CPHQ Certification CPHQ Release Date

When reporting infection control indicators to a governing body, a healthcare quality professional should use a run chart to demonstrate improvement. A run chart is a simple, yet powerful tool for tracking data points over time and identifying trends or patterns. It can effectively illustrate changes in infection control indicators, showing whether performance is improving, declining, or remaining stable. This is particularly useful for demonstrating the impact of quality improvement efforts to a governingbody.

Frequency plot (B): This is used to show the distribution of data points but does not effectively demonstrate trends over time.

Pie chart (C): Pie charts show proportions of categories at a single point in time and are not useful for showing changes over time.

Scatter plot (D): Scatter plots show relationships between two variables but are not ideal for demonstrating changes in infection control indicators over time.

References

NAHQ Body of Knowledge: Data Visualization in Quality Improvement

NAHQ CPHQ Exam Preparation Materials: Tools for Demonstrating Improvement in Quality Data

=========

The Pareto chart is the most useful tool for the Performance Improvement Committee to determine educational targets based on aggregated occurrence report data. The Pareto chart helps to prioritize areas for improvement by showing the frequency or impact of different causes of problems, following the 80/20 rule (where 80% of problems often stem from 20% of causes). By identifying the most significant issues, the committee can focus its limited resources on the areas that will have the greatest impact on improving staff performance and patient outcomes.

Force field analysis (A): This tool is used for decision-making by analyzing forces for and against a change, but it is lesssuited for prioritizing based on frequency data.

Control chart (B): Used to monitor process stability over time, not for prioritization.

Scattergram (D): Used to identify correlations between variables, not for prioritizing educational targets.

References

NAHQ Body of Knowledge: Quality Improvement Tools and Techniques

NAHQ CPHQ Exam Preparation Materials: Using Pareto Charts in Performance Improvement

=========

An internal customer is someone within the organization who relies on the output of a process or service to perform their duties. In the context of a skilled nursing facility, the nurse completing the initial assessment is considered aninternal customer of the admission process. The nurse depends on the accurate and timely completion of the admission process to assess the patient's condition and plan care accordingly.

Patient’s spouse and family (A): They are external customers who interact with the facility but are not part of its internal processes.

Insurance company (C): This is an external entity involved in the payment process, not an internal customer.

Patient being admitted (D): The patient is the end-user of the services provided but is considered an external customer.

References

NAHQ Body of Knowledge: Customer Identification and Management

NAHQ CPHQ Exam Preparation Materials: Internal and External Customers in Healthcare

=========