D220 Informatics OA Exam Prep
2026/2027 | Study Guide with
Questions & Answers
1. A nurse is using the EHR to look up a patient's lab results. Which
component of the DIKW framework is the nurse using?
A. Data
B. Information
C. Knowledge
D. Wisdom
Answer: B. Information. Lab results are processed and organized data,
providing the nurse with information to guide care.
2. A patient is being transferred to a long-term care facility that uses a
different EHR system. What is the most common method for
electronically transferring the patient's health summary?
A. A printed copy of the medical record
B. An encrypted email to the facility's director
C. A Continuity of Care Document (CCD)
D. A verbal report over the phone
Answer: C. A Continuity of Care Document (CCD). A CCD is a
standardized electronic document summary designed for patient transitions
between different EHR systems to support interoperability.
3. Which of the following best describes the primary goal of an Audit
Trail within an EHR?
A. To automatically bill insurance companies for services rendered.
B. To track user activity to detect security breaches and ensure data
integrity.
,C. To generate reports on hospital admission rates.
D. To provide clinical decision support for medication orders.
Answer: B. To track user activity to detect security breaches and ensure
data integrity. The audit trail's purpose is to record who accessed what
information, when, and from where.
4. A hospital is implementing a new bar-code medication
administration (BCMA) system. A nurse notices that the system often
flags a medication as "wrong time" even when given within a
reasonable window. This is an example of which phase of the Systems
Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?
A. Planning
B. Analysis
C. Implementation
D. Maintenance
Answer: D. Maintenance. After a system is live (implementation), it enters
the maintenance phase, where issues like usability problems, bugs, and
needed adjustments are identified and addressed.
5. A nurse manager wants to compare her unit's patient satisfaction
scores to those of the top-performing unit in the hospital. This process
is known as:
A. Data mining
B. Benchmarking
C. A SWOT analysis
D. A randomized control trial
Answer: B. Benchmarking. Benchmarking involves comparing
performance metrics against best-in-class standards to identify areas for
improvement.
6. Which federal act provided financial incentives for hospitals and
professionals to adopt and demonstrate "meaningful use" of certified
EHR technology?
,A. The 21st Century Cures Act
B. The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
C. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
D. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health
(HITECH) Act
Answer: D. The Health Information Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The HITECH Act, part of the ARRA,
established the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs to
promote the adoption and meaningful use of health IT.
7. A healthcare provider leaves a laptop with unencrypted patient data
in their car, and it is stolen. This is a direct violation of which
regulation?
A. Meaningful Use
B. 21st Century Cures Act
C. HIPAA Security Rule
D. ARRA
Answer: C. HIPAA Security Rule. The HIPAA Security Rule requires
administrative, physical, and technical safeguards (including encryption for
portable devices) to protect electronic patient data.
8. A nurse documents a patient’s pain level as “7 out of 10.” This is an
example of:
A. Wisdom
B. Knowledge
C. Information
D. Data
Answer: D. Data – A raw, uninterpreted fact (pain score) is data. It becomes
information when placed in context (e.g., “post-op day 1 pain is higher than
expected”).
, 9. Which type of health information system would be used to schedule
patient appointments and manage billing?
A. Clinical Information System (CIS)
B. Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR)
C. Administrative Information System (AIS)
D. Laboratory Information System (LIS)
Answer: C. Administrative Information System (AIS) – AIS handles
non-clinical operations: scheduling, admissions, billing, and HR.
10. A hospital’s EHR sends an alert when a prescribed drug interacts with
another drug the patient is already taking. This is a function of:
A. Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
B. Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS)
C. Bar-code Medication Administration (BCMA)
D. Audit trail
Answer: B. Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) – CDSS provides
real-time, evidence-based alerts and reminders at the point of care.
11. Which of the following is a standardized terminology specifically for
nursing diagnoses?
A. SNOMED CT
B. ICD-10
C. NANDA-I
D. LOINC
Answer: C. NANDA-I – NANDA International standardizes nursing
diagnoses. SNOMED CT is broader; LOINC is for lab tests; ICD-10 is for
billing/disease classification.
2026/2027 | Study Guide with
Questions & Answers
1. A nurse is using the EHR to look up a patient's lab results. Which
component of the DIKW framework is the nurse using?
A. Data
B. Information
C. Knowledge
D. Wisdom
Answer: B. Information. Lab results are processed and organized data,
providing the nurse with information to guide care.
2. A patient is being transferred to a long-term care facility that uses a
different EHR system. What is the most common method for
electronically transferring the patient's health summary?
A. A printed copy of the medical record
B. An encrypted email to the facility's director
C. A Continuity of Care Document (CCD)
D. A verbal report over the phone
Answer: C. A Continuity of Care Document (CCD). A CCD is a
standardized electronic document summary designed for patient transitions
between different EHR systems to support interoperability.
3. Which of the following best describes the primary goal of an Audit
Trail within an EHR?
A. To automatically bill insurance companies for services rendered.
B. To track user activity to detect security breaches and ensure data
integrity.
,C. To generate reports on hospital admission rates.
D. To provide clinical decision support for medication orders.
Answer: B. To track user activity to detect security breaches and ensure
data integrity. The audit trail's purpose is to record who accessed what
information, when, and from where.
4. A hospital is implementing a new bar-code medication
administration (BCMA) system. A nurse notices that the system often
flags a medication as "wrong time" even when given within a
reasonable window. This is an example of which phase of the Systems
Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?
A. Planning
B. Analysis
C. Implementation
D. Maintenance
Answer: D. Maintenance. After a system is live (implementation), it enters
the maintenance phase, where issues like usability problems, bugs, and
needed adjustments are identified and addressed.
5. A nurse manager wants to compare her unit's patient satisfaction
scores to those of the top-performing unit in the hospital. This process
is known as:
A. Data mining
B. Benchmarking
C. A SWOT analysis
D. A randomized control trial
Answer: B. Benchmarking. Benchmarking involves comparing
performance metrics against best-in-class standards to identify areas for
improvement.
6. Which federal act provided financial incentives for hospitals and
professionals to adopt and demonstrate "meaningful use" of certified
EHR technology?
,A. The 21st Century Cures Act
B. The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
C. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
D. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health
(HITECH) Act
Answer: D. The Health Information Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The HITECH Act, part of the ARRA,
established the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs to
promote the adoption and meaningful use of health IT.
7. A healthcare provider leaves a laptop with unencrypted patient data
in their car, and it is stolen. This is a direct violation of which
regulation?
A. Meaningful Use
B. 21st Century Cures Act
C. HIPAA Security Rule
D. ARRA
Answer: C. HIPAA Security Rule. The HIPAA Security Rule requires
administrative, physical, and technical safeguards (including encryption for
portable devices) to protect electronic patient data.
8. A nurse documents a patient’s pain level as “7 out of 10.” This is an
example of:
A. Wisdom
B. Knowledge
C. Information
D. Data
Answer: D. Data – A raw, uninterpreted fact (pain score) is data. It becomes
information when placed in context (e.g., “post-op day 1 pain is higher than
expected”).
, 9. Which type of health information system would be used to schedule
patient appointments and manage billing?
A. Clinical Information System (CIS)
B. Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR)
C. Administrative Information System (AIS)
D. Laboratory Information System (LIS)
Answer: C. Administrative Information System (AIS) – AIS handles
non-clinical operations: scheduling, admissions, billing, and HR.
10. A hospital’s EHR sends an alert when a prescribed drug interacts with
another drug the patient is already taking. This is a function of:
A. Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
B. Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS)
C. Bar-code Medication Administration (BCMA)
D. Audit trail
Answer: B. Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) – CDSS provides
real-time, evidence-based alerts and reminders at the point of care.
11. Which of the following is a standardized terminology specifically for
nursing diagnoses?
A. SNOMED CT
B. ICD-10
C. NANDA-I
D. LOINC
Answer: C. NANDA-I – NANDA International standardizes nursing
diagnoses. SNOMED CT is broader; LOINC is for lab tests; ICD-10 is for
billing/disease classification.
