Epic Skills Assessment Epic Skills Assessment Algorithmic Problem Solving Questions and Answers 2

Question 1

In the context of Epic systems, which algorithmic approach is most efficient for searching a sorted list of patient records by MRN?

Accepted Answer

Binary search

Answer

Binary search operates in O(log n) time on sorted data, making it the optimal choice for searching sorted patient records by MRN.

Question 2

When designing an algorithm to detect duplicate medication orders in Epic, what is the primary advantage of using a hash set over a sorted array?

Accepted Answer

O(1) average lookup time

Answer

A hash set provides O(1) average-case lookup time for detecting duplicates, compared to O(log n) for a sorted array.

Question 3

An Epic report must process a hierarchical department structure to calculate aggregate patient volumes. Which traversal strategy processes all child departments before moving to sibling departments?

Accepted Answer

Depth-first traversal

Answer

Depth-first traversal fully explores each branch of the hierarchy before backtracking to process sibling nodes.

Question 4

When implementing a scheduling algorithm in Epic that must assign appointments to minimize total patient wait time, which algorithmic paradigm is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Greedy algorithm with shortest job first

Answer

A greedy approach using shortest job first minimizes average wait time by prioritizing shorter appointments.

Question 5

An algorithm needs to find the shortest referral path between two providers in Epic's provider network. Which algorithm is best suited if all referral connections have equal weight?

Accepted Answer

Breadth-first search

Answer

BFS finds the shortest path in an unweighted graph and is more efficient than Dijkstra's when all edges have equal weight.

Epic Skills Assessment Practice Test

Epic Skills Assessment Practice Test

Epic Skills Assessment Epic Skills Assessment Algorithmic Problem Solving Questions and Answers 2