MHA Information Technology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which EHR certification criterion requires that patients be able to electronically access, download, and transmit their health information?
- Meaningful Use Stage 1 Core Measure 1
- View, Download, and Transmit (VDT) (Correct answer)
- Blue Button Initiative
- Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture
Correct answer: View, Download, and Transmit (VDT)
The View, Download, and Transmit criterion under ONC certification ensures patients have electronic access to their own health data.
Question 2: A hospital network experiences a breach of 600 unencrypted laptops containing PHI. Under HIPAA, what must the covered entity do?
- Only notify affected individuals within 60 days
- Notify HHS, notify affected individuals, and notify media in affected states within 60 days (Correct answer)
- Submit an internal incident report only
- Notify HHS annually in their breach summary
Correct answer: Notify HHS, notify affected individuals, and notify media in affected states within 60 days
Breaches affecting 500 or more individuals require notification to HHS, affected individuals, and prominent media outlets in affected states within 60 days.
Question 3: Which governance structure is MOST appropriate for overseeing enterprise-wide EHR implementation decisions in a large hospital system?
- IT department steering committee
- Clinical informatics governance committee with executive and clinical stakeholders (Correct answer)
- Vendor advisory board
- IT helpdesk escalation team
Correct answer: Clinical informatics governance committee with executive and clinical stakeholders
A clinical informatics governance committee that includes executives, clinicians, and IT leadership ensures decisions reflect clinical, operational, and technical perspectives.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of a Master Patient Index (MPI) in a healthcare system?
- To store clinical notes and orders
- To uniquely identify and match patient records across multiple systems (Correct answer)
- To manage insurance claims adjudication
- To track inventory of medical supplies
Correct answer: To uniquely identify and match patient records across multiple systems
The MPI serves as the authoritative registry for patient identity, enabling accurate record matching and preventing duplicate records across systems.
Question 5: In healthcare IT project management, which methodology is BEST suited for an EHR optimization project with rapidly changing clinical requirements?
- Waterfall
- Agile/Scrum (Correct answer)
- PRINCE2
- Critical Path Method
Correct answer: Agile/Scrum
Agile/Scrum allows iterative development with frequent stakeholder feedback, accommodating evolving clinical workflows better than sequential waterfall approaches.
Question 6: Which type of interface engine is commonly used to route HL7 messages between disparate hospital systems such as the ADT system, lab, and pharmacy?
- Relational database management system
- Health information exchange integration engine
- Clinical data repository
- Enterprise service bus / integration engine (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Enterprise service bus / integration engine
An enterprise service bus or integration engine (e.g., Mirth Connect, Rhapsody) translates and routes HL7 messages between healthcare applications.
Question 7: A healthcare organization wants to measure EHR usability. Which validated tool is MOST commonly used for this assessment?
- System Usability Scale (SUS) (Correct answer)
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Press Ganey survey
- CAHPS survey
Correct answer: System Usability Scale (SUS)
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a widely used, validated 10-item questionnaire for assessing perceived usability of software systems including EHRs.
MHA Information Technology 3
Which EHR certification criterion requires that patients be able to electronically access, download, and transmit their health information?