CHBT Regulatory Compliance and Documentation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which record must be maintained for every hemodialysis machine to document its preventive maintenance, repairs, and disinfection history?
- Machine maintenance log (Correct answer)
- Patient treatment record
- Water log only
- Facility incident report
Correct answer: Machine maintenance log
A machine maintenance log documents all preventive maintenance, repairs, disinfections, and quality checks for each machine, providing a traceable service history for compliance and troubleshooting.
Question 2: When a dialysis patient experiences an adverse event such as a blood leak or machine malfunction during treatment, the technician is required to:
- Document the event in the patient's treatment record and complete a facility incident report per policy (Correct answer)
- Verbally report to the charge nurse only
- File a report only if the patient requires hospitalization
- Note it in the machine log but not the patient record
Correct answer: Document the event in the patient's treatment record and complete a facility incident report per policy
Adverse events must be documented in both the patient's treatment record and an incident report to support quality review, regulatory compliance, and prevention of future occurrences.
Question 3: Under CMS Conditions for Coverage, dialysis facilities must have a Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program that includes:
- Ongoing systematic monitoring of patient outcomes and care processes with documented improvement activities (Correct answer)
- Annual staff satisfaction surveys only
- Monthly equipment inspections without outcome tracking
- QAPI is optional for small facilities
Correct answer: Ongoing systematic monitoring of patient outcomes and care processes with documented improvement activities
CMS requires ESRD facilities to operate a QAPI program with defined indicators, data collection, analysis, and documented improvement actions to continuously improve patient care quality.
Question 4: What does HIPAA require dialysis facility staff to do regarding patient health information?
- Protect the privacy and confidentiality of all patient health information and disclose it only as permitted by law or patient authorization (Correct answer)
- Share patient information freely among all clinical staff regardless of need-to-know
- Store all records in paper format only
- Disclose patient information to any healthcare provider on request
Correct answer: Protect the privacy and confidentiality of all patient health information and disclose it only as permitted by law or patient authorization
HIPAA's Privacy Rule requires dialysis facilities to safeguard protected health information (PHI) and limit disclosures to the minimum necessary for treatment, payment, or operations.
Question 5: Which organization accredits dialysis facilities in the United States and is recognized as an alternative to direct CMS surveys?
- The Joint Commission (TJC) or DNV GL Healthcare, which have CMS-deemed status (Correct answer)
- AAMI
- OSHA
- The American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA)
Correct answer: The Joint Commission (TJC) or DNV GL Healthcare, which have CMS-deemed status
The Joint Commission and DNV GL Healthcare hold CMS-deemed status for dialysis facilities, meaning their accreditation surveys satisfy the CMS Conditions for Coverage requirement.
Question 6: A dialysis facility's water treatment log must include which of the following entries?
- Date, time, name of person performing test, water quality parameters tested, and results compared to acceptable ranges (Correct answer)
- Machine serial numbers only
- Patient names treated that day
- Concentrate lot numbers only
Correct answer: Date, time, name of person performing test, water quality parameters tested, and results compared to acceptable ranges
Water logs must document the who, when, what, and results of all water quality checks to demonstrate ongoing compliance with AAMI standards and enable trend analysis.
CHBT Regulatory Compliance and Documentation 2
Which record must be maintained for every hemodialysis machine to document its preventive maintenance, repairs, and disinfection history?