25 Tex. Admin. Code § 37.303 - Definitions
The following words and terms, when used in these sections, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Birth defect--A
physical or mental functional deficit or impairment in a human embryo, fetus,
or newborn resulting from one or more genetic or environmental
causes.
(2) Birthing center--A
place, facility, or institution at which a woman is scheduled to give birth
following a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy, but does not include a hospital or
the residence of the woman giving birth.
(3) Case finding--The process used to
identify potential cases for inclusion in the central registry of the program.
Potential cases are obtained through review of medical and health records,
logs, indices, appointment rosters and other records.
(4) Central registry--Cases of birth defects
obtained through the surveillance activity of the program.
(5) Commissioner--The Department of State
Health Services Commissioner.
(6)
Communicable disease--An illness that occurs through the transmission of an
infectious agent or its toxic products from a reservoir to a susceptible host,
either directly, as from an infected person or animal, or indirectly through an
intermediate plant or animal host, a vector, or the inanimate
environment.
(7) Department--The
Department of State Health Services.
(8) Environmental cause--The sum total of all
the conditions and elements that make up the surroundings and influence the
development of an individual.
(9)
Harmful physical agent--A physical phenomenon, other than a toxic substance,
that has or may have carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, or other harmful
effects on humans, and includes ionizing radiation, X-rays, gamma rays,
ultraviolet light, or other electromagnetic radiation; and acoustical, thermal,
or mechanical vibration.
(10)
Health facility--Any of the following types of facility:
(A) a general or special hospital licensed by
the department under Health and Safety Code, Chapter 241;
(B) a physician-owned or physician-operated
clinic;
(C) a publicly or privately
funded medical school;
(D) a state
hospital maintained and managed by the Department of State Health Services and
a state mental retardation facility maintained and managed by the Department of
Aging and Disability Services;
(E)
a genetic evaluation and counseling center;
(F) a public health clinic conducted by a
local health unit, health department, or public health district organized and
recognized under Health and Safety Code, Chapter 121;
(G) a physician peer review
organization;
(H) a birthing
center; or
(I) a clinical or
medical laboratory.
(11)
Health professional--An individual whose:
(A)
vocation or profession is directly or indirectly related to the maintenance of
health in another individual; and
(B) duties require a specified amount of
formal education or training and may require a special examination,
certificate, license, or membership in a regional or national
association.
(12) Local
health unit--A division of municipal or county government that provides public
health services but does not provide each service required of a local health
department under Health and Safety Code, §
121.032(a),
or of a public health district under Health and Safety Code, §
121.043(a).
(13) Midwife--A person who practices
midwifery and has met the requirements of the standards of the midwifery
board.
(14) Surveillance--The
systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health
data on an ongoing basis.
(A) Active
surveillance--program staff regularly contact or visit data sources, or use
remote electronic access, to find and collect data on cases.
(B) Passive surveillance--program receives
case reports from data sources.
(15) Toxic substance--A substance that has or
may have toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, or other harmful effects
on humans, and includes a product that contains a toxic substance that poses or
may pose a substantial hazard to human health.
Notes
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