CMC Quality Assurance & Improvement 3

Question 1

A cardiac program wants to reduce 30-day heart failure readmissions. Which intervention has the strongest evidence for this outcome?

Accepted Answer

Structured transitional care with early follow-up and nurse telephone support

Answer

Structured transitional care programs including pre-discharge education, early post-discharge follow-up, and telephone support have the strongest evidence for reducing HF readmissions.

Question 2

In Lean methodology applied to a cardiac catheterization lab, which of the following best describes 'waste' (muda)?

Accepted Answer

Unnecessary patient transport between departments that adds no clinical value

Answer

In Lean, waste includes any activity consuming resources without adding value to the patient — unnecessary transport between departments is a classic example of motion/transport waste.

Question 3

A QI team finds that only 60% of STEMI patients receive aspirin within 10 minutes of arrival. Using a cause-and-effect analysis, which category would 'no aspirin stocked in triage' fall under?

Accepted Answer

Materials/Equipment

Answer

In a fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram, absence of a required supply like aspirin in triage falls under the 'Materials' (or Equipment) category.

Question 4

Which of the following best defines a 'sentinel event' in the context of The Joint Commission standards for cardiac care?

Accepted Answer

An unexpected event resulting in death or serious physical harm not related to the natural course of the patient's illness

Answer

The Joint Commission defines a sentinel event as an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological harm, or the risk thereof, signaling the need for immediate investigation.

Question 5

In cardiac quality reporting, what is the purpose of risk adjustment?

Accepted Answer

To allow fair comparison of outcomes across hospitals serving populations with different levels of illness severity

Answer

Risk adjustment accounts for differences in patient case mix so that outcomes reflect care quality rather than patient demographics or comorbidity burden.

CMC - Cardiac Medicine Certification Practice Test

CMC - Cardiac Medicine Certification Practice Test

CMC Quality Assurance & Improvement 3