NAHQ Updated CPHQ Exam Questions and Answers by diana

Detailed Explanation:

FMEA is a proactive tool thatidentifies and prioritizes potential risks in a process and develops action plans to mitigate them.

Option C: Risks were identified and prioritized, and action plans were developed

This option accurately reflects the FMEA process, which involves assessing potential failure modes, their effects, and prioritizing risks for corrective actions.

Option A: Key factors were identified, and corrective action plans were created

This description is somewhat accurate but lacks emphasis on risk prioritization, which is central to FMEA.

Option B: Actions were taken to address baseline performance and monitored for sustainment

This describes a performance improvement process rather than FMEA’s risk prioritization focus.

Option D: Special causes were identified, and variation was reduced

This describes root cause analysis and statistical process control, not FMEA.

The initial step in clinical pathway development is crucial to ensure that the pathway is relevant, evidence-based, and aligned with the needs of the patient population it intends to serve. The first step is to review and analyze data specific to the targeted population (Answer C). This involves collecting and examining clinical, demographic, and epidemiological data about the patient group for whom the pathway is being designed. This data review helps to identify common diagnoses, treatment outcomes, complications, and variations in care, which will inform the development of a pathway that is both relevant and effective.

The other options are important elements in the development and implementation of a clinical pathway, but they occur later in the process:

Patient education materials (A) are developed after the clinical pathway has been established to ensure that patients understand their care plan.

Continuous quality improvement methods (B) are applied after the pathway has been implemented to monitor its effectiveness and make necessary adjustments.

Provider input (D) is crucial throughout the pathway development but comes after the initial data review when creating or refining the clinical pathway based on practical considerations and clinical expertise.

A successful patient safety program must be aligned with the organization’s core values, which reflect its mission, vision, and culture. This alignment ensures that safety initiatives are integrated into everyday operations, supported by leadership, and embraced by staff at all levels (The Joint Commission, Patient Safety Culture, 2024; Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Leading for Safety, 2023). Core values provide a foundation for establishing safety priorities, fostering accountability, and sustaining improvements. While public reporting (A), payors (B), and patient satisfaction (D) influence healthcare, they are external or outcome-focused measures, not foundational drivers. Embedding safety within organizational values promotes a culture where safety is a shared responsibility and a strategic priority.

The median is a measure of central tendency in statistics that represents the middle value of an ordered data set.

Data Set Ordering: To find the median, the data set must first be arranged in ascending or descending order.

Middle Value Identification: The median is the value that divides the data set into two equal parts, with 50% of the data points lying below it and 50% above it. If the number of observations is odd, the median is the middle number; if even, it is the average of the two middle numbers.

Robustness: Unlike the mean, the median is not affected by extreme values (outliers), making it a more robust measure of central tendency in skewed distributions.