MHA Population Health Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which framework is most commonly used to stratify patient populations by risk level in population health management?
- APACHE II scoring
- Risk stratification using claims data and predictive analytics (Correct answer)
- HEDIS measurement sets
- SOAP note documentation
Correct answer: Risk stratification using claims data and predictive analytics
Claims data combined with predictive analytics allows health systems to stratify populations into low-, medium-, and high-risk tiers to target interventions.
Question 2: In a value-based care arrangement, which metric best measures the effectiveness of chronic disease management across a population?
- Average length of hospital stay
- All-cause readmission rate within 30 days
- Percentage of diabetic patients with HbA1c under control (Correct answer)
- Surgical site infection rate
Correct answer: Percentage of diabetic patients with HbA1c under control
Disease-specific outcome metrics like HbA1c control rates directly reflect the quality of chronic disease management in a defined population.
Question 3: The Triple Aim framework, developed by IHI, focuses on improving care for individuals, improving population health, and:
- Reducing administrative burden
- Eliminating health disparities
- Reducing the per-capita cost of healthcare (Correct answer)
- Increasing physician satisfaction
Correct answer: Reducing the per-capita cost of healthcare
The IHI Triple Aim targets better individual care, better population health, and lower per-capita costs simultaneously.
Question 4: Community health needs assessments (CHNAs) are required every three years for which type of organization under the ACA?
- Federally Qualified Health Centers
- For-profit hospital chains
- Nonprofit hospitals (Correct answer)
- Medicare Advantage plans
Correct answer: Nonprofit hospitals
The ACA requires nonprofit hospitals to conduct CHNAs every three years and adopt implementation strategies to address identified needs.
Question 5: Which social determinant of health domain has the strongest evidence for driving avoidable emergency department visits among low-income populations?
- Educational attainment
- Food insecurity
- Housing instability (Correct answer)
- Transportation barriers
Correct answer: Housing instability
Housing instability is consistently linked to higher ED utilization as individuals without stable shelter often lack access to preventive and primary care.
Question 6: A health system launches a care coordination program for high-utilizers. Which outcome measure would BEST indicate the program is reducing unnecessary care?
- Patient satisfaction scores
- Number of care coordinators hired
- Reduction in preventable hospitalizations (Correct answer)
- Average appointment wait time
Correct answer: Reduction in preventable hospitalizations
Reduction in preventable hospitalizations directly measures whether care coordination is keeping high-risk patients out of the hospital appropriately.
Question 7: Under an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model, which payment mechanism rewards providers for keeping total cost of care below a benchmark while meeting quality thresholds?
- Fee-for-service with pay-for-performance bonuses
- Shared savings (Correct answer)
- Global capitation
- Bundled payments
Correct answer: Shared savings
Shared savings allows ACOs to retain a portion of savings generated below the spending benchmark when quality standards are also met.
MHA Population Health Management 2
Which framework is most commonly used to stratify patient populations by risk level in population health management?