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CISA Practice Question: A hospital is implementing a new electronic…
A hospital is implementing a new electronic health records (EHR) system. The system will be used by doctors, nurses, and administrative staff. During the user acceptance testing (UAT) phase, the nursing staff reports that the interface for entering patient vitals is too slow and requires many clicks, which slows down their workflow. The project team has already completed system testing and is preparing for go-live in two weeks. The development team can make a quick fix to streamline the vital signs entry by adding a shortcut, but this change has not been tested. The IT director is concerned about patient safety and wants to ensure the system is usable. What is the BEST course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose Option B (defer usability) thinking it is safer, but they fail to recognize that a usability issue in a clinical workflow directly threatens patient safety by increasing the likelihood of data entry errors, making risk assessment and targeted remediation the correct approach.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Assess the risk, develop the fix, fast-track testing, and if successful, include it in the go-live
It balances patient safety with project timelines by formally assessing the risk of the untested fix, developing it, and then fast-tracking a targeted regression test. This approach ensures the usability issue is resolved without bypassing necessary quality controls, which is critical for a clinical system where data entry errors could directly impact patient care. The IT director's concern about patient safety is addressed by the risk assessment and focused testing, while the go-live date is preserved if the fix passes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement the quick fix immediately and go live as scheduled
Why it's wrong here
Implementing an untested shortcut directly into a patient-safety-critical EHR bypasses change control and validation, risking undetected defects in vital-signs entry. It is tempting because it preserves the schedule and resolves the nurses' complaint, but the fix must first pass testing and change approval before go-live.
- ✗
Proceed with go-live as planned and address usability issues in a future release
Why it's wrong here
Proceeding to go-live while leaving a known workflow defect unaddressed accepts a documented usability risk affecting clinical data entry, contrary to patient-safety assurance. It is tempting because it avoids schedule disruption, but the fix should be tested and deployed through change control rather than deferred to a future release.
- ✓
Assess the risk, develop the fix, fast-track testing, and if successful, include it in the go-live
Why this is correct
Assessing the risk, building the fix, fast-tracking testing, then including it only if successful balances usability against patient safety. It addresses the nurses' workflow complaint without bypassing verification, unlike deploying untested changes or ignoring the issue before go-live.
- ✗
Delay go-live by one month to fully test the fix
Why it's wrong here
Delaying go-live by a month halts a patient-safety-critical implementation for a workflow shortcut, ignoring that the fix can be tested and released through change control within the existing window. It is tempting because full regression testing is the ideal, but the correct action is to test the fix and deploy it under controlled change management.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.