CPHQ Risk Management and Patient Advocacy 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which law protects peer review information from discovery in most U.S. states?
- HIPAA Privacy Rule
- Peer Review Protection Statutes (Correct answer)
- The Stark Law
- The False Claims Act
Correct answer: Peer Review Protection Statutes
State peer review protection statutes shield peer review records from legal discovery to encourage candid quality improvement discussions.
Question 2: An occurrence report (incident report) is best used for:
- Disciplining staff involved in errors
- Documenting events to support quality improvement and risk management (Correct answer)
- Billing adjustments after adverse events
- Reporting to state health departments only
Correct answer: Documenting events to support quality improvement and risk management
Occurrence reports are internal documents used to track events for quality improvement and risk management, not for disciplinary action.
Question 3: Which concept describes the degree to which patients are protected from unintended harm during care?
- Patient satisfaction
- Patient safety (Correct answer)
- Patient engagement
- Patient throughput
Correct answer: Patient safety
Patient safety refers to the prevention of errors and adverse effects to patients associated with health care.
Question 4: A hospital's risk manager discovers that a surgical sponge was left in a patient post-operatively. This is classified as a:
- Near miss
- Sentinel event (Correct answer)
- Adverse drug event
- Minor incident
Correct answer: Sentinel event
An unintended retention of a foreign body after surgery is a sentinel event — a serious, largely preventable patient safety event.
Question 5: In the context of informed consent, which element is NOT required?
- Description of the proposed treatment
- Risks and benefits of the treatment
- Guarantee of a successful outcome (Correct answer)
- Alternatives to the proposed treatment
Correct answer: Guarantee of a successful outcome
Informed consent requires disclosure of risks, benefits, and alternatives, but clinicians cannot and must not guarantee outcomes.
Question 6: The purpose of a proactive risk assessment in healthcare organizations is to:
- Respond to malpractice claims
- Identify and address vulnerabilities before harm occurs (Correct answer)
- Review past medical errors only
- Satisfy accreditation surveys
Correct answer: Identify and address vulnerabilities before harm occurs
Proactive risk assessment identifies system vulnerabilities and addresses them before they result in patient harm or organizational liability.
CPHQ Risk Management and Patient Advocacy 2
Which law protects peer review information from discovery in most U.S. states?