Answers / Practice Exam for the CPHQ Test 2026/ Certified
Professional in Healthcare Quality Test 2026
A healthcare quality professional wants to measure the success of a corrective
action plan with a 95% confidence level. The average daily census at the quality
professional's organization is 1,000 patients.
The best sampling technique for this study is to review:
A. 10% of all discharge records for the past quarter.
B. all active records on one day of the past month.
C. 30% of records based on preliminary compliance review.
D. the number of records needed using a statistical method. - ANSWER-D. the
number of records needed using a statistical method.
the confidence level and interval would be determined through calculation.
The quality improvement director is responsible for coordination of accreditation
survey activities.
Responsibilities will most likely include:
A. facilitating self-assessments of compliance with standards, communicating new
requirements to pertinent
parties, and distributing the agenda for the survey.
B. educating staff to all standards, writing the survey report, and completing the
survey application.
C. developing a protocol for a mock survey, conducting unannounced surveys, and
challenging the survey report.
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,D. preparing for unannounced surveys, disseminating the survey report, and
developing new standards. - ANSWER-A. facilitating self-assessments of
compliance with standards, communicating new requirements to pertinent parties,
and distributing the agenda for the survey.
These are essential functions for overseeing accreditation process.
Minimizing the chances for an adverse event to reoccur includes determining the
primary contributing factor by using:
A. root cause analysis.
B. force field analysis.
C. clinical pathways.
D. failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). - ANSWER-A. root cause analysis.
as exploration of system and process issues should be primary in identifying root
causes of error.
A serious event has occurred related to the timely notification of critical test
results. The root cause was traced to nursing difficulty with following the
organizational policy. To prevent a similar event from reoccurring, which of the
following should be done next?
A. Refer the involved nurse to nursing peer review.
B. Educate nursing staff on the importance of timely notification of critical test
results.
C. Review the policy with nursing representatives to identify ambiguities.
D. Continue to collect data as one event is insufficient to take action. - ANSWER-
C. Review the policy with nursing representatives to identify ambiguities.
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,The utilization management committee is reviewing length-of-stay data for a
particular procedure. In comparing data by physician, which of the following
statistics will be most useful?
A. correlation
B. range
C. mode
D. mean - ANSWER-D. mean
The mean is the statistical average in a data set. It is often used to describe average
length of stay for
comparison and is used with the standard deviation to understand the variability
around the mean.
Which of the following actions should a facilitator make the highest priority during
the customer focus group process?
A. selecting a homogeneous group
B. establishing rapport with the group
C. providing written ground rules to the group
D. generalizing the findings to the population - ANSWER-B. establishing rapport
with the group
A facilitator must establish rapport in order facilitate the group towards outcomes.
Satisfaction surveys, focus groups, and complaint tracking are tools used to
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, A. benchmark satisfaction.
B. develop clinical pathways/guidelines.
C. understand customers' expectations.
D. measure professional practice patterns - ANSWER-C. understand customers'
expectations.
Surveys, focus groups, and complaints with or from customers can provide
information directly from
the customers regarding a variety of topics including customer expectations.
In the quality improvement process, performing a cost-benefit analysis is most
useful in
A. checking performance.
B. analyzing process problems.
C. designing solutions and controls.
D. implementing solutions and controls. - ANSWER-C. designing solutions and
controls.
Cost-benefit analysis allows for financial controls to be considered towards
outcome achievement.
A policy for "time-outs" in an operating room was initiated in the first quarter. The
second quarter data demonstrated only 40% compliance with all elements of the
process. The first step the Quality Council
should take is to:
A. examine if the policy is clear and user-friendly.
B. ask the nurses to identify non-compliant surgeons.
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