CPHRM CPHRM Exam 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a root cause analysis (RCA) following an adverse event?
- To assign blame to individual staff members
- To identify systemic factors contributing to the event and prevent recurrence (Correct answer)
- To calculate the financial cost of the event
- To notify regulators of the incident
Correct answer: To identify systemic factors contributing to the event and prevent recurrence
RCA is a structured process focused on identifying underlying systemic causes rather than individual blame, enabling system-level improvements.
Question 2: Under which legal doctrine can a hospital be held liable for inadequate physician credentialing?
- Respondeat superior
- Corporate negligence (Correct answer)
- Contributory negligence
- Assumption of risk
Correct answer: Corporate negligence
Corporate negligence holds the hospital directly liable for failing to meet its duty to credential, supervise, and retain only competent medical staff.
Question 3: Which element of an informed consent process specifically addresses the patient's right to ask questions?
- Disclosure of risks
- Voluntariness
- Comprehension and opportunity to ask questions (Correct answer)
- Documentation of the signed form
Correct answer: Comprehension and opportunity to ask questions
Valid informed consent requires that the patient understands the information and has been given an opportunity to ask questions before agreeing.
Question 4: A hospital's self-insured retention (SIR) is $500,000. A claim is settled for $800,000. How much does the hospital pay?
- $800,000
- $500,000 (Correct answer)
- $300,000
- $0
Correct answer: $500,000
Under an SIR arrangement, the hospital pays its retained layer ($500,000); the excess liability insurer covers the remaining $300,000.
Question 5: Which federal act requires healthcare organizations to maintain privacy of individually identifiable health information?
- EMTALA
- HIPAA (Correct answer)
- STARK Law
- Anti-Kickback Statute
Correct answer: HIPAA
HIPAA's Privacy Rule establishes national standards protecting individually identifiable health information (PHI) held by covered entities.
Question 6: A proactive risk assessment tool that systematically evaluates a process before an error occurs is called:
- Root cause analysis
- Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) (Correct answer)
- Incident report review
- Claims trend analysis
Correct answer: Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)
FMEA is a prospective risk assessment methodology that identifies potential failure points in a process before harm occurs.
Question 7: In a claims-made professional liability policy, which date determines coverage for a claim?
- The date the alleged incident occurred
- The date the claim is reported to the insurer during the policy period (Correct answer)
- The date the lawsuit is filed in court
- The date the settlement is paid
Correct answer: The date the claim is reported to the insurer during the policy period
Claims-made policies provide coverage only when the claim is both incurred and reported to the insurer within the active policy period.
CPHRM CPHRM Exam 4
What is the primary purpose of a root cause analysis (RCA) following an adverse event?