ASHA Quality Assurance & Compliance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which ASHA document outlines the ethical obligations of speech-language pathologists regarding service quality and client welfare?
- Preferred Practice Patterns
- Code of Ethics (Correct answer)
- Scope of Practice
- Technical Report on EBP
Correct answer: Code of Ethics
ASHA's Code of Ethics establishes the ethical obligations members and certificate holders must uphold, including those related to service quality and client welfare.
Question 2: An SLP discovers that a colleague is billing Medicare for services not rendered. Under ASHA's Code of Ethics, the SLP is obligated to:
- Ignore it to avoid conflict
- Report the concern through appropriate channels (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague privately only
- Document it in the client's chart
Correct answer: Report the concern through appropriate channels
ASHA's Code of Ethics requires members to report ethical violations through appropriate channels, including billing fraud against federal programs.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of ASHA's Preferred Practice Patterns documents?
- To replace state licensure requirements
- To define reimbursement rates for SLP services
- To describe conditions and measures of service delivery for quality care (Correct answer)
- To establish minimum caseload sizes
Correct answer: To describe conditions and measures of service delivery for quality care
Preferred Practice Patterns describe the conditions and measures of service delivery that characterize high-quality professional practice.
Question 4: Under HIPAA, how long must covered entities generally retain medical records for adults?
- 2 years
- 6 years from creation or last effective date (Correct answer)
- 10 years
- Indefinitely
Correct answer: 6 years from creation or last effective date
HIPAA requires covered entities to retain documentation of their privacy policies and procedures for 6 years from the date of creation or the date it was last in effect.
Question 5: Which quality indicator would BEST reflect effective treatment outcomes in an outpatient SLP practice?
- Number of sessions billed per week
- Percentage of clients achieving individualized functional goals (Correct answer)
- Total revenue generated per quarter
- Number of new referrals received
Correct answer: Percentage of clients achieving individualized functional goals
Achievement of individualized functional goals is a direct, client-centered quality indicator of treatment effectiveness in SLP practice.
Question 6: A supervisor conducting a quality review finds that therapy notes consistently lack measurable objective data. The MOST appropriate corrective action is:
- Terminate the SLP immediately
- Provide education and structured mentorship on documentation standards (Correct answer)
- Retroactively rewrite the notes
- Ignore the issue if clients are improving
Correct answer: Provide education and structured mentorship on documentation standards
Providing education and structured mentorship addresses the root cause of documentation deficiencies while supporting the clinician's professional development.
Question 7: Which federal law prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and has implications for SLPs working in institutional settings?
- FERPA
- ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) (Correct answer)
- IDEA
- Section 504 only
Correct answer: ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
The ADA prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in employment and public accommodations, affecting SLP workplace practices.
ASHA Quality Assurance & Compliance 2
Which ASHA document outlines the ethical obligations of speech-language pathologists regarding service quality and client welfare?