NAHQ CPHQ 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The technique described involves selecting the medical record of every fifth patient. This is characteristic of systematic sampling, where a fixed interval is used to select subjects from a larger population. In this case, by choosing every fifth patient, the sampling pattern is consistent and structured, which helps in reducing bias associated with more arbitrary selection methods.

In this approach, the starting point is typically chosen at random (for example, you might start by selecting the third patient and then continue with every fifth patient thereafter). This technique ensures that the sample is spread evenly across the population, which can be especially beneficial in healthcare settings to achieve a representative sample without having to manually select cases based on criteria that could lead to bias.

Other sampling techniques, such as convenience sampling, may be based solely on the availability of subjects, simple random sampling involves choosing subjects entirely at random without a fixed pattern, and stratified sampling requires dividing the population into subgroups before sampling, which does not apply in the scenario described. Thus, the systematic method is most fitting for selecting every fifth patient from a defined group.