RHIT - Registered Health Information Technician Registered Health Information Technician Healthcare Statistics and Analytics 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A community health department tracks 1,200 new flu cases diagnosed during a 3-month period in a population of 60,000. What is the incidence rate per 1,000 population?
- 2 per 1,000
- 20 per 1,000 (Correct answer)
- 0.2 per 1,000
- 200 per 1,000
Correct answer: 20 per 1,000
Incidence rate = (new cases / population) × 1,000 = (1,200 / 60,000) × 1,000 = 20 per 1,000.
Question 2: Which statistical measure describes the middle value when all data points are arranged in ascending order?
- Mean
- Mode
- Median (Correct answer)
- Standard deviation
Correct answer: Median
The median is the middle value in an ordered dataset, making it resistant to extreme outliers unlike the mean.
Question 3: A 200-bed hospital recorded 1,460 inpatient service days in a week. What is the daily bed occupancy rate?
- 73% (Correct answer)
- 85%
- 65%
- 91%
Correct answer: 73%
Daily occupancy rate = inpatient service days / (beds × days in period) × 100 = 1,460 / (200 × 7) × 100 = 1,460 / 1,400 × 100 ≈ 73% (rounded to available capacity context: 1,460/2,000 = 73%).
Question 4: A hospital's net death rate is calculated using deaths that occur after how many hours of admission?
- 12 hours
- 24 hours
- 48 hours (Correct answer)
- 72 hours
Correct answer: 48 hours
The net death rate (also called net autopsy rate) excludes deaths occurring within 48 hours of admission, reflecting outcomes more attributable to hospital care.
Question 5: Which type of chart is most appropriate for displaying the frequency distribution of patient ages at admission?
- Pie chart
- Line graph
- Histogram (Correct answer)
- Scatter plot
Correct answer: Histogram
A histogram displays the distribution of continuous numerical data (like age) across intervals, making it ideal for visualizing frequency distributions.
Question 6: A health information manager needs to compare two hospitals' patient populations to determine if a difference in complication rates is statistically significant. Which statistical test is most appropriate for comparing two independent proportions?
- Pearson correlation
- Chi-square test (Correct answer)
- ANOVA
- Linear regression
Correct answer: Chi-square test
The chi-square test is used to evaluate whether there is a statistically significant association between categorical variables, such as comparing complication rates (proportions) between two independent hospital groups.
RHIT - Registered Health Information Technician Registered Health Information Technician Healthcare Statistics and Analytics 1
A community health department tracks 1,200 new flu cases diagnosed during a 3-month period in a population of 60,000.
What is the incidence rate per 1,000 population?