CPHRM CPHRM Healthcare Operations Risk 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following operational risks poses the greatest immediate threat to patient safety during a healthcare facility power outage?
- Delayed billing processes
- Failure of life-sustaining medical equipment (Correct answer)
- Cancellation of elective procedures
- Reduced cafeteria hours
Correct answer: Failure of life-sustaining medical equipment
Power outages can cause life-sustaining equipment such as ventilators and infusion pumps to fail, creating an immediate patient safety emergency.
Question 2: A hospital's risk manager is evaluating vendor contracts for operational risk. Which clause is most critical to include?
- A marketing collaboration clause
- A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for HIPAA compliance (Correct answer)
- A clause specifying the vendor's social media policy
- A clause requiring the vendor to attend board meetings
Correct answer: A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for HIPAA compliance
A BAA is legally required under HIPAA when a vendor will access, use, or disclose protected health information on behalf of a covered entity.
Question 3: Which of the following is the primary goal of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in a healthcare organization?
- To prevent all adverse events from occurring
- To maintain essential functions during and after a disruptive event (Correct answer)
- To eliminate the need for cyber liability insurance
- To document the root cause of past incidents
Correct answer: To maintain essential functions during and after a disruptive event
A BCP ensures a healthcare organization can sustain critical operations—such as patient care—during disruptions like natural disasters or cyberattacks.
Question 4: What is the primary operational risk associated with high nurse-to-patient ratios in a hospital unit?
- Increased supply costs
- Higher likelihood of medication errors and adverse patient events (Correct answer)
- Reduced employee satisfaction scores
- Decreased bed occupancy rates
Correct answer: Higher likelihood of medication errors and adverse patient events
When nurses are assigned too many patients, the risk of medication errors, missed assessments, and preventable adverse events increases significantly.
Question 5: A risk manager notices a pattern of equipment-related incidents in the radiology department. The BEST first step is to:
- Immediately decommission all radiology equipment
- Conduct a root cause analysis to identify the underlying cause (Correct answer)
- Transfer all radiology staff to other departments
- Report the incidents to the state health department before investigating
Correct answer: Conduct a root cause analysis to identify the underlying cause
Root cause analysis (RCA) is the appropriate first step to identify systemic factors driving the pattern of equipment-related incidents.
Question 6: Under the Safe Medical Devices Act, hospitals are required to report device-related serious injuries or deaths to:
- The hospital's marketing department
- The FDA and the device manufacturer (Correct answer)
- The state medical board only
- The Joint Commission only
Correct answer: The FDA and the device manufacturer
The Safe Medical Devices Act requires hospitals to report device-related deaths to both the FDA and the manufacturer, and serious injuries to the manufacturer.
CPHRM CPHRM Healthcare Operations Risk 1
Which of the following operational risks poses the greatest immediate threat to patient safety during a healthcare facility power outage?