Situational Judgement Test Handling Ethical Dilemmas 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You work in healthcare administration and discover that a billing clerk has been inadvertently overcharging patients due to a software misconfiguration that has persisted for three months. What is the priority action?
- Fix the software and say nothing to avoid alarming patients
- Report to management immediately, correct the error, and initiate refunds to affected patients (Correct answer)
- Wait until the quarter ends to address it to avoid disrupting financial reports
- Only refund patients who complain about overcharges
Correct answer: Report to management immediately, correct the error, and initiate refunds to affected patients
Healthcare billing errors must be reported, corrected, and remedied proactively to comply with regulations and to uphold patient trust.
Question 2: Your company is about to sign a contract with a supplier you know has a poor environmental record and pending regulatory violations. You are not the decision-maker. What should you do?
- Sign off without comment since the decision is above your level
- Raise your concerns in writing to the decision-maker before the contract is signed (Correct answer)
- Contact the regulatory agency directly to report the supplier
- Resign in protest if the contract is signed
Correct answer: Raise your concerns in writing to the decision-maker before the contract is signed
Raising concerns through appropriate internal channels before a decision is made gives decision-makers the information they need without overstepping your authority.
Question 3: You are aware that a coworker is struggling with substance abuse that occasionally affects their work quality, though no safety risk exists yet. What is the most appropriate action?
- Tell all team members so they can cover for the coworker
- Ignore it because personal health issues are none of your business
- Report performance issues to your manager and encourage the coworker to seek EAP resources (Correct answer)
- Confront the coworker publicly during a team meeting
Correct answer: Report performance issues to your manager and encourage the coworker to seek EAP resources
Addressing declining work quality through proper channels while pointing the individual to confidential support resources balances organizational needs with compassion.
Question 4: A customer asks you to backdate a contract to qualify for a promotional discount that expired yesterday. They argue it was an oversight. What do you do?
- Backdate the contract as a goodwill gesture since it was an honest mistake
- Offer the discount on the new date's contract as a customer service exception if policy allows
- Backdate with manager approval since the customer will be upset otherwise
- Refuse and explain that backdating documents is fraudulent regardless of intent (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Refuse and explain that backdating documents is fraudulent regardless of intent
Backdating contracts is document fraud, which exposes the company and you personally to legal liability regardless of the customer's intent or goodwill.
Question 5: During a peer review, you find a significant flaw in a colleague's work that, if published, could damage your company's reputation. The colleague is your friend. What is the best action?
- Approve the work to protect your friendship
- Approve the work but send a private email noting the flaw
- Clearly document the flaw in your review and discuss it with your colleague professionally (Correct answer)
- Escalate directly to leadership without speaking to your colleague first
Correct answer: Clearly document the flaw in your review and discuss it with your colleague professionally
A peer review process depends on honest feedback; flagging significant flaws protects the organization and gives your colleague the chance to correct the error.
Question 6: You are asked to sign off on a safety inspection report for a piece of equipment you did not personally inspect. A colleague assures you it passed. What do you do?
- Sign the report since you trust your colleague's word
- Refuse to sign until you personally verify or directly observe the inspection (Correct answer)
- Sign but add a note that verification was done by a colleague
- Ask your manager to sign instead to shift responsibility
Correct answer: Refuse to sign until you personally verify or directly observe the inspection
Signing a safety inspection certifies that you personally verified compliance; doing so without direct verification is a professional and potentially legal misrepresentation.
Question 7: You discover that your company's marketing materials contain a statistic that is technically accurate but presented in a misleading context that exaggerates product benefits. What should you do?
- Leave it alone because the statistic itself is factually correct
- Add more misleading statistics to make it look proportionate
- Raise the concern with marketing leadership and recommend clearer, contextually accurate framing (Correct answer)
- Immediately pull all marketing materials before consulting anyone
Correct answer: Raise the concern with marketing leadership and recommend clearer, contextually accurate framing
Technically true but misleading information can still constitute deceptive marketing, and raising the concern internally is the appropriate first step.
Situational Judgement Test Handling Ethical Dilemmas 3
You work in healthcare administration and discover that a billing clerk has been inadvertently overcharging patients due to a software misconfiguration that has persisted for three months.
What is the priority action?