CTC Patient Engagement & Communication Skills 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A telehealth coordinator notices a patient repeatedly reschedules video visits. Which engagement strategy is MOST appropriate first?
- Discharge the patient for non-compliance
- Conduct a barrier assessment to identify scheduling obstacles (Correct answer)
- Switch all future visits to phone-only
- Notify the payer of missed appointments
Correct answer: Conduct a barrier assessment to identify scheduling obstacles
A barrier assessment identifies specific obstacles—technology access, work schedule, caregiver burden—so the coordinator can tailor solutions.
Question 2: When sending a secure message to a patient about lab results, a CTC should primarily ensure the message is:
- Written at a graduate-level reading complexity
- Free of medical jargon and written at a 6th–8th grade level (Correct answer)
- As brief as possible with no explanation
- Copied verbatim from the EHR note
Correct answer: Free of medical jargon and written at a 6th–8th grade level
Health literacy best practice recommends plain language at a 6th–8th grade reading level to maximize patient comprehension.
Question 3: Which tool BEST measures patient activation and readiness to self-manage chronic conditions in a telehealth context?
- HCAHPS survey
- Patient Activation Measure (PAM) (Correct answer)
- PHQ-9 screener
- AUDIT-C questionnaire
Correct answer: Patient Activation Measure (PAM)
The Patient Activation Measure (PAM) quantifies a patient's knowledge, skills, and confidence for self-management, directly informing engagement strategies.
Question 4: During a video visit, a patient's audio cuts out intermittently. The BEST immediate action by the coordinator is to:
- End the session and reschedule for the following week
- Ask the patient to switch to telephone audio while maintaining video (Correct answer)
- Document the connection failure and notify risk management
- Continue the visit and assume the provider heard enough
Correct answer: Ask the patient to switch to telephone audio while maintaining video
Switching to telephone audio while keeping video preserves visit continuity and clinical value without full session loss.
Question 5: A CTC is supporting a Deaf patient for an upcoming telehealth visit. The FIRST step is to:
- Use automated captions as the sole accommodation
- Arrange a qualified sign language interpreter through the platform (Correct answer)
- Ask a family member to interpret
- Schedule an in-person visit instead
Correct answer: Arrange a qualified sign language interpreter through the platform
The ADA requires a qualified interpreter, not a family member or automated captions alone, to ensure effective communication.
Question 6: Motivational interviewing in telehealth patient education is characterized by:
- Confronting patients about unhealthy behaviors directly
- Eliciting the patient's own reasons for change through open questions (Correct answer)
- Providing a detailed lecture on clinical guidelines
- Setting strict behavioral contracts with consequences
Correct answer: Eliciting the patient's own reasons for change through open questions
MI uses open-ended questions and reflective listening to help patients articulate their own motivation for behavior change.
Question 7: A patient declines to share their home address for emergency services during telehealth onboarding. The coordinator should:
- Proceed without the address to respect patient privacy
- Explain that location information is required for emergency dispatch and document the refusal if patient persists (Correct answer)
- Cancel the telehealth enrollment
- Collect only the city and state
Correct answer: Explain that location information is required for emergency dispatch and document the refusal if patient persists
Emergency location data is a safety requirement; the coordinator must explain its purpose and document if the patient ultimately refuses.
CTC Patient Engagement & Communication Skills 2
A telehealth coordinator notices a patient repeatedly reschedules video visits.
Which engagement strategy is MOST appropriate first?