Quality Assurance & Improvement Flashcards
7 cards from real CRE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Quality Assurance & Improvement flashcards as text
A respiratory educator collects data showing that 60% of COPD patients cannot correctly demonstrate pursed-lip breathing after one session. The MOST appropriate next QI step is to:
Answer: Conduct a root cause analysis to identify why skill acquisition is low
When data reveals a performance gap, root cause analysis identifies underlying factors so that targeted, evidence-based interventions can be designed.
In healthcare quality, 'never events' are defined as:
Answer: Serious, largely preventable patient safety events that should never occur
Never events are serious, preventable adverse events (such as wrong-site procedures) that signal fundamental system failures and require immediate investigation.
When calculating the 'return on investment' (ROI) for a respiratory education program, which outcome would be MOST compelling to hospital administrators?
Answer: Reduction in 30-day COPD readmission rates and associated cost savings
Reduced readmission rates translate directly to cost savings, making this the most financially compelling outcome metric for administrative stakeholders.
Which concept describes the degree to which a quality improvement intervention works under real-world conditions (versus controlled research settings)?
Answer: Effectiveness
Effectiveness measures how well an intervention performs in typical, real-world clinical practice, as opposed to efficacy which is measured under controlled trial conditions.
A respiratory education department wants to reduce variation in inhaler technique instruction. Which approach is MOST consistent with Lean quality principles?
Answer: Standardizing the teaching process and eliminating non-value-added steps
Lean principles focus on standardizing processes and eliminating waste (non-value-added steps) to reduce variation and improve efficiency and quality.
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) used in respiratory education quality assessment are BEST described as:
Answer: Standardized tools capturing patients' own perceptions of their health status and quality of life
PROMs are validated instruments that capture patients' subjective reports of symptoms, functional status, and quality of life from their own perspective.
When disseminating QI findings from a respiratory education program improvement project, which format is MOST appropriate for sharing results with frontline educators?
Answer: A brief visual summary with key findings and actionable recommendations
Frontline staff benefit most from concise, visually clear summaries that translate findings into practical, actionable steps relevant to their daily work.