MPT (Law) 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A PT working in a hospital performs an intervention outside their clinical training, resulting in patient injury. Which legal concept most directly applies?
- Strict liability
- Negligence per se
- Practice beyond scope, supporting a negligence claim (Correct answer)
- Assumption of risk by the patient
Correct answer: Practice beyond scope, supporting a negligence claim
Performing interventions outside one's training and scope of practice is a basis for negligence, as it violates the expected standard of care.
Question 2: A PT provides services to a patient who is enrolled in Medicaid. The PT knowingly submits a claim for a non-covered service by misrepresenting the service code. This is an example of:
- Unbundling
- Healthcare fraud under the False Claims Act (Correct answer)
- Downcoding
- Permissible billing variation
Correct answer: Healthcare fraud under the False Claims Act
Misrepresenting services to obtain Medicaid payment constitutes healthcare fraud, prosecutable under the False Claims Act and state Medicaid fraud laws.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT a required element to prove malpractice (negligence) against a PT?
- Duty owed to the patient
- Breach of the standard of care
- The PT's intent to cause harm (Correct answer)
- Causation and damages
Correct answer: The PT's intent to cause harm
Malpractice is a negligence claim and does not require proof of intent to harm — only duty, breach, causation, and damages must be established.
Question 4: An employer requires a PT to perform a pre-employment physical that screens out applicants with disabilities unrelated to job performance. Under the ADA, this is:
- Permissible if all applicants are screened equally
- Unlawful disability discrimination (Correct answer)
- Required under OSHA safety standards
- Permissible only for direct-care positions
Correct answer: Unlawful disability discrimination
The ADA prohibits using medical examinations to screen out applicants based on disabilities unless the disability directly affects ability to perform essential job functions.
Question 5: When a PT student intern performs a treatment under the direct supervision of a licensed PT, who bears primary legal responsibility for the treatment?
- The student intern alone
- The supervising licensed PT (Correct answer)
- The facility administration
- The referring physician
Correct answer: The supervising licensed PT
The supervising licensed PT bears primary legal responsibility for treatments performed by students under their direct supervision.
Question 6: A PT discloses a patient's diagnosis to the patient's employer without written authorization. Under HIPAA, this disclosure is:
- Permissible under the minimum necessary standard
- A HIPAA Privacy Rule violation unless an exception applies (Correct answer)
- Allowed because employment records are exempt from HIPAA
- Permitted if the employer pays for the patient's health insurance
Correct answer: A HIPAA Privacy Rule violation unless an exception applies
Disclosing PHI to an employer without patient authorization or a recognized HIPAA exception violates the Privacy Rule and can result in civil and criminal penalties.
Question 7: A state PT practice act establishes that PTs may practice under 'direct access' without a physician referral. A PT practicing in that state without a referral is:
- Violating federal Medicare regulations in all cases
- Acting within the law if direct access is permitted by state statute (Correct answer)
- Committing insurance fraud
- Practicing outside their scope regardless of state law
Correct answer: Acting within the law if direct access is permitted by state statute
Direct access is legal when expressly authorized by the state PT practice act, though separate payer requirements (e.g., Medicare referral rules) may still apply for reimbursement.
MPT (Law) 4
A PT working in a hospital performs an intervention outside their clinical training, resulting in patient injury.
Which legal concept most directly applies?