Medical Assistant Practice Test 2

A comminuted fracture is one in which the bone breaks into several pieces. Compound breaks involve open skin where the bone is more at risk for infection. A spiral fracture is usually caused by a twisting force. Pathological fractures are caused by a disease process and not an injury.

Erythema, also known as redness of the skin, is not caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. The remaining answer choices, however, can and do cause erythema.

Coding is the process used when there is a need to distinguish between files in a filing system. Color-coding is often used to distinguish new patients to the practice, returning patients, formal diagnoses, etc. Sorting or filing the actual folder is a method of organization for later.

An ophthalmoscope is used to examine the eyes. An otoscope is used to examine the ears. A tuning fork is used to test ear hearing. The Snellen test examines the person’s sense of vision.

The gray tube is used for blood glucose collection, the blue tube is used for coagulation studies, and the yellow tube is used for blood cultures.

A copy of lab results that have already been received does not need to be filed twice, but because it includes personal information, it must be shredded. A previous patient encounter and an x-ray should be filed and saved. The scrap paper may be thrown in the regular trash since it does not contain personal patient identifiers.

The CLIA, or Clinical Laboratory Improvements Act, guarantees that the lab tests of an individual physician’s lab meet or exceed a certain quality and standard.

Password protections that can be granted or revoked help prevent the anonymous tampering of records that may occur, intentionally or unintentionally, by employees of the office. Because only those with access to the password can view the patient’s records, a major benefit of an EHR is the security provided by password protection.

Drinking a glass of wine once a week is part of the patient’s social history. Their weight and gallbladder removal is part of their physical history. Knowing that their father died of heart failure is familial history.

Initially, it is best to give the patient some orange juice, followed by something with slower digesting proteins like peanut butter crackers or milk. Calling 911 may not be necessary yet. Do not lay the patient down; keep them sitting up so that they may eat.

The Fair Labor Standards Act regulates minimum wage and standardizes the number of hours an employee is allowed to work. HIPPA protects health information, while COBRA protects employees changing jobs so that they do not have a lapse of insurance. Worker’s compensation covers the cost of bills incurred because of an injury that occurs on the job.

The AED would be most effective for determining if the patient is in true cardiac arrest and whether or not they require a shock. Giving a shock manually with electric paddles is no longer recommended. Oxygen may help, but is not the priority response. An IV will be helpful once the patient has a pulse.

It is important to wait for the physician to make a recommendation, but it is also important for the patient to have a follow-up appointment on the books before leaving. Otherwise, it could be possible for you or the patient to forget to schedule one entirely.

Once the peel pack is open, next open the inner sterile pack using the tabs. Pick up the cuff of the glove for the dominant hand, lay the thumb flat against the palm of the hand and slip the hand into the glove. With the gloved hand, slide the fingers under the cuff of the other glove. Again tuck the thumb into the palm and slide the hand into the glove.

Any ingestion of a noxious substance must be considered life-threatening until proven otherwise. Calling Poison Control is the most appropriate action to take in this situation, as they can best assist the mother and toddler.

Erikson’s generativity vs. stagnation is a developmental issue that occurs for middle-aged adults. Older adults work through ego integrity vs. despair while young adults are occupied with intimacy vs. isolation. Adolescence focuses on identity vs. role confusion.

The temporal pulse measures the pulse located in the temporal area of the skull, which is located on the forehead. The popliteal pulse is found on the back of the knee, while the carotid pulse is in the neck. There is no easily palpable pulse in the armpit.

PO means by mouth and indicates the medication should be taken orally, whereas parenteral means into the body via other methods. IV means intravenous administration, and IM indicates intramuscular. SubQ means injected subcutaneously into the fatty tissue layer.

Underbooking is a problem that may occur when patients have been scheduled too far apart based on their appointment time and how long the type of appointment should take. Every effort should be made to conscientiously and efficiently book patients. In cases where too many instances of underbooking take place, the underlying issue should be found and addressed.

A pulmonologist is a doctor who specializes in lung disease, of which emphysema is one type. An ophthalmologist specializes in eyes, a rheumatologist specializes in arthritis and joint disease, and an obstetrician specializes in pregnancy and birth.

Before the age of two, the thymus works to provide immunity for the child. After the age of two, it secretes thymosin to cause T-lymphoctye maturation. As the person ages, the thymus eventually shrinks and atrophies. The respiratory system removes carbon dioxide. The lymph nodes trap bacteria and foreign bodies.

Syncope describes a partial or total loss of consciousness, also described as a faint. A laceration is an open wound. Atonal is a music term that does not apply here. A seizure would involve a momentary loss of consciousness and/or convulsing limbs.

In all documents, medical abbreviations should be fully written out. All other options are grammatically correct.

Letting the child play with the stethoscope is appropriate in this situation. It will not only occupy the child’s hands, but will also allow the child to feel included and provide a relevant distraction, unlike the lollipop. The mother should be in the room to reduce stranger anxiety. It is not appropriate to give false reassurance, because it is true that immunizations will briefly hurt at the site.

Platelets would be most essential, as they are a key component in the ability to clot. HbA1C is an effective measure of diabetic control. Hemoglobin may reveal anemia, but not clotting. The amount of WBCs reflects immune system function.

Unless it becomes a habit, missing an appointment is not necessarily cause for dismissal from a doctor’s practice. Notifying the doctor’s office would make the visit a cancellation; zero notice is what makes it a no-show. It is unknown whether, in this case, the patient forgot the appointment or there is an emergency.

The mother is referring to the Rh antibody test, which looks for antibodies related to different blood types that might attack the baby’s hemoglobin cells if the baby is Rh+ and the mother is Rh−.

Hospice care is generally considered palliative, which means to provide relief from symptoms instead of the usual goal to cure the illness. Diagnostic medicine provides a clue as to why the symptoms would be occurring and a prophylactic is primarily designed for prevention. In this case, there is nothing that needs replacing, so replacement therapy is incorrect.

A patient must be older than 65 in order to participate in Medicare Part A. The program was created to cover major medical care for seniors, including medical services and supplies.

Although it is not always possible to know how someone feels without having actually been in that situation, it is possible to express empathy by relating the fact that you are imagining how they are feeling. Donating money is kind, but does not show empathy. Asking about the patient’s daughter is thoughtful, but does not take into account her feelings.

The coarse adjustment knob is used to initially visualize an object, at which point the fine adjustment knob is used to further focus the object. The stage is where the slide or object being examined sits. The arm is what holds the lenses away from the stage.

The hands should be pointed upward so that water runs down toward the elbows. It is correct to turn off the water using the foot control. Dry the hands on a sterile towel once the hands have been washed for a total of 6-10 minutes.

The lipid panel blood test requires fasting. It does not matter what diet the patient has been eating, because diet does not significantly influence cholesterol. Two tubes of blood would be more than enough; only one tube is required. Drinking water would be okay, but abstaining from food is mandatory.

Denial is a defense mechanism whereby the person flatly refuses to accept reality and cannot yet begin coping. Regression would be a step back in maturity or social functioning. Undoing is a way of trying to fix or erase the past. Sublimation is the act of turning socially unacceptable behaviors into ones that are acceptable or even positive in order to cope with something.

Double-booking ensures that both physicians are busy throughout their schedules. Wave scheduling assumes some patients will be late and that other patients will require more time with a single practitioner. Modified-wave potentially leads to unnecessarily long wait times for both doctors’ patients. Cluster-scheduling might not work, as each doctor may see different types of patients.

Cooling the area with a cool wet cloth is the most appropriate action to take for a second-degree burn. If any blisters are observed, do not break them. The cream may be correct, but the physician, not the medical assistant, needs to make that assessment.

A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. Furuncles most commonly occur in patients who already have impaired ability to fight infection, such as those with diabetes or who are otherwise immunocompromised. Heart disease, hearing loss, and impetigo are not related to this condition. Furuncles most commonly develop in hairy areas of the body such as the groin, neck, and armpit.

Medicare pays a flat fee based on several factors related to the patient and their illness; it does not pay an actual cost of what was incurred during the stay. In general, estimates are not used by hospitals when charging for admission stays.

Sublingual means beneath the tongue. This medication is properly taken when it is allowed to dissolve rather than be swallowed or taken with or without food.

Full block format specifies a left alignment of all content while including a greeting. Simplified format is also aligned all to the left, but does not include a greeting. Indenting the first line of every paragraph and centering the date on the page are not a part of full block format.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Due to this inflammation, patients will often display nuchal rigidity (an inability to flex neck muscles coupled with neck pain), fever, headache, vomiting, and altered level of consciousness. This condition can be deadly without treatment.

Never tell a child that an injection will not hurt, as there is sure to be some discomfort and you will lose the trust of your patient. Wipe the area to be injected with alcohol and wear two gloves. It’s a good idea to get someone the child trusts in order to hold him steady.

The normal pH of urine is considered to be 4.6–8.0, so a reading of 8.9 would be considered alkaline. Less than 4.6 would be considered acidic. Therefore this specimen is also considered abnormal and should be reported for further evaluation.

With the ICD-10 system, details for various encounters have been expanded to make them much more specific than the ICD-9 system. ICD-10 does build off of ICD-9; it is not brand new. Dummy placeholders using an X are now present to allow room for expansion in ICD-10. It is the seventh digit that describes the type of encounter, not the fourth.

The item is considered to be not sterile because sterilization from an autoclave lasts 28 days for any item left out of impervious plastic wrap. The item must be re-sterilized and packed correctly this time.

Without a quality control log, there is no way to know that a private lab is generating correct results. Faulty equipment may skew test results, and their faults are generally only detectable by doing a quality control check with a control sample.

No part of the medical record should be left blank; instead, note that the patient was unable to answer. Mistakes should be fixed with a single line through the error, with a signature and “error” written in, not with white-out. Blue or black ink is correct for use in the medical record. Check with the individual office or practice for which, if any, medical abbreviations are acceptable.

Although it is important to have the correct doctor listed on a prescription, it is not a vital part of maintaining patient safety as you administer the medication. The 'Six Rights' are: (1) The right medication (2) The right route (3) The right time (4) The right client (5) The right dosage (6) The right documentation.

Medicare Part D is a federal government program which subsidizes the costs of prescription drugs and drug insurance premiums for Medicare Recipients. This program was authorized by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.

POMR stands for Problem-Oriented Medical Records. The patient's problems are listed and numbered at the front, and each visit is associated with a problem number.