We analyze a two-level quantum system, describing the phase qubit, during a single-pulse readout process by a numerical solution of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. It has been demonstrated that the readout error has a minimum for certain values of the system`s basic parameters. In particular, the optimization of the qubit capacitance and the readout pulse shape leads to significant reduction of the readout error. It is shown that in an ideal case the fidelity can be increased to almost 97% for 2 ns pulse duration and to 96% for 1 ns pulse duration.