CCM Strategic Planning & Decision Making 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A care manager is developing a strategic plan for managing a high-risk diabetic population. Which tool would BEST help identify the root cause of poor glycemic control outcomes?
- Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram (Correct answer)
- Gantt chart
- Balanced scorecard
- Logic model
Correct answer: Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram
A fishbone diagram systematically maps potential causes contributing to an outcome, making it ideal for root cause identification.
Question 2: When developing a strategic plan, 'environmental scanning' in the context of care management refers to:
- Assessing physical safety of patient home environments
- Analyzing internal and external factors that may impact program success (Correct answer)
- Reviewing electronic health record system capabilities
- Evaluating air quality and infection control measures
Correct answer: Analyzing internal and external factors that may impact program success
Environmental scanning examines both internal organizational factors and external market, regulatory, and demographic forces affecting strategy.
Question 3: A care management director wants to align the department's goals with the broader health system's mission. The MOST effective strategic planning tool for this alignment is:
- The balanced scorecard (Correct answer)
- A process flowchart
- A case mix index report
- A discharge summary template
Correct answer: The balanced scorecard
The balanced scorecard links departmental goals to organizational strategy across financial, customer, process, and learning dimensions.
Question 4: During strategic planning, stakeholder analysis is conducted PRIMARILY to:
- Determine patient satisfaction scores
- Identify individuals or groups who will influence or be affected by the plan (Correct answer)
- Calculate program return on investment
- Establish a hiring plan for the department
Correct answer: Identify individuals or groups who will influence or be affected by the plan
Stakeholder analysis maps who has interest or influence over the plan, enabling targeted engagement and change management.
Question 5: A care management team is choosing between implementing telehealth monitoring or hiring additional care managers to reduce hospital admissions. This decision is BEST classified as:
- A clinical protocol decision
- A strategic resource allocation decision (Correct answer)
- A patient rights determination
- A regulatory compliance decision
Correct answer: A strategic resource allocation decision
Choosing how to deploy limited resources to achieve organizational goals is the core of strategic resource allocation.
Question 6: In care management, 'disease burden stratification' supports strategic planning by:
- Setting individual patient care plans
- Prioritizing program investment toward highest-impact patient populations (Correct answer)
- Meeting HIPAA documentation requirements
- Establishing provider credentialing standards
Correct answer: Prioritizing program investment toward highest-impact patient populations
Stratifying populations by disease burden enables planners to direct resources where they will generate the greatest health and cost impact.
Question 7: When a care management program adopts value-based care principles, the strategic focus shifts PRIMARILY toward:
- Maximizing the volume of care management encounters
- Optimizing health outcomes relative to the cost of care (Correct answer)
- Expanding the number of disease management programs offered
- Increasing fee-for-service billing opportunities
Correct answer: Optimizing health outcomes relative to the cost of care
Value-based care reorients strategy from volume of services delivered to the quality of outcomes achieved per dollar spent.
CCM Strategic Planning & Decision Making 3
A care manager is developing a strategic plan for managing a high-risk diabetic population.
Which tool would BEST help identify the root cause of poor glycemic control outcomes?