MPH Master of Public Health: Public Health & U.S. Health Care 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which measure is commonly used to assess the overall health of a population and compare health systems internationally?
- Crude death rate
- Infant mortality rate (Correct answer)
- Hospital readmission rate
- Emergency department visit rate
Correct answer: Infant mortality rate
Infant mortality rate is widely used as a sensitive indicator of population health and the effectiveness of a nation's health care and social systems.
Question 2: The 'triple aim' framework in U.S. health care reform, developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, focuses on:
- Cost, quality, and access for insured populations only
- Improving patient experience, improving population health, and reducing per-capita costs (Correct answer)
- Eliminating unnecessary procedures, reducing malpractice, and expanding Medicare
- Increasing provider reimbursement, expanding hospital capacity, and reducing uninsured rates
Correct answer: Improving patient experience, improving population health, and reducing per-capita costs
The Triple Aim simultaneously pursues better care for individuals, better health for populations, and lower per-capita cost of care.
Question 3: Which of the following is a characteristic unique to the U.S. health care system compared to other high-income countries?
- Universal coverage funded primarily through taxes
- Reliance on a single-payer government insurance program
- A predominantly multi-payer system without universal coverage (Correct answer)
- Price controls on all pharmaceutical drugs
Correct answer: A predominantly multi-payer system without universal coverage
The U.S. is the only high-income country without universal health coverage and uses a complex multi-payer system involving private and public insurers.
Question 4: In epidemiology, 'incidence' refers to:
- The total number of existing cases of a disease in a population at a given time
- The number of new cases of a disease occurring in a population over a specific period (Correct answer)
- The proportion of a population that dies from a particular disease
- The frequency of a risk factor in a defined population
Correct answer: The number of new cases of a disease occurring in a population over a specific period
Incidence measures the rate at which new cases of disease develop, reflecting disease risk in a population.
Question 5: The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accredits public health departments primarily to:
- Grant federal funding directly to qualifying departments
- Improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality of public health departments (Correct answer)
- License individual public health professionals
- Set reimbursement rates for public health services
Correct answer: Improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality of public health departments
PHAB accreditation is a voluntary process that promotes continuous quality improvement in public health department performance.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes a 'health maintenance organization' (HMO)?
- An insurer that pays any provider the patient chooses without referrals
- A managed care plan that requires members to use a specific network and obtain referrals for specialty care (Correct answer)
- A government program for elderly individuals over age 65
- A nonprofit organization that provides free care to uninsured individuals
Correct answer: A managed care plan that requires members to use a specific network and obtain referrals for specialty care
HMOs coordinate care through a primary care physician gatekeeper and restrict coverage to network providers, aiming to manage costs and quality.
Question 7: Which principle underpins the ethical justification for mandatory vaccination programs in the United States?
- Individual autonomy always overrides community interests
- Utilitarianism — maximizing health benefit for the greatest number of people (Correct answer)
- Deontological duty of each citizen to follow any government directive
- Virtue ethics — vaccines build moral character
Correct answer: Utilitarianism — maximizing health benefit for the greatest number of people
Mandatory vaccination policies are typically justified on utilitarian grounds: protecting herd immunity benefits the entire community, including those who cannot be vaccinated.
MPH Master of Public Health: Public Health & U.S. Health Care 3
Which measure is commonly used to assess the overall health of a population and compare health systems internationally?