CBIC Surveillance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which surveillance method uses real-time electronic data from the EHR to identify potential HAIs without manual chart review?
- Concurrent surveillance
- Automated surveillance (Correct answer)
- Retrospective surveillance
- Targeted surveillance
Correct answer: Automated surveillance
Automated surveillance uses electronic algorithms to mine EHR data in real time, reducing manual workload and improving timeliness.
Question 2: A surveillance system's ability to detect a true case of HAI is best described as which characteristic?
- Specificity
- Positive predictive value
- Sensitivity (Correct answer)
- Representativeness
Correct answer: Sensitivity
Sensitivity measures the proportion of true HAI cases correctly identified by the surveillance system.
Question 3: When calculating a surgical site infection (SSI) rate, the denominator most commonly used is:
- Patient-days
- Number of procedures performed (Correct answer)
- Number of operative wounds
- Occupied bed-days
Correct answer: Number of procedures performed
SSI rates are expressed per 100 procedures performed, making the number of procedures the standard denominator.
Question 4: Which of the following is the PRIMARY purpose of severity-of-illness adjustment in HAI surveillance?
- To eliminate outlier data points
- To allow fair comparisons between facilities with different patient populations (Correct answer)
- To reduce the overall HAI rate
- To simplify data collection
Correct answer: To allow fair comparisons between facilities with different patient populations
Severity-of-illness adjustment controls for differences in patient risk so that infection rates across facilities can be meaningfully compared.
Question 5: The NHSN definition of a healthcare-associated infection requires that the infection not be present or incubating at the time of:
- Hospital discharge
- Admission to the facility (Correct answer)
- First antibiotic administration
- Initial laboratory specimen collection
Correct answer: Admission to the facility
NHSN defines HAIs as infections that were not present or incubating at the time of the patient's admission to the facility.
Question 6: An IP notices a cluster of Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infections in the NICU over two weeks. The FIRST step should be to:
- Implement contact precautions for all NICU patients
- Verify case definitions and confirm the cluster is real (Correct answer)
- Notify the state health department
- Close the NICU to new admissions
Correct answer: Verify case definitions and confirm the cluster is real
Before taking action, the IP must verify the case definition and confirm that the apparent cluster exceeds the expected baseline rate.
Question 7: Which metric best reflects the efficiency of a surveillance system by measuring the proportion of identified cases that are true HAIs?
- Sensitivity
- Negative predictive value
- Positive predictive value (Correct answer)
- Specificity
Correct answer: Positive predictive value
Positive predictive value (PPV) is the proportion of surveillance-identified cases that are confirmed true HAIs, reflecting efficiency.
CBIC Surveillance 2
Which surveillance method uses real-time electronic data from the EHR to identify potential HAIs without manual chart review?