CCP Quality Improvement & Population Health Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which quality improvement model uses Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to test and implement changes in care delivery?
- Six Sigma
- Model for Improvement (Correct answer)
- Lean Manufacturing
- Root Cause Analysis
Correct answer: Model for Improvement
The Model for Improvement, developed by Associates in Process Improvement, uses PDSA cycles as its core methodology for testing and scaling changes.
Question 2: In population health management, which metric best measures the percentage of eligible patients who received a recommended preventive service?
- Patient satisfaction score
- Length of stay
- Care gap closure rate (Correct answer)
- Readmission rate
Correct answer: Care gap closure rate
Care gap closure rate measures how effectively a population receives recommended preventive services, directly reflecting population health performance.
Question 3: A chronic care manager identifies that 30% of diabetic patients in a panel have HbA1c above 9%. This is an example of which population health activity?
- Case finding through risk stratification (Correct answer)
- Utilization management
- Prior authorization
- Discharge planning
Correct answer: Case finding through risk stratification
Identifying a subset of a population with poor clinical indicators through data analysis is the core activity of risk stratification and case finding.
Question 4: Which data source is most commonly used by care managers to identify patients who are high utilizers of emergency department services?
- Patient satisfaction surveys
- Claims and administrative data (Correct answer)
- PHQ-9 scores
- Medication refill records
Correct answer: Claims and administrative data
Claims and administrative data contain records of all billable encounters including ED visits, making them the primary source for identifying high utilizers.
Question 5: The Triple Aim framework in population health focuses on improving patient experience, improving population health, and:
- Increasing provider satisfaction
- Reducing per capita cost of care (Correct answer)
- Expanding insurance coverage
- Implementing electronic health records
Correct answer: Reducing per capita cost of care
The IHI Triple Aim targets three simultaneous goals: better patient experience, better population health, and lower per capita healthcare costs.
Question 6: Which type of quality measure evaluates whether the right processes and structures are in place to support good patient outcomes?
- Outcome measure
- Process measure (Correct answer)
- Balancing measure
- Efficiency measure
Correct answer: Process measure
Process measures assess whether evidence-based care activities (such as annual foot exams for diabetics) are being performed, indicating the quality of care delivery.
Question 7: In a quality improvement initiative, a 'balancing measure' is used to:
- Track the primary improvement goal
- Ensure changes in one area do not cause unintended harm elsewhere (Correct answer)
- Calculate cost savings from interventions
- Monitor patient satisfaction
Correct answer: Ensure changes in one area do not cause unintended harm elsewhere
Balancing measures detect unintended consequences of improvement efforts, ensuring that gains in one area do not negatively impact another part of the system.
CCP Quality Improvement & Population Health Management 1
Which quality improvement model uses Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to test and implement changes in care delivery?