EHR Data Analytics & Population Health 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which statistical measure is most appropriate for describing the central tendency of skewed clinical data distributions?
- Mean
- Median (Correct answer)
- Mode
- Standard deviation
Correct answer: Median
The median is preferred over the mean for skewed distributions because it is not influenced by extreme outliers.
Question 2: A population health analyst identifies that readmission rates differ significantly by ZIP code. This disparity most likely reflects which type of determinant?
- Genetic risk factors
- Social determinants of health (Correct answer)
- Provider skill variation
- Insurance claim errors
Correct answer: Social determinants of health
ZIP code-level disparities in readmissions commonly reflect social determinants such as income, transportation, and access to follow-up care.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a risk stratification model in population health management?
- Bill patients according to their complexity
- Identify high-risk patients for proactive intervention (Correct answer)
- Rank providers by patient outcomes
- Determine medication formulary tiers
Correct answer: Identify high-risk patients for proactive intervention
Risk stratification models score patients by predicted future utilization or deterioration so care teams can intervene before costly events occur.
Question 4: In an EHR data warehouse, a 'fact table' typically stores which type of information?
- Reference code descriptions
- Transactional measurable events such as encounters (Correct answer)
- Patient demographic profiles
- Provider credentialing records
Correct answer: Transactional measurable events such as encounters
In a star schema, fact tables contain quantitative, transactional data like encounter counts, charges, and lab results keyed to dimension tables.
Question 5: Which metric calculates the proportion of a population that has a disease at a specific point in time?
- Incidence rate
- Prevalence rate (Correct answer)
- Mortality rate
- Attack rate
Correct answer: Prevalence rate
Prevalence measures existing cases divided by population size at a specific time, capturing the burden of a disease in a community.
Question 6: A hospital wants to compare its 30-day mortality rates fairly against national benchmarks. Which analytical approach is required?
- Raw rate comparison
- Risk adjustment (Correct answer)
- Cohort elimination
- Seasonal smoothing
Correct answer: Risk adjustment
Risk adjustment accounts for differences in patient severity and case mix so that comparisons across hospitals are clinically fair.
Question 7: Which federal program uses quality measure reporting from EHR data to financially reward or penalize eligible clinicians?
- HIPAA Security Rule
- MIPS (Merit-based Incentive Payment System) (Correct answer)
- Meaningful Use Stage 1
- CMS Conditions of Participation
Correct answer: MIPS (Merit-based Incentive Payment System)
MIPS under MACRA ties Medicare payment adjustments to performance on quality, cost, and improvement activity measures reported via EHR data.
EHR Data Analytics & Population Health 2
Which statistical measure is most appropriate for describing the central tendency of skewed clinical data distributions?