CPHQ Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield CPHQ facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. In healthcare quality, 'reliability' refers to which concept? → Consistently performing the right care every time for every patient
2. When using a run chart to monitor a quality metric over time, what feature indicates a statistically significant process change? → Six or more consecutive points above or below the median
3. A quality leader is evaluating a quality improvement project that showed short-term gains but then reverted to baseline. Which concept explains this regression? → Lack of sustainability
4. Which national program financially rewards or penalizes hospitals based on quality performance metrics, including HCAHPS scores? → Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program
5. In assessment methodology, a Likert scale instrument is MOST appropriate for measuring: → Patient attitudes and perceptions
6. The 'Define' phase of DMAIC primarily involves: → Clearly articulating the problem, scope, and project goals
7. Which framework specifically addresses human error in complex sociotechnical systems by categorizing failures as person-based or system-based? → James Reason's Human Error Model
8. When should a healthcare team recalculate control chart limits? → After a confirmed, sustained process change or improvement
9. Under HIPAA, which of the following is required when a covered entity discovers a breach of unsecured PHI affecting more than 500 individuals? → Notify HHS and prominent media outlets in the affected area within 60 days
10. In outcomes measurement, 'attribution' refers to: → Crediting a patient outcome to a specific provider, team, or facility
11. An occurrence report (incident report) is best used for: → Documenting events to support quality improvement and risk management
12. In SPC terminology, a process is said to be 'in statistical control' when: → Only common cause variation is present and no control chart rules are violated
13. A quality improvement team wants to prioritize which problems to address first. Which tool helps identify the few causes responsible for most of the defects? → Pareto chart
14. When a hospital reports a quality measure to CMS for public reporting, this is an example of: → External accountability and transparency
15. Which of the following patient populations is at HIGHEST risk for adverse events during care transitions according to evidence-based literature? → Elderly patients with multiple chronic conditions and polypharmacy
16. During a medication safety assessment, which measurement level generates the most actionable improvement data? → Near-miss event rates by medication type and care unit
17. In the CPHQ framework, 'gap analysis' during organizational assessment refers to: → Identifying the difference between current performance and desired standards
18. Which human factors principle reduces reliance on memory to prevent medication errors? → Cognitive aids and checklists
19. What is the primary goal of clinical risk management in a healthcare organization? → Identify, assess, and mitigate risks to patients, staff, and the organization
20. A quality team discovers that a medication error reporting process has a defect rate of 3.4 per million opportunities. This performance level corresponds to: → Six Sigma
21. In the context of CPHQ principles, patient and family engagement is MOST strongly linked to improvements in: → Safety culture, patient experience scores, and care quality outcomes
22. The 'five rights' of medication administration are patient, medication, dose, route, and: → Time
23. When plotting an Individuals (I) chart, the moving range is typically calculated using how many consecutive observations? → 2 consecutive points
24. Which of the following BEST measures the effectiveness of a patient and family engagement program? → Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)
25. An organization implements a 'pay for performance' (P4P) program. What population health risk must quality professionals monitor? → Cherry-picking healthier patients to improve measured performance scores
26. A balanced scorecard is helpful because it → put strategy and vision at the center of an organization's effort.
27. Which ICD coding system replaced ICD-9-CM in the United States for inpatient diagnoses and procedures on October 1, 2015? → ICD-10-CM/PCS
28. In healthcare quality integration, which concept refers to the degree to which care services are coordinated across people, functions, and sites over time? → Integrated Care
29. For the CPHQ exam, which measure is used as the centerline of an R chart? → Average of subgroup ranges (R-bar)
30. Whose reputation as a quality guru is tied to the phrase "Trilogy"? → Juran