CIR CIR Quality Improvement & Patient Safety

Question 1

In a cardiac catheterization lab, a 'time-out' performed immediately before a procedure primarily serves to:

Accepted Answer

Verify correct patient identity, procedure, site, and implant availability

Answer

The pre-procedure time-out is a Joint Commission-mandated Universal Protocol step ensuring the correct patient is receiving the correct procedure at the correct site with all necessary resources ready.

Question 2

Which metric is most commonly used to benchmark door-to-balloon (D2B) time quality in STEMI care?

Accepted Answer

Mean D2B time ≤ 90 minutes for ≥ 75% of eligible patients

Answer

The ACC/AHA and CMS quality benchmark targets a median D2B time ≤ 90 minutes for at least 75% of eligible STEMI patients presenting to PCI-capable hospitals.

Question 3

A near-miss event in the cath lab is best defined as:

Accepted Answer

An unplanned event that did not reach the patient but had the potential to cause harm

Answer

Near-miss events are unplanned incidents that did not result in patient harm but could have — reporting them is critical for proactive safety system improvement.

Question 4

Root cause analysis (RCA) in cath lab quality improvement is triggered primarily by:

Accepted Answer

Sentinel events, serious adverse events, or significant near-misses

Answer

RCA is a structured retrospective investigation conducted after sentinel events or serious patient safety incidents to identify contributing system factors and prevent recurrence.

Question 5

Which quality indicator specifically tracks unplanned coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) following percutaneous coronary intervention?

Accepted Answer

Emergency CABG rate post-PCI

Answer

Emergency CABG rate after PCI is a key procedural complication metric tracked by the ACC National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) as a quality and safety indicator.

CIR - Cardiac Interventional Radiology Practice Test

CIR - Cardiac Interventional Radiology Practice Test

CIR CIR Quality Improvement & Patient Safety