This CPHQ cheat sheet distills the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality exam into a fast, printable recall sheet covering the seven NAHQ domains, weighted the way the real test is. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Pair it with the rest of your free CPHQ toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CPHQ exam at a glance
- Questions: 140 multiple choice (125 scored + 15 unscored pretest)
- Time: 3 hours, computer-based
- Passing score: Scaled score of 600 on a 200–800 scale (Angoff-set)
- Cost: $519 NAHQ members / $619 non-members (verify at nahq.org)
- Certifying body: Healthcare Quality Certification Commission (HQCC) / NAHQ, delivered by PSI
What’s on the CPHQ cheat sheet
- Performance & Process Improvement (22%) — PDSA and the Model for Improvement, Lean vs. Six Sigma (DMAIC), RCA vs. FMEA, and the core QI tools — the single largest domain.
- Health Data Analytics (21%) — the Donabedian model, run vs. control charts, common- vs. special-cause variation, data types, benchmarking, and risk adjustment.
- Quality Leadership & Integration (15%) — the IOM six aims (STEEEP), board accountability, the quality plan, just culture, and Lewin's change model.
- Patient Safety (14%) — near miss, adverse, sentinel, and never events, the Swiss cheese model, the error-prevention hierarchy, HROs, and the NPSGs.
- Quality Review & Accountability (13%) — prospective, concurrent, and retrospective utilization review, credentialing vs. privileging, OPPE/FPPE, peer review, and risk management.
- Population Health & Care Transitions (9%) — social determinants of health, SBAR handoffs, medication reconciliation, teach-back, and risk stratification to cut readmissions.
- Regulatory & Accreditation (6%) — voluntary standards vs. mandatory regulation, The Joint Commission and deemed status, CMS Conditions of Participation, HIPAA, EMTALA, NCQA/HEDIS, and NQF.
How to use it in your final week
- Front-load the analytic core: Performance & Process Improvement (22%) and Health Data Analytics (21%) are over 40% of the exam, so drill PDSA, Lean vs. Six Sigma, and control-chart variation first.
- Memorize the reactive-vs-proactive split — RCA looks back at an event that already happened, FMEA looks ahead to prevent one. That single distinction shows up again and again.
- Run one full timed simulation this week: 140 questions in 3 hours (about 77 seconds each) to make the clock feel routine on exam day.
- Read the sheet the morning of the exam for a last pass on the event vocabulary and the who-does-what bodies: NPSGs and sentinel events to The Joint Commission, HEDIS to NCQA, never events to NQF.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CPHQ practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
CPHQ cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CPHQ cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account required. It sits alongside Career Employer's free CPHQ practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your entire quality-exam toolkit costs nothing.
It condenses the highest-yield facts from all seven NAHQ domains onto a quick-reference sheet: quality leadership, PDSA and Lean Six Sigma, run and control charts, patient-safety event terms, care transitions, utilization review, and the named accreditation bodies. Everything is organized by the domain weights so you review in the order the exam rewards.
No — it is a cram and recall layer, not a full course. You need a scaled score of 600 on the 200 to 800 scale, and that comes from working full-length practice tests and reading rationales. Use the sheet to lock in the facts, then prove readiness on timed practice.
It is built from the current HQCC detailed content outline and the NAHQ candidate handbook, and we review it against those official sources on a regular cycle. Always confirm the latest fees and scoring details directly at nahq.org before you register.
Use the download button or the preview card at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark the page so it is one tap away when you enter your final week of review before test day.
References
- 1.National Association for Healthcare Quality. “CPHQ — Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.” nahq.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.Healthcare Quality Certification Commission (NAHQ). “CPHQ Detailed Content Outline.” nahq.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.Healthcare Quality Certification Commission (NAHQ). “Understanding a Scaled Score.” nahq.org, 2026. ↑
- 4.National Association for Healthcare Quality. “CPHQ Domestic Candidate Handbook.” nahq.org, 2026. ↑
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