CMT Regulatory Standards & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a chain of custody in specimen collection?
- To speed up laboratory processing time
- To document the handling of a specimen from collection to final result (Correct answer)
- To ensure the patient is billed correctly
- To assign technician responsibility for errors
Correct answer: To document the handling of a specimen from collection to final result
Chain of custody documents every person who handles a specimen and every transfer, ensuring integrity especially in legal or forensic cases.
Question 2: Under HIPAA, a 'covered entity' includes which of the following?
- A patient's family member
- A health insurance plan (Correct answer)
- A medical equipment manufacturer
- A hospital visitor
Correct answer: A health insurance plan
HIPAA defines covered entities as health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and healthcare providers that transmit health information electronically.
Question 3: Which ethical principle supports a patient's right to make their own healthcare decisions?
- Beneficence
- Non-maleficence
- Justice
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Autonomy
Autonomy is the ethical principle that respects an individual's right to make informed decisions about their own medical care.
Question 4: A laboratory is required to report a confirmed case of tuberculosis to which authority?
- The hospital's billing department
- The patient's insurance company
- The local or state public health department (Correct answer)
- The FDA
Correct answer: The local or state public health department
Tuberculosis is a notifiable disease, and laboratories are legally required to report confirmed cases to the local or state health department.
Question 5: What is the consequence of performing high-complexity testing without proper CLIA certification?
- A warning letter from the CDC
- Civil and/or criminal penalties and loss of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement (Correct answer)
- Mandatory staff retraining only
- Temporary suspension of one employee's license
Correct answer: Civil and/or criminal penalties and loss of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement
Performing testing beyond a lab's CLIA certification can result in civil penalties, criminal charges, and exclusion from federal reimbursement programs.
Question 6: Which document must a laboratory maintain to demonstrate ongoing compliance with CLIA quality control requirements?
- Patient satisfaction surveys
- Quality control logs and records (Correct answer)
- Employee time sheets
- Insurance claim forms
Correct answer: Quality control logs and records
CLIA requires laboratories to maintain quality control records that document daily checks ensuring test accuracy and reliability.
Question 7: A patient asks the medical technician to explain the risk of a procedure. The technician is unsure. What is BEST practice?
- Give a general explanation based on memory
- Tell the patient risks are not the technician's responsibility
- Refer the question to the supervising clinician or physician (Correct answer)
- Advise the patient to search the internet for information
Correct answer: Refer the question to the supervising clinician or physician
Explaining procedural risks is within the scope of the licensed physician or supervising clinician, not the medical technician.
CMT Regulatory Standards & Ethics 3
What is the primary purpose of a chain of custody in specimen collection?