Identifying high utilizers of emergency departments (ED) and their characteristics involves analyzing data to target interventions for specific patient groups, a hallmark of population health management (PHM).
Option A (Population health management): This is the correct answer. The NAHQ CPHQ study guide states, “Population health management uses data to identify high utilizers, such as frequent ED users, and their characteristics to design targeted interventions that improve outcomes and reduce costs” (Domain 5). This aligns with strategies like hot-spotting.
Option B (Culture of safety): Safety culture focuses on reporting and error prevention, not ED utilization patterns.
Option C (High reliability): High reliability emphasizes consistent safety processes, not patient utilization analysis.
Option D (Hospital throughput): Throughput focuses on operational flow (e.g., bed turnover), not patient-level utilization patterns.
CPHQ Objective Reference: Domain 5: Population Health and Care Transitions, Objective 5.1, “Use data for population health management,” emphasizes identifying high utilizers. The NAHQ study guide notes, “Analyzing ED utilization data is a key PHM strategy to target high-risk patients” (Domain 5).
Rationale: High utilizer analysis is a core PHM strategy to improve care and reduce costs, as per CPHQ’s population health principles.
[Reference: NAHQ CPHQ Study Guide, Domain 5: Population Health and Care Transitions, Objective 5.1., , , , ]
