• 50 questions

CPHQ Practice Questions

Unofficial practice for the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality exam, in the seven domains of its content outline.

What is the largest payment reduction under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

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Exam mode: 40 questions, 51 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ). Bank checked October 13, 2026.

The real exam, as NAHQ describes it

Questions
140
Time limit
180 minutes
Retakes
In the United States, 14 days after the attempt; three attempts in 365 days.
Scored
125 scored questions and 15 pretest questions that do not count.
Choices
Multiple choice, with options A, B, C and D.
Score
Scaled, 200 to 800; 600 passes. Not a percent.
Kinds of items
About 23% recall, 57% application and 20% analysis.
Domains
Seven: leadership 19, improvement 27, population health 11, analytics 26, safety 18, review 16, regulatory 8.

Checked October 13, 2026 against NAHQ, CPHQ Domestic Candidate Handbook (V.2024.7), CPHQ page and Detailed Content Outline (3/2023). Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

NAHQ's own CPHQ page

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All 50 questions

Quality leadership and integration 8

  • A health system plans a self-assessment against the Baldrige health care criteria. Which list names categories of those criteria? NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, Baldrige Criteria Commentary (Health Care). Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A.1, organizational improvement opportunities).
  • A hospital board asks who answers for the quality program reaching every department and contracted service. Under the Medicare conditions of participation, who must ensure it? 42 CFR 482.21, Condition of participation: Quality assessment and performance improvement program (eCFR). Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A.4, quality governance infrastructure).
  • A strategic plan is built on the IHI Triple Aim. Which three aims does it pursue together? Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Improvement Topic: Triple Aim. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A.5, align quality and safety activities with strategic goals).
  • Before setting goals, a quality council lists what its program does well and badly and what outside factors could help or harm it. Which tool is this? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, SWOT Analysis. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A, strategic planning).
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Quality leadership and integration, continued

  • CMS describes QAPI as the coordinated application of which two parts of a quality management system? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, QAPI Description and Background. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A.4, quality governance infrastructure).
  • Leaders must pick three projects from twelve proposals by scoring each against agreed criteria such as risk, cost and fit with strategy. Which tool fits? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Prioritization Matrix. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A.3, assist with establishing priorities).
  • Staff on one unit say they keep quiet about near misses because they expect to be disciplined. Which feature of a culture of safety is missing? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Culture of Safety. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (B.2, assess the organization's culture of quality and safety).
  • Which objective in an action plan is written in SMART form? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Objectives and Goals. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 1, Quality Leadership and Integration (A.2, development of action plans or projects).

Performance and process improvement 11

  • A clinic tested a new reminder call for two weeks. The team now compares the no-show data with its aim and asks whether the plan worked and by how much. Which PDSA stage is this? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, PDSA: Plan-Do-Study-Act. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (G, use performance improvement methods, PDSA).
  • A manager draws a T and lists on one side what pushes the unit toward bedside shift report and on the other what holds it back. Which tool? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Force Field Analysis. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (F, lead and facilitate change).
  • A new team adopts the Model for Improvement. Which of its questions do teams usually take first? Institute for Healthcare Improvement, How to Improve: Model for Improvement. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (G, use performance improvement methods).
  • A project lead wants one picture of the tasks, when each takes place and how long each lasts, shaded as work is completed. Which tool? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Gantt Chart. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (I, monitoring of project timelines and deliverables).
  • A team has thirty ideas. The facilitator wants every member to rank them, so quiet members count as much as dominant ones. Which technique? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Multivoting. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (D, establish teams, roles, responsibilities and scope).
  • A team wants to lay out every possible cause of late discharges on one page so it works on root causes and not symptoms. Which tool? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Fishbone Diagram. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (H, use quality tools and techniques, fishbone diagram).
  • Before redesigning admissions, a team wants to see the steps as they really happen, set against what the policy says. Which tool? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Flowchart. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (H, use quality tools and techniques, process map).
  • Complaints fall into nine categories. Which chart shows, in bars from tallest to shortest, the few categories that cause most of them? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Pareto Chart. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (C, identify quality improvement opportunities).
  • Lab specimens sit in a bin for up to an hour until the courier makes an hourly round. In Lean terms, which waste is this? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Lean. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (G, use performance improvement methods, Lean).
  • What is a kaizen event? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Kaizen Events. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (G, use performance improvement methods, Lean).
  • What must a good aim statement contain? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Aim Statement. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 2, Performance and Process Improvement (D, establish teams, roles, responsibilities and scope).

Population health and care transitions 4

  • A readmission project adds data on where patients live, learn and work. What is the team now measuring? Healthy People 2030, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Determinants of Health. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 3, Population Health and Care Transitions (E, use social determinants of health data to drive improvement).
  • About what share of Medicare patients are back in the hospital within 30 days of discharge? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Readmissions and Adverse Events After Discharge. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 3, Population Health and Care Transitions (F, opportunities for improvement in care transitions).
  • At discharge a nurse sets the patient's full home medicine list beside the discharge orders to catch omissions and duplicates. What is this process called? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Medication Reconciliation. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 3, Population Health and Care Transitions (F, opportunities for improvement in care transitions).
  • Healthy People 2030 groups social determinants of health into five domains. Which is one of them? Healthy People 2030, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Determinants of Health. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 3, Population Health and Care Transitions (H, concepts of social determinants of health).

Health data analytics 10

  • A hospital studies the sepsis measures and practices of the best performers elsewhere and applies them at home. What is this called? AHRQ Digital Healthcare Research, Workflow Assessment for Health IT Toolkit, Benchmarking. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.6, compare data sources to establish benchmarks).
  • A scatter plot shows that units with more overtime hours have more falls. What may the team conclude? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Scatter Plot. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.4, use statistics to examine relationships: correlation).
  • An analyst plots monthly hand hygiene compliance in time order to look for trends and shifts before and after a campaign. Which display is this? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Run Chart. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.2, data visualization and display techniques).
  • Each time a first surgery starts late, staff make a tally mark beside the reason on a prepared form. Which tool is this? Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health and QI Toolbox, Check Sheet. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (A.2.b, data collection tools and techniques).
  • In the Donabedian model, the nurse staffing level on a unit is which kind of measure? Wikipedia, Donabedian model. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (A.3, identify and select measures: structure, process, outcome).
  • In the Donabedian model, where does patient satisfaction belong? Wikipedia, Donabedian model. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (A.3, identify and select measures: outcome, experience).
  • On a control chart, one point falls above the upper control limit. What should the team do? Wikipedia, Control chart. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.5, statistical process control: common and special cause variation).
  • Ten lengths of stay include one of 90 days. Which measure of center is least pulled by that one stay? Wikipedia, Median. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.4, use statistics to describe data: measures of central tendency).
  • Two clinics have the same mean wait, but clinic B has a much higher standard deviation. What does that tell the analyst? Wikipedia, Standard deviation. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.4, use statistics to describe data: standard deviation).
  • Where are the control limits on a control chart usually drawn? Wikipedia, Control chart. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 4, Health Data Analytics (B.5, statistical process control: control charts).

Patient safety 7

  • A nurse skips an independent double check to save time, a shortcut that has become common on the unit. In a just culture, how is this classed? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Culture of Safety. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (C, techniques to enhance the culture of safety).
  • A pump will not start an infusion until the patient's wristband has been scanned. What is this design feature called? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Human Factors Engineering. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (E, use safety principles: human factors engineering).
  • After a wrong-patient procedure, which structured method does a team use to look back at how and why it happened? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Root Cause Analysis. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (F.3, root cause analysis).
  • An infusion pump library lets a tenfold overdose pass without an alert, and has done so for years. Which kind of error is this design flaw? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Systems Approach. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (E, use safety principles: systems thinking).
  • Before a new chemotherapy ordering process goes live, a team walks through each step and asks how it could fail and what would follow. Which method is this? Wikipedia, Failure mode and effects analysis. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (F.4, proactive risk assessment).
  • During an emergency, where does a high reliability organization expect decisions to go? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, High Reliability. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (E, use safety principles: high reliability).
  • Which event meets the Joint Commission's sentinel event definition, as the AHRQ primer quotes it? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Never Events. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 5, Patient Safety (F.2, sentinel and unexpected event review).

Quality review and accountability 7

  • How does Medicare fund the incentive payments of Hospital Value-Based Purchasing? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (B.2, quality-based payment programs).
  • Since February 2009, how much has Medicare paid toward a wrong-site surgery? AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet), Patient Safety Primer, Never Events. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (B.6, reportable events; D, quality initiatives that impact reimbursement).
  • Under the Medicare conditions of participation, who examines the credentials of candidates for medical staff membership and recommends appointments to the governing body? 42 CFR 482.22, Condition of participation: Medical staff (eCFR). Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (B.4, practitioner performance evaluation).
  • What is the largest payment reduction under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (D, quality initiatives that impact reimbursement).
  • Which hospitals take the 1-percent cut under the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (B.2, quality-based payment programs).
  • Who receives the HCAHPS survey, and when? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HCAHPS: Patients' Perspectives of Care Survey. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (B.5, patient experience).
  • Why does working with a listed Patient Safety Organization encourage providers to share event data? AHRQ Patient Safety Organization Program, About the PSO Program. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 6, Quality Review and Accountability (C, confidentiality of performance and quality improvement records).

Regulatory and accreditation 3

  • A hospital is accredited by a CMS-approved accrediting organization and is not surveyed by the state agency for Medicare certification. What is this called? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Accreditation Programs. Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 7, Regulatory and Accreditation (A, accreditation, certification and recognition options).
  • A man with chest pain and no insurance walks into the emergency department of a Medicare-participating hospital. What does EMTALA require? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA). Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 7, Regulatory and Accreditation (B, awareness of statutory and regulatory requirements).
  • An analyst asks for records for a readmission study. What does the HIPAA minimum necessary standard require of the hospital? 45 CFR 164.502, Uses and disclosures of protected health information: general rules (eCFR). Outline: CPHQ Detailed Content Outline, 7, Regulatory and Accreditation (C, compliance with federal requirements).

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the seven domains of the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality Detailed Content Outline (last updated 3/2023) that the National Association for Healthcare Quality links from its CPHQ page (https://cdn.nahq.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024-CPHQ_Outline_R2b.pdf, read 2026-10-13): Quality Leadership and Integration 19 items, Performance and Process Improvement 27, Population Health and Care Transitions 11, Health Data Analytics 26, Patient Safety 18, Quality Review and Accountability 16, Regulatory and Accreditation 8, of 125 scored. Facts: CMS program pages, 42 CFR 482.21 and 482.22 and 45 CFR 164.502 on ecfr.gov, AHRQ Patient Safety Network primers, the AHRQ PSO and Digital Healthcare Research sites, Healthy People 2030, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the NIST Baldrige program, the Minnesota Department of Health quality improvement toolbox, and five Wikipedia articles for statistics and two named models. Each question names its own source and address. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

These free CPHQ practice questions cover the seven domains of the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality exam: 50 questions of our own. Unofficial: not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

Read the full guide

What the CPHQ exam covers

The Detailed Content Outline, last updated March 2023 and read October 13, 2026, splits 125 scored items over seven domains: leadership 19, performance improvement 27, population health 11, data analytics 26, patient safety 18, quality review 16, regulatory 8. This bank holds 8, 11, 4, 10, 7, 7 and 3.

A CPHQ study guide with sources

Each answer names its public page: CMS program pages, federal regulations, AHRQ's patient safety primers, a state quality toolbox and others. It is not NAHQ's own CPHQ exam study guide, and no NAHQ prep text was used.

Timing

Exam mode asks 40 questions in 51 minutes, the pace of the real exam: 140 questions in three hours.

  • The outline says about 57% of items ask you to apply knowledge, so most questions here start from a situation.

Questions and answers

How many questions are on the CPHQ exam?

140 multiple choice questions in three hours. 125 are scored and 15 are pretest questions that do not count, by NAHQ's candidate handbook.

What is the passing score for the CPHQ exam?

600 on a scale of 200 to 800, by NAHQ. A scaled score is not a percent, so this page gives the number right and does not convert it.

Is there a free online CPHQ practice test?

This page is one: free, in the browser, with no account. Its 50 CPHQ exam practice questions are our own and unofficial.

Are these CPHQ sample questions from NAHQ?

No. NAHQ sells its own prep materials, and none was opened or used. Every question here was written from the public content outline and a public source that the answer names.

How soon can you retake the CPHQ exam?

In the United States, 14 days after the attempt, by NAHQ, with a new application fee. The handbook allows three attempts in 365 days.

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