NAHQ CPHQ Certification CPHQ New Questions

Safe transitions of care (e.g., from hospital to home or skilled nursing facilities) require robust processes to prevent errors like medication discrepancies or lack of follow-up. An organizational assessment should focus on evaluating these processes comprehensively.

Option A (Review patient feedback about transfers to skilled nursing facilities): Patient feedback provides insights but is limited to perceptions, not a comprehensive process evaluation.

Option B (Assess case management discharge and transfer records): Records show outcomes but do not evaluate the underlying processes driving safety.

Option C (Evaluate processes for discharges and transfers): This is the correct answer. The NAHQ CPHQ study guide states, “To ensure safe transitions of care, quality professionals should evaluate discharge and transfer processes, including communication, medication reconciliation, and follow-up planning” (Domain 5). Tools like process mapping or tracers assess these processes.

Option D (Audit documentation of patient discharge summaries): Auditing documentation is a narrow aspect of transitions, not a full process evaluation.

CPHQ Objective Reference: Domain 5: Population Health and Care Transitions, Objective 5.3, “Assess processes for safe care transitions,” emphasizes evaluating discharge and transfer processes. The NAHQ study guide notes, “Process evaluation ensures safe handoffs and continuity of care” (Domain 5).

Rationale: Evaluating processes provides a comprehensive assessment of transition safety, aligning with CPHQ’s care transition principles.

Per the NAHQ CPHQ exam blueprint and official competency framework, healthcare quality measurement is categorized into structure, process, outcome, and balancing measures. Outcome measures focus on the end results of healthcare services and evaluate the impact of care on a patient’s health status, functioning, or survival.

A procedural complication rate is a clear example of an outcome measure because it directly reflects the clinical results of knee replacement surgery, such as postoperative infections, bleeding, thromboembolic events, or surgical failures. Outcome measures assess whether the care delivered achieved its intended purpose and are essential for evaluating effectiveness, safety, and quality of care, which are core competencies tested on the CPHQ exam.

Option A (clinical pathway compliance rate) and Option B (completion of surgical time-outs) are process measures, as they evaluate whether specific care activities were performed according to established standards. While important for monitoring adherence and preventing errors, they do not measure the actual result of care. Option C (patient experience survey results) is classified as a patient-reported experience measure, which captures perceptions of care rather than clinical outcomes.

The CPHQ framework emphasizes outcome measures as critical for performance evaluation, benchmarking, and quality improvement decision-making, making procedural complication rate the most appropriate answer.

Detailed Explanation:

The CNO as project sponsor provides high-level support, while the staff nurse in the ED as champion ensures buy-in from frontline staff.

Option C: Staff nurse ED as champion and CNO as project sponsor

This combination provides both leadership support and frontline engagement, which are essential for successful implementation.

The Organizational Leadership domain highlights strategies to promote effective decision-making and psychological safety. Groupthink occurs when a desire for harmony suppresses critical evaluation of alternatives.

Encouraging dissenting opinions ensures diverse perspectives are considered, challenges assumptions, and reduces the risk of poor decisions. While cohesion and teamwork are valuable, they can contribute to groupthink if not balanced with open dialogue. Frequent meetings alone do not address the issue. Therefore, Option B is the most effective strategy.