Certified Healthcare Safety Professional (CHSP) Practice Exam

What does a capability chart indicate?

1. Financial capabilities of a hospital

2. Whether a process will function as expected

3. Staffing capabilities within the organization

4. Hospital acquisition capabilities

The correct answer is: Whether a process will function as expected

A capability chart is a tool used in quality management and process improvement to visually display how consistently a process meets its specifications and quality requirements. The primary purpose of a capability chart is to determine whether a process has the ability to produce output that falls within predefined limits. It does this by analyzing data from the process to show how much variation exists compared to the target specifications. When assessing whether a process will function as expected, a capability chart can illustrate the process performance by comparing the natural variation in the data to the acceptable limits. If the process is shown to be capable, it indicates that the majority of the data points will fall within the target specifications, meaning the process can reliably deliver outputs that meet quality standards. While financial capabilities, staffing capabilities, and hospital acquisition capabilities are important aspects of hospital management, they do not pertain to the function of a capability chart. This chart specifically focuses on the performance and reliability of processes in meeting quality standards, making it a critical tool for ensuring that healthcare processes operate efficiently and effectively.