Epic Skills Assessment Data and Chart Interpretation 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An Epic report shows the following census data: Monday 42, Tuesday 38, Wednesday 45, Thursday 41, Friday 39. What is the mean daily census for the week?
- 41 (Correct answer)
- 41.5
- 42
- 43
Correct answer: 41
Sum = 42 + 38 + 45 + 41 + 39 = 205; mean = 205 ÷ 5 = 41.
Question 2: A Pareto chart ranks causes of medication errors from most to least frequent: Omission 35%, Dosing 28%, Timing 20%, Documentation 12%, Other 5%. What percentage of errors do the top two causes represent?
- 35%
- 55%
- 63% (Correct answer)
- 83%
Correct answer: 63%
Omission (35%) plus Dosing (28%) equals 63% of all medication errors.
Question 3: A flowsheet graph in Epic shows a patient's SpO2 values: 98%, 97%, 96%, 94%, 91%. The alarm threshold is 92%. At which reading should the alarm have triggered?
- 96%
- 94% (Correct answer)
- 91%
- 97%
Correct answer: 94%
The alarm threshold is 92%, so the first reading to fall below that threshold is 91%, but the first to trigger should be the reading that breaches 92% — which is 91%; however, the reading of 94% is still above 92%, so the alarm triggers at the 91% reading, which is the first value below 92%.
Question 4: A comparison table shows two hospitals' 30-day readmission rates: Hospital A 14.2% (CI: 12.1%–16.3%) and Hospital B 15.1% (CI: 13.8%–16.4%). What can be concluded about the difference between these rates?
- Hospital B has a significantly higher rate than Hospital A
- Hospital A has a significantly lower rate than Hospital B
- The difference is not statistically significant because the confidence intervals overlap (Correct answer)
- Hospital A performs better because its rate is lower
Correct answer: The difference is not statistically significant because the confidence intervals overlap
When confidence intervals overlap substantially, the difference between the two estimates is generally not statistically significant.
Question 5: In Epic's population health dashboard, a bubble chart plots patient risk score (x-axis), cost (y-axis), and bubble size represents number of patients. A large bubble in the upper-right quadrant indicates what?
- Many low-risk, low-cost patients
- Many high-risk, high-cost patients (Correct answer)
- Few high-risk, high-cost patients
- Many low-risk, high-cost patients
Correct answer: Many high-risk, high-cost patients
Upper-right = high values on both axes (high risk and high cost); large bubble = many patients — so this represents a large group of high-risk, high-cost patients.
Question 6: A monthly report shows total hours of overtime worked: Jan 120, Feb 95, Mar 140, Apr 88, May 110. If the budget allows for 100 overtime hours per month, in how many months was the budget exceeded?
- 1
- 2
- 3 (Correct answer)
- 4
Correct answer: 3
January (120), March (140), and May (110) all exceed 100 hours — three months exceeded the overtime budget.
Question 7: An Epic analytics report displays a heat map of patient falls by day of week and shift. The darkest cell is Wednesday/Night shift. What does this mean?
- Wednesday Night shift has the lowest fall rate
- Wednesday Night shift has the highest fall frequency (Correct answer)
- Night shifts always have the most falls
- Wednesday is the most dangerous day overall
Correct answer: Wednesday Night shift has the highest fall frequency
In a heat map, the darkest cell represents the highest value — in this case, the highest frequency of patient falls occurring on Wednesday during the Night shift.
Epic Skills Assessment Data and Chart Interpretation 4
An Epic report shows the following census data: Monday 42, Tuesday 38, Wednesday 45, Thursday 41, Friday 39.
What is the mean daily census for the week?