General Surgery Board Review Quality Control & Assurance 3

Question 1

Which statistical tool is most commonly used in surgical quality control to detect changes in complication rates over time?

Accepted Answer

Cumulative sum (CUSUM) chart

Answer

CUSUM charts are designed to detect sequential changes and learning curve effects in surgical performance by plotting cumulative deviations from a target.

Question 2

Which of the following is a key principle of High Reliability Organizations (HROs) applied to surgical settings?

Accepted Answer

Preoccupation with failure and sensitivity to operations at all levels

Answer

HROs actively seek out potential failures, empower all team members to speak up, and treat near-misses as learning opportunities rather than non-events.

Question 3

A root cause analysis (RCA) following a retained foreign body event identifies that instrument counts were not documented. Under which category of contributing factors does this fall?

Accepted Answer

System/process failure

Answer

Absent documentation of counts represents a system/process failure because standardized protocols for count verification were not reliably embedded in the workflow.

Question 4

According to CMS quality reporting, the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program penalizes hospitals that rank in which performance tier for HACs?

Accepted Answer

Worst-performing quartile (top 25% of HAC rates)

Answer

CMS reduces Medicare payments by 1% for hospitals in the worst-performing quartile (highest HAC rates) under the HAC Reduction Program.

Question 5

Which evidence-based bundle is specifically associated with reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in surgical patients?

Accepted Answer

Maximal sterile barrier precautions, chlorhexidine skin antisepsis, and daily necessity review

Answer

The CLABSI prevention bundle includes hand hygiene, full-barrier precautions, chlorhexidine antisepsis, optimal site selection, and daily line necessity review.

General Surgery Board Review Practice Test

General Surgery Board Review Practice Test

General Surgery Board Review Quality Control & Assurance 3