Risk Management & Mitigation Flashcards
7 cards from real HCC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Risk Management & Mitigation flashcards as text
A consultant is asked to help a client define its 'risk appetite.' What does this term mean?
Answer: The amount and type of risk an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives
Risk appetite is the level of risk an organization is willing to take on to achieve its strategic goals.
Which scenario best illustrates a latent (system) failure rather than an active failure?
Answer: Look-alike medication vials stored side by side in the pharmacy
Latent failures are hidden system conditions, like error-prone storage design, that set the stage for active errors by frontline staff.
A client hospital's emergency preparedness plan has not been tested in three years. What should the consultant recommend first?
Answer: Conduct a tabletop exercise or drill to test the plan
Regular exercises validate that emergency plans work and reveal gaps before a real disaster.
Under the Swiss cheese model of accident causation, patient harm occurs when what happens?
Answer: Holes in multiple defense layers align, letting a hazard pass through
The Swiss cheese model holds that harm occurs when weaknesses in successive defensive barriers line up.
A consultant recommends adding a pharmacist review step before high-alert medications are dispensed. This is an example of which mitigation approach?
Answer: Adding a redundancy or forcing function to reduce error likelihood
Adding an independent verification step builds redundancy into the process, reducing the chance an error reaches the patient.
Which financing arrangement involves a hospital setting aside its own funds to pay for potential losses instead of buying commercial insurance?
Answer: Self-insurance (risk retention)
Self-insurance means the organization retains the risk and funds potential losses from its own reserves.
A consultant notes that a client's incident reports are only reviewed quarterly. Why is this a weakness in the risk management program?
Answer: Delayed review slows detection of emerging patterns and timely corrective action
Infrequent review delays trend identification and allows correctable hazards to persist longer.