and where to read the practical guide.
NHSF
Non-Hospital Surgical Facility
An Alberta facility providing surgical or procedural care outside a hospital — accredited by CPSA before it may operate.
Read the definition →CPSA
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta
Alberta's medical regulator — licenses physicians, accredits non-hospital surgical facilities, and runs IPC inspections of clinics.
Read the definition →IPAC / IPC
Infection Prevention and Control
The program of practices that prevents infections in care settings — hand hygiene, PPE, cleaning, reprocessing — and the records proving it.
Read the definition →MDR
Medical Device Reprocessing
Cleaning, disinfecting, or sterilizing reusable medical devices between patients — one of the most inspected processes in outpatient care.
Read the definition →Spaulding classification
Spaulding classification of medical devices
The system that sorts reusable devices into critical, semi-critical, and non-critical — deciding whether they need sterilization or disinfection.
Read the definition →Sterilization vs. disinfection
Sterilization and disinfection — the difference
Sterilization kills all microbial life including spores; disinfection reduces it by degrees. Devices don't get a choice — their class decides.
Read the definition →QMS
Quality Management System
The connected system of policies, records, audits, and corrective actions that makes quality repeatable — the backbone of accreditation standards.
Read the definition →CAPA
Corrective and Preventive Action
The structured response to problems: fix the case, find the root cause, prevent recurrence — with evidence that it worked.
Read the definition →Document control
Document and records control
Knowing which version of every policy is current, who approved it, and where the filled-in records live — the most-cited gap in facility assessments.
Read the definition →Quality indicators
Quality indicators and audits
The handful of measures a facility tracks to know quality is holding — reviewed on a schedule, acted on when they drift.
Read the definition →Accreditation
Healthcare facility accreditation
Formal verification by a regulator that a facility meets published standards — through documentation review and on-site assessment.
Read the definition →NHMSFAP
Non-Hospital Medical and Surgical Facilities Accreditation Program (CPSBC)
British Columbia's accreditation program for non-hospital medical and surgical facilities, run by CPSBC.
Read the definition →OHPIP
Out-of-Hospital Premises Inspection Program (CPSO)
Ontario's inspection program for premises where certain procedures are performed outside hospitals, run by CPSO.
Read the definition →Looking for the deeper treatment? Every term links into our Insights library — including the complete 22-part guide to the NHSF quality management system — and to the service that helps you put it into practice.