FREE Basic CPHRM Question and Answers

Question 1

Before it leaves the pharmacy, a prescription must be revised due to the doctor's illegible handwriting. Which statement is accurate?

Accepted Answer

The prescription should not count toward the pharmacy's yield

Answer

A prescription requiring revision due to illegible handwriting represents a process failure or a near miss, even if corrected before dispensing. Counting it towards the pharmacy's 'yield' (implying successful, error-free processing) would inaccurately inflate productivity metrics and mask potential issues in the prescribing process. Such incidents should be tracked as errors or near misses to identify patterns and implement improvements, rather than being treated as a successfully completed task.

Question 2

Why does the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act grant legal immunity and anonymity to peer review procedures in the healthcare industry?

Accepted Answer

To encourage participation by physician

Answer

The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) grants legal immunity and confidentiality to peer review processes to encourage physicians and other healthcare professionals to participate honestly and thoroughly. By protecting reviewers from liability and retaliation, the act fosters candid evaluations of physician competence and conduct. This protection is crucial for maintaining high standards of medical care and improving patient safety without fear of legal repercussions for those involved in the review process.

Question 3

Anesthesiologists are given less time than normal to inspect the infusion device that will administer drugs to a patient after surgery since the facility is busy. The on-site medical staff must work furiously to save the patient's life when the machine breaks down. What sort of example is that?

Accepted Answer

Latent error

Answer

A latent error is a flaw in the design of a system, organization, or process that lies dormant until specific circumstances cause it to contribute to an active error. In this scenario, the busy facility and insufficient time for inspection represent a systemic weakness or latent condition. This pre-existing system flaw creates the environment where the active error (machine breakdown) can occur, leading to patient harm.

Question 4

Blood transfusions at a hospital have been shown to be 99.7% error-free. Which function can be used to calculate the approximate number of blood transfusions necessary before an error is made?

Accepted Answer

Negative binomial distribution

Answer

The negative binomial distribution is appropriate for modeling the number of trials (blood transfusions) needed to achieve a specified number of 'successes,' where a 'success' in this context is an error. Given a known probability of error (1 - 0.997 = 0.003), this distribution can calculate the probability of needing a certain number of transfusions before the first error occurs. It is suitable for situations where you are counting trials until a specific number of events happens.

Question 5

Infusion pumps are used in hospitals to administer intravenous drugs. These pumps do, however, occasionally fail, therefore a nurse is tasked with checking on them from time to time. Is this an effective tactic?

Accepted Answer

No, because it depends on the vigilance of one employee

Answer

Relying solely on the vigilance of a single employee for critical safety checks, especially for equipment like infusion pumps, is an ineffective and unreliable strategy in healthcare. Human vigilance is fallible and can be compromised by fatigue, distraction, or workload. Effective safety systems incorporate multiple layers of defense, such as automated alerts, independent double-checks, and standardized protocols, rather than placing the entire burden of error prevention on one individual.

CPHRM Exam Practice Test

CPHRM Exam Practice Test

FREE Basic CPHRM Question and Answers