CMA Administrative Office Procedures 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal regulation requires medical offices to provide a written Notice of Privacy Practices to patients?
- OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard
- HIPAA Privacy Rule (Correct answer)
- Stark Law
- False Claims Act
Correct answer: HIPAA Privacy Rule
The HIPAA Privacy Rule mandates that covered entities give patients a Notice of Privacy Practices describing how their PHI may be used and disclosed.
Question 2: A petty cash fund is used in a medical office to:
- Pay monthly utility bills
- Cover small, incidental office expenses without writing a check (Correct answer)
- Reimburse employees for mileage
- Pay patient refunds
Correct answer: Cover small, incidental office expenses without writing a check
Petty cash provides ready cash for minor expenses like postage or office supplies that are impractical to pay by check.
Question 3: When a patient's insurance claim is denied with a code indicating 'not medically necessary,' the FIRST step the medical assistant should take is to:
- Write off the balance immediately
- Bill the patient for the full amount
- Review the claim and physician documentation to determine if an appeal is warranted (Correct answer)
- Resubmit the identical claim a second time
Correct answer: Review the claim and physician documentation to determine if an appeal is warranted
Reviewing documentation allows the office to determine whether additional clinical information or a corrected claim can support a successful appeal.
Question 4: A 'matrix' in appointment scheduling refers to:
- A grid showing which time slots are unavailable due to physician absence, lunch, or hospital rounds (Correct answer)
- The maximum number of patients seen per day
- The list of patients on the waiting list
- A color-coded system for urgent visits
Correct answer: A grid showing which time slots are unavailable due to physician absence, lunch, or hospital rounds
Establishing a matrix blocks out times when the physician is unavailable so that appointments are only scheduled in open slots.
Question 5: Under HIPAA, which of the following does NOT require a specific patient authorization before disclosure?
- Releasing records to the patient's attorney
- Sharing information with the patient's employer
- Disclosing PHI to another provider for treatment purposes (Correct answer)
- Providing records to a life insurance company
Correct answer: Disclosing PHI to another provider for treatment purposes
HIPAA allows disclosure of PHI for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations without written authorization; sharing with attorneys, employers, or life insurers requires authorization.
Question 6: The 'aging report' in medical billing is used to track:
- The average age of the patient population
- Outstanding claims and patient balances grouped by how long they have been unpaid (Correct answer)
- The age of the medical records stored in the office
- Annual revenue trends over multiple years
Correct answer: Outstanding claims and patient balances grouped by how long they have been unpaid
An aging report categorizes unpaid accounts by time intervals (e.g., 0–30, 31–60, 61–90 days) to prioritize collection efforts.
Question 7: Which of the following is the CORRECT way to correct an error in a paper medical record?
- Use correction fluid (white-out) to cover the error and write the correction above it
- Erase the incorrect entry completely
- Draw a single line through the error, write the correction, initial it, and date it (Correct answer)
- Remove the page and replace it with a corrected version
Correct answer: Draw a single line through the error, write the correction, initial it, and date it
Legal medical record correction requires a single strikethrough so the original entry remains legible, with the correction, initials, and date added.
CMA Administrative Office Procedures 5
Which federal regulation requires medical offices to provide a written Notice of Privacy Practices to patients?