Medical Technologist Test Medical Technologist General Information 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal law governs the quality standards for all laboratory testing in the United States?
- HIPAA
- CLIA '88 (Correct answer)
- OSHA Act
- FDA Modernization Act
Correct answer: CLIA '88
The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA '88) establish quality standards for all U.S. laboratory testing.
Question 2: A medical technologist discovers a critical value on a patient's potassium result. What is the FIRST action to take?
- Document the result and continue processing other specimens
- Repeat the test to confirm the result
- Immediately notify the ordering physician or nurse (Correct answer)
- Contact the laboratory supervisor
Correct answer: Immediately notify the ordering physician or nurse
Critical values must be immediately reported to the responsible clinician so patient care decisions can be made promptly.
Question 3: Which type of quality control material is used to detect random and systematic errors in laboratory testing?
- Calibrators
- Standards
- Controls (Correct answer)
- Blanks
Correct answer: Controls
Quality control materials (controls) with known concentrations are run alongside patient samples to detect both random and systematic errors.
Question 4: What does a Levey-Jennings chart primarily display in laboratory quality control?
- Patient result trends over time
- Control values plotted against mean and standard deviations (Correct answer)
- Reagent lot number tracking
- Instrument maintenance schedules
Correct answer: Control values plotted against mean and standard deviations
A Levey-Jennings chart plots QC values over time relative to the mean ± 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations to identify trends and shifts.
Question 5: The proficiency testing program requires laboratories to:
- Test PT samples using the same methods used for patient samples (Correct answer)
- Use special reference methods only for PT samples
- Have the lab director personally perform PT testing
- Submit PT results quarterly to CLIA
Correct answer: Test PT samples using the same methods used for patient samples
Laboratories must test proficiency testing samples using the same procedures used for routine patient specimens to ensure valid performance assessment.
Question 6: Which Westgard rule indicates a systematic error when one control value exceeds the mean by more than 2 standard deviations?
- 1-2s warning rule (Correct answer)
- 2-2s rule
- R-4s rule
- 10x rule
Correct answer: 1-2s warning rule
The 1-2s rule is a warning rule triggered when one control value falls outside ±2 SD, prompting evaluation but not automatic rejection.
Question 7: A laboratory's turnaround time (TAT) is best defined as the time from:
- Specimen collection to result reporting (Correct answer)
- Specimen receipt in the lab to result availability
- Order entry to specimen collection
- Result reporting to physician notification
Correct answer: Specimen collection to result reporting
TAT is most comprehensively measured from the time of specimen collection through the final reporting of results to the clinician.
Medical Technologist Test Medical Technologist General Information 2
Which federal law governs the quality standards for all laboratory testing in the United States?