Article 1. Definitions
12VAC5-410-10. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"ACIP" means the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC.
"Activity of daily living" or "ADL" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-137.08 A of the Code of Virginia.
"Board" means the State Board of Health.
"Business day" means a day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the OLC is closed. For the purposes of this chapter, a day on which the Governor authorizes the closing of the state government is considered a legal holiday.
"Campus" means the physical area that is immediately adjacent to the hospital's main buildings, other areas and structures not strictly contiguous to the main buildings but located within 250 yards of the main buildings, and any other areas determined on an individual case basis by the OLC, in accordance with 42 CFR 431.65, to be part of the hospital's campus.
"Care provider" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-137.08 A of the Code of Virginia.
"CDC" means the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Certified nursing facility" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia.
"Certified sexual assault nurse examiner" means a nurse who is board certified by the International Association of Forensic Nurses as either a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Pediatric (SANE-P) or a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Adult/Adolescent (SANE-A).
"Chief executive officer" means a job descriptive term used to identify the individual appointed by the governing body to act on its behalf in the overall management of the hospital. Job titles may include administrator, superintendent, director, executive director, president, vice-president, and executive vice-president.
"CMS" means the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner.
"Consultant" means one who provides services or advice upon request.
"Department" means an organized section of the hospital.
"Designated support person" or "DSP" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-137.08 A of the Code of Virginia and is not a visitor.
"Direction" means authoritative policy or procedural guidance for the accomplishment of a function or activity.
"Emergency department" means a department of the hospital that provides emergency services and is located on or within a 35-mile radius of the campus of the hospital.
"Facilities" means buildings, equipment, and supplies necessary for implementation of services by personnel.
"General hospital" means a hospital with an organized medical staff; with permanent facilities that may include inpatient beds; and with medical services, including physician services, dentist services, and continuous nursing services, to provide diagnosis and treatment for patients who have a variety of medical and dental conditions that may require various types of care, such as medical, surgical, and maternity.
"General hospital accrediting organization" means the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality, DNV - Healthcare, the Joint Commission, or any accrediting organization that has been granted deeming authority for hospitals by CMS.
"Home health services" means a formally structured organizational unit of the hospital that is designed to provide health services to patients in their place of residence and that meets Part II (12VAC5-381-150 et seq.) of the Regulations for the Licensure of Home Care Organizations.
"Hospital" has the same meaning ascribed to the term in § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia and includes general hospitals and outpatient surgical hospitals.
"Inspector" means an individual employed by or contracted by the Virginia Department of Health and designated by the commissioner to conduct inspections, investigations, or evaluations.
"Intelligent personal assistant" means a combination of an electronic device and a specialized software application designed to assist users with basic tasks using a combination of natural language processing and artificial intelligence, including combinations known as digital assistants or virtual assistants.
"Long-term care nursing unit" means an organized jurisdiction of nursing service in which nursing services are provided on a continuous basis.
"Medical" means pertaining to or dealing with the healing art and the science of medicine.
"Nursing home" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia.
"Nursing services" means patient care services pertaining to the curative, palliative, restorative, or preventive aspects of nursing that are prepared or supervised by a registered nurse.
"OLC" means the Office of Licensure and Certification of the Virginia Department of Health.
"Operating room" means a room in a hospital designated for the performance of surgery.
"Organized" means administratively and functionally structured.
"Organized medical staff" means a formal organization of physicians and dentists with the delegated responsibility and authority to maintain proper standards of medical care and to plan for continued betterment of that care. Organized medical staff may include other practitioners, including independent practice midwives.
"Outpatient surgical hospital" means a hospital that primarily provides facilities for the performance of surgical procedures on outpatients. Such patients may require treatment in a medical environment exceeding the normal capability found in a physician's office, but do not require inpatient hospitalization.
"Outpatient surgical hospital accrediting organization" means the Accreditation Commission for Ambulatory Health Care, the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, the Joint Commission, or any accrediting organization that has been granted deeming authority for ambulatory surgical centers by CMS.
"Ownership/person" means any individual, partnership, association, trust, corporation, municipality, county, governmental agency, or any other legal or commercial entity that owns or controls the physical facilities or manages or operates a hospital.
"Person with a disability" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-137.08 A of the Code of Virginia.
"Rural hospital" means any general hospital in a county classified by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as rural, any hospital designated as a critical access hospital, any general hospital that is eligible to receive funds under the federal Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program, or any general hospital that notifies the commissioner of its desire to retain its rural status when that hospital is in a county reclassified by the OMB as a metropolitan statistical area as of June 6, 2003.
"Service" means a functional division of the hospital and is also used to indicate the delivery of care.
"Smoke evacuation system" means the same as that term is defined in § 32.1-127 B 32 of the Code of Virginia.
"Special care unit" means an appropriately equipped area of the hospital where there is a concentration of physicians, nurses, and others who have special skills and experience to provide optimal medical care for patients assigned to the unit.
"Staff privileges" means authority to render medical care in the granting institution within well-defined limits based on the individual's professional license and the individual's experience, competence, ability, and judgment.
"Support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the person's disability" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 32.1-137.08 A of the Code of Virginia.
"Surgery" has the same meaning as ascribed to the term in § 54.1-2400.01:1 A of the Code of Virginia.
"Unit" means a functional division or facility of the hospital.
"Urine drug screening" means a chemical analysis intended to test patients for the presence of multiple drugs, including cocaine, opioids, and phencyclidine.
Statutory Authority
§§ 32.1-12 and 32.1-127 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR355-33-500 § 1.1, eff. July 28, 1993; amended, Virginia Register Volume 11, Issue 8, eff. April 1, 1995; Volume 11, Issue 16, eff. June 1, 1995; Volume 21, Issue 12, eff. May 9, 2005; Volume 23, Issue 10, eff. March 1, 2007; Volume 29, Issue 19, eff. June 20, 2013; Volume 37, Issue 14, eff. March 31, 2021; Volume 41, Issue 17, eff. May 22, 2025; Volume 42, Issue 1, eff. September 24, 2025; Volume 42, Issue 5, eff. November 19, 2025; Volume 42, Issue 18, eff. June 4, 2026.