Quality Assurance and Improvement Flashcards
7 cards from real ABFM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Quality Assurance and Improvement flashcards as text
A patient safety report describes a nurse administering the wrong medication dose due to a look-alike drug labeling issue. A root cause analysis focuses on which level of the problem?
Answer: Systemic and environmental factors that enabled the error
Root cause analysis (RCA) focuses on identifying underlying systemic factors rather than blaming individual providers.
The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) published by The Joint Commission are updated annually and primarily address which area?
Answer: High-priority patient safety issues identified across accredited organizations
The Joint Commission's NPSGs identify specific patient safety concerns and establish requirements to address them in accredited healthcare organizations.
In the ABFM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, Performance Improvement activities require physicians to demonstrate improvement through which sequence?
Answer: Measure baseline, implement change, remeasure, document improvement
ABFM PI-CME activities require measuring current performance, implementing a change intervention, and remeasuring to document improvement.
Which concept best describes a near-miss event in patient safety terminology?
Answer: An unsafe condition that was caught and corrected before reaching the patient
A near-miss (close call) is an event that had the potential to cause harm but was intercepted before affecting the patient.
A practice calculates that 80% of patient complaints stem from 3 of 15 identified problems. Which QI tool best illustrates this finding to prioritize interventions?
Answer: Pareto chart
A Pareto chart displays problems in descending frequency, visually demonstrating which few causes account for the majority of issues (the 80/20 rule).
Which framework classifies patient safety events by their severity, from near-miss to catastrophic harm?
Answer: The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) index
The NCC MERP index categorizes medication errors and near-misses from Category A (no error potential) through Category I (patient death).
In a FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) conducted before implementing a new insulin protocol, what is the primary goal?
Answer: Prospectively identifying potential failure points before they cause harm
FMEA is a prospective risk assessment tool that identifies potential failure modes and their effects before a process is implemented.