CIR Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Flashcards
6 cards from real CIR practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 CIR Quality Improvement & Patient Safety flashcards as text
In a cardiac catheterization lab, a 'time-out' performed immediately before a procedure primarily serves to:
Answer: Verify correct patient identity, procedure, site, and implant availability
The pre-procedure time-out is a Joint Commission-mandated Universal Protocol step ensuring the correct patient is receiving the correct procedure at the correct site with all necessary resources ready.
Which metric is most commonly used to benchmark door-to-balloon (D2B) time quality in STEMI care?
Answer: Mean D2B time ≤ 90 minutes for ≥ 75% of eligible patients
The ACC/AHA and CMS quality benchmark targets a median D2B time ≤ 90 minutes for at least 75% of eligible STEMI patients presenting to PCI-capable hospitals.
A near-miss event in the cath lab is best defined as:
Answer: An unplanned event that did not reach the patient but had the potential to cause harm
Near-miss events are unplanned incidents that did not result in patient harm but could have — reporting them is critical for proactive safety system improvement.
Root cause analysis (RCA) in cath lab quality improvement is triggered primarily by:
Answer: Sentinel events, serious adverse events, or significant near-misses
RCA is a structured retrospective investigation conducted after sentinel events or serious patient safety incidents to identify contributing system factors and prevent recurrence.
Which quality indicator specifically tracks unplanned coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) following percutaneous coronary intervention?
Answer: Emergency CABG rate post-PCI
Emergency CABG rate after PCI is a key procedural complication metric tracked by the ACC National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) as a quality and safety indicator.
The ALARA principle in cath lab radiation safety stands for:
Answer: As Low As Reasonably Achievable
ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) is the guiding principle for radiation protection, requiring that exposure to patients and staff be minimized while maintaining diagnostic and therapeutic image quality.