Performance and Process Improvement Flashcards

A hospital notices its central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rate has increased over 3 months. Which improvement methodology would BEST guide a structured root cause analysis?

Answer: Lean Six Sigma DMAIC

DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) provides a structured framework for identifying root causes and implementing data-driven improvements.

When using statistical process control (SPC), a point falling beyond the upper control limit on an X-bar chart indicates:

Answer: A special cause requiring investigation

Points beyond control limits signal special cause variation, which is non-random and requires investigation to identify and eliminate the assignable cause.

A quality team wants to prioritize which of 12 identified process failures to address first. The MOST appropriate tool is:

Answer: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

FMEA scores each failure by severity, occurrence, and detectability to calculate a Risk Priority Number, enabling systematic prioritization of improvement efforts.

In process improvement, 'waste' in the Lean framework includes all of the following EXCEPT:

Answer: Staff education and training

Lean identifies eight types of waste (DOWNTIME), and staff education is considered value-added activity, not waste.

A quality professional is evaluating whether a new patient discharge process is superior to the old one. Which statistical test is MOST appropriate for comparing two proportions?

Answer: Chi-square test

The chi-square test is used to compare proportions or frequencies between categorical groups, such as discharge complication rates between two process groups.

The 'P' in the PDSA cycle stands for:

Answer: Plan

PDSA stands for Plan-Do-Study-Act, a cyclical improvement model used for testing changes on a small scale before wider implementation.

Which of the following BEST describes a 'stretch goal' in healthcare performance improvement?

Answer: An ambitious goal that requires innovative change to achieve

Stretch goals are aspirational targets that exceed current performance and require fundamental process changes rather than incremental improvements.