CDS CDS Data Lifecycle Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which stage of the data lifecycle involves formally retiring data from active use while preserving it for potential future reference?
- Data creation
- Data archiving (Correct answer)
- Data transformation
- Data ingestion
Correct answer: Data archiving
Data archiving moves data out of active systems but retains it in long-term storage for compliance or historical reference.
Question 2: A US healthcare organization must retain patient records for a minimum of how many years under HIPAA guidelines?
- 3 years
- 5 years
- 6 years (Correct answer)
- 10 years
Correct answer: 6 years
HIPAA requires covered entities to retain medical records documentation for a minimum of 6 years from creation or last effective date.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a data retention schedule in a data lifecycle management program?
- To speed up database query performance
- To define how long each data category must be kept and when it should be destroyed (Correct answer)
- To document data lineage across systems
- To assign ownership of data assets
Correct answer: To define how long each data category must be kept and when it should be destroyed
A data retention schedule specifies retention periods and disposal rules for each data category, ensuring legal compliance and reducing storage costs.
Question 4: Which disposal method is considered most appropriate for destroying sensitive data stored on magnetic hard drives?
- Overwriting with zeros once
- Formatting the drive
- Degaussing or physical destruction (Correct answer)
- Deleting files through the OS
Correct answer: Degaussing or physical destruction
Degaussing disrupts the magnetic field rendering data unrecoverable, and physical destruction ensures no data can be extracted from the media.
Question 5: In data lifecycle management, what does 'data provenance' refer to?
- The geographic location where data is stored
- The documented history of data's origin, movement, and transformations (Correct answer)
- The legal jurisdiction governing the data
- The encryption standard applied to the data
Correct answer: The documented history of data's origin, movement, and transformations
Data provenance tracks the origin, custody chain, and all transformations a dataset has undergone, supporting auditability and trust.
Question 6: Which activity is part of the 'data creation' stage in a typical data lifecycle model?
- Purging obsolete records
- Migrating data to cold storage
- Validating data at point of entry against defined standards (Correct answer)
- Generating reports from historical archives
Correct answer: Validating data at point of entry against defined standards
Entry validation at the creation stage ensures data meets quality and format standards before it enters downstream systems.
CDS CDS Data Lifecycle Management 1
Which stage of the data lifecycle involves formally retiring data from active use while preserving it for potential future reference?