CPHQ EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the following can be defined as, "A set of measures and data that give
managers and administrators a quick yet comprehensive overview of performance?
a. Process measurement
b. Balanced scorecard
c. Dashboard
d. Six Sigma - Answers - Balanced Scorecard
Balanced scorecards are useful because they put strategy and vision at the center of an
organization's efforts. They provide a visual display of the entire organization's
progress.
(Scorecards tell health systems how they're doing overall. They are quick and
comprehensive. Dashboards tell systems what's happening now using interactive
metrics with drill-down capabilities)
Describe quality assurance vs. quality control - Answers - Quality Assurance: Focus is
on the processes and procedures that improve quality, including any corrective actions
needed to optimize post-production quality
Quality Control: Focus on the product to find defects that occur after development
A patient care team is in disagreement over new admissions procedures. What
decision-making model should management use?
a. Decision criteria
b. Consensus
c. Tenure influence - Answers - Decision criteria
(This model explores all options equally and gives unorthodox or unpopular options a
fair chance)
How does the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist lead to tight coupling
in the operating room?
a. It establishes universality for patients
b. It compartmentalizes the procedures
c. It establishes a clear OR hierarchy
d. It closely aligns the various individuals involved in the process - Answers - It closely
aligns the various individuals involved in the process
Define risk management - Answers - Taking steps to avoid and control risks within an
environment to accomplish a desired outcome
,Describe internal vs. external customers - Answers - Internal customers work within the
organizational structure. External customers rely on and/or utilize the healthcare
organization and product (patients, family members, medical equipment suppliers)
Within the last 4 days, three post-surgical patients have died of pneumonia-related
complications at a large hospital. None of the patients presented as symptomatic for
pneumonia at the time of surgery. What evaluation tool should be used to help identify
and resolve this issue?
a. Epidemiological theory
b. Performance management measures
c. Statistical analysis
d. Improvement measures - Answers - Epidemiological Theory, which is used to identify
the source and cause of an issue or anomaly
(The other tools are used to quantify data or examine processes that can contribute to
improvement)
When Hospital A's neonatal infection rates rise unexpectedly, the quality council
establishes a new set of performance measures. They base their measures on internal
standards, customer survey data, and employee survey data. What important element
are the members disregarding? - Answers - External standards, such as national goals
and requirements
(External data provides a context for the internal data and distinguishes where and how
the facility falls compared to national standards)
What challenges often occur with the use of aggregated data? - Answers - Context is
lost and solutions are not identified
What elements should be part of an employee performance improvement plan? What
elements should NOT be part of a performance improvement plan? - Answers - 1) A
clear statement of the problems to be addressed
2) Specific action steps to be taken as part of the plan
3) A desired outcome or goal behavior and a timeline
(It does NOT include any research into the cause of an employee's challenges)
Recent HCAHPS data for Hospital A indicate that doctors are not providing adequate
explanations to patients. In improving the patient safety culture with regards to this
issue, what two elements must be addressed?
a. Patient perceptions and clinical quality
b. Patient perceptions and physician education
c. Physician education and time constraints
d. Quality standards and time constraints - Answers - Patient perceptions and clinical
quality
,(Patient perception includes the mode of communication, the depth of information, and
understandability of the context. Clinical quality includes the doctor's understanding of
communication techniques, health literacy, etc.)
Which of the following are the primary reasons for developing drug formularies?
a. Manage pharmacy costs, promote patient safety
b. Reduce medication errors, educate physicians
c. Encourage the appropriate use of medications, educate physicians
d. Decrease food and drug interactions, promote patient safety - Answers - A drug
formulary is an approved list of medications, clinical indications, and doses that helps
manage pharmacy costs and patient safety
Management using quality improvement principles should emphasize the importance of:
a. Staff orientation
b. Customers' expectations
c. Quarterly statistical reports
d. Team selection - Answers - The basis of quality improvement is knowing what the
customer needs and wants (b) The rest are only one component of quality
improvement.
Quality improvement teams are beneficial because they
a. Promote competition and pride among members
b. Maximize expertise and perspectives
c. Authorize solutions to problems - Answers - A diverse team, including members with
different experience and backgrounds, provides a broader knowledge base and
outcomes
Which of the following is an essential component in a performance improvement report?
a. Governing body approval
b. Data analysis and display
c. Individual performance review
d. Team composition and attendance - Answers - Data and analysis display
What is the primary goal of risk management? - Answers - To identify and manage risks
to promote patient safety
The relationship between patient satisfaction and hours per patient day on a medical
unit was found to be (r=0.60, p < 0.05). What is the correlation between these two
values?
a. 0.05
b. 0.36
c. 0.55
d. 0.60 - Answers - The correlation coefficient (r) is an index that ranges from -1 to 1
and reflects the extent of a linear relationship between two data sets. The correlation
coefficient is 0.60.
, For a quality improvement team to deal effectively with conflict, it is important to appoint
which of the following to its membership?
a. Risk manager
b. HR representative
c. Facilitatior
d. Senior leader - Answers - A facilitator is an unbiased party that may help groups deal
with conflict (c)
Which of the following best describes an organizational vision statement?
a. It is used as a marketing strategy
b. It defines the structure of the institution
c. It describes the organization's strategic plan
d. It reflects the organization's aspirations - Answers - An organization's vision
statement reflects its aspirations and goals for the future
(Not to be confused with the mission statement, which describes the organization's
purpose or reason for existence)
The most effective way for a healthcare quality professional to communicate quality
improvement activities to the medical staff is by:
a. Evaluating physician participation on quality teams
b. Inviting medical staff to an in-service on quality tools
c. Providing outcome data at medical staff meetings
d. Developing professional relationships - Answers - Providing outcome data at medical
staff meetings
(Outcome data communicates objective feedback to medical staff)
Quality improvement team progress is best evaluated by which of the following?
a. Team leader
b. Senior leadership
c. PDCA/PDSA process
d. Nominal group technique - Answers - PDCA/PDSA process
(The Plan, Do, Check, Act process is a comprehensive methodology used to conduct
performance improvement activities, including the analysis of progress)
A team has identified a process for improvement, selected examples of best practice
performers, visited those sites, gathered all necessary data, and compiled the results.
The most effective next step for the team is to
a. Identify the next process to benchmark
b. Implement change at the team's site
c. Compare results to historical data
d. Make the results public for others to use for benchmarking - Answers -
Implementation (b) is the next step in the performance improvement cycle
Which of the following can be defined as, "A set of measures and data that give
managers and administrators a quick yet comprehensive overview of performance?
a. Process measurement
b. Balanced scorecard
c. Dashboard
d. Six Sigma - Answers - Balanced Scorecard
Balanced scorecards are useful because they put strategy and vision at the center of an
organization's efforts. They provide a visual display of the entire organization's
progress.
(Scorecards tell health systems how they're doing overall. They are quick and
comprehensive. Dashboards tell systems what's happening now using interactive
metrics with drill-down capabilities)
Describe quality assurance vs. quality control - Answers - Quality Assurance: Focus is
on the processes and procedures that improve quality, including any corrective actions
needed to optimize post-production quality
Quality Control: Focus on the product to find defects that occur after development
A patient care team is in disagreement over new admissions procedures. What
decision-making model should management use?
a. Decision criteria
b. Consensus
c. Tenure influence - Answers - Decision criteria
(This model explores all options equally and gives unorthodox or unpopular options a
fair chance)
How does the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist lead to tight coupling
in the operating room?
a. It establishes universality for patients
b. It compartmentalizes the procedures
c. It establishes a clear OR hierarchy
d. It closely aligns the various individuals involved in the process - Answers - It closely
aligns the various individuals involved in the process
Define risk management - Answers - Taking steps to avoid and control risks within an
environment to accomplish a desired outcome
,Describe internal vs. external customers - Answers - Internal customers work within the
organizational structure. External customers rely on and/or utilize the healthcare
organization and product (patients, family members, medical equipment suppliers)
Within the last 4 days, three post-surgical patients have died of pneumonia-related
complications at a large hospital. None of the patients presented as symptomatic for
pneumonia at the time of surgery. What evaluation tool should be used to help identify
and resolve this issue?
a. Epidemiological theory
b. Performance management measures
c. Statistical analysis
d. Improvement measures - Answers - Epidemiological Theory, which is used to identify
the source and cause of an issue or anomaly
(The other tools are used to quantify data or examine processes that can contribute to
improvement)
When Hospital A's neonatal infection rates rise unexpectedly, the quality council
establishes a new set of performance measures. They base their measures on internal
standards, customer survey data, and employee survey data. What important element
are the members disregarding? - Answers - External standards, such as national goals
and requirements
(External data provides a context for the internal data and distinguishes where and how
the facility falls compared to national standards)
What challenges often occur with the use of aggregated data? - Answers - Context is
lost and solutions are not identified
What elements should be part of an employee performance improvement plan? What
elements should NOT be part of a performance improvement plan? - Answers - 1) A
clear statement of the problems to be addressed
2) Specific action steps to be taken as part of the plan
3) A desired outcome or goal behavior and a timeline
(It does NOT include any research into the cause of an employee's challenges)
Recent HCAHPS data for Hospital A indicate that doctors are not providing adequate
explanations to patients. In improving the patient safety culture with regards to this
issue, what two elements must be addressed?
a. Patient perceptions and clinical quality
b. Patient perceptions and physician education
c. Physician education and time constraints
d. Quality standards and time constraints - Answers - Patient perceptions and clinical
quality
,(Patient perception includes the mode of communication, the depth of information, and
understandability of the context. Clinical quality includes the doctor's understanding of
communication techniques, health literacy, etc.)
Which of the following are the primary reasons for developing drug formularies?
a. Manage pharmacy costs, promote patient safety
b. Reduce medication errors, educate physicians
c. Encourage the appropriate use of medications, educate physicians
d. Decrease food and drug interactions, promote patient safety - Answers - A drug
formulary is an approved list of medications, clinical indications, and doses that helps
manage pharmacy costs and patient safety
Management using quality improvement principles should emphasize the importance of:
a. Staff orientation
b. Customers' expectations
c. Quarterly statistical reports
d. Team selection - Answers - The basis of quality improvement is knowing what the
customer needs and wants (b) The rest are only one component of quality
improvement.
Quality improvement teams are beneficial because they
a. Promote competition and pride among members
b. Maximize expertise and perspectives
c. Authorize solutions to problems - Answers - A diverse team, including members with
different experience and backgrounds, provides a broader knowledge base and
outcomes
Which of the following is an essential component in a performance improvement report?
a. Governing body approval
b. Data analysis and display
c. Individual performance review
d. Team composition and attendance - Answers - Data and analysis display
What is the primary goal of risk management? - Answers - To identify and manage risks
to promote patient safety
The relationship between patient satisfaction and hours per patient day on a medical
unit was found to be (r=0.60, p < 0.05). What is the correlation between these two
values?
a. 0.05
b. 0.36
c. 0.55
d. 0.60 - Answers - The correlation coefficient (r) is an index that ranges from -1 to 1
and reflects the extent of a linear relationship between two data sets. The correlation
coefficient is 0.60.
, For a quality improvement team to deal effectively with conflict, it is important to appoint
which of the following to its membership?
a. Risk manager
b. HR representative
c. Facilitatior
d. Senior leader - Answers - A facilitator is an unbiased party that may help groups deal
with conflict (c)
Which of the following best describes an organizational vision statement?
a. It is used as a marketing strategy
b. It defines the structure of the institution
c. It describes the organization's strategic plan
d. It reflects the organization's aspirations - Answers - An organization's vision
statement reflects its aspirations and goals for the future
(Not to be confused with the mission statement, which describes the organization's
purpose or reason for existence)
The most effective way for a healthcare quality professional to communicate quality
improvement activities to the medical staff is by:
a. Evaluating physician participation on quality teams
b. Inviting medical staff to an in-service on quality tools
c. Providing outcome data at medical staff meetings
d. Developing professional relationships - Answers - Providing outcome data at medical
staff meetings
(Outcome data communicates objective feedback to medical staff)
Quality improvement team progress is best evaluated by which of the following?
a. Team leader
b. Senior leadership
c. PDCA/PDSA process
d. Nominal group technique - Answers - PDCA/PDSA process
(The Plan, Do, Check, Act process is a comprehensive methodology used to conduct
performance improvement activities, including the analysis of progress)
A team has identified a process for improvement, selected examples of best practice
performers, visited those sites, gathered all necessary data, and compiled the results.
The most effective next step for the team is to
a. Identify the next process to benchmark
b. Implement change at the team's site
c. Compare results to historical data
d. Make the results public for others to use for benchmarking - Answers -
Implementation (b) is the next step in the performance improvement cycle
