Deck 20: Telephone Techniques and Scheduling

Question 1

When answering incoming calls, what is the first thing the caller should hear?

A) The name of the facility
B) Your name
C) Your offer to help or assist
D) All of the above

Answer 1

The name of the facility

Question 2

Which of the following would be considered professional jargon?

A) Encephalalgia
B) Backache
C) Earache
D) Headache

Answer 2

Encephalalgia

Question 3

How long are records of telephone messages retained?

A) The same period that the statute of limitations runs for medical professional liability cases
B) 5 years
C) 7 years
D) 1 week

Answer 3

The same period that the statute of limitations runs for medical professional liability cases

Question 4

Which of the following is not correct with regard to ending a call?

A) Closing the conversation with some form of "goodbye"
B) Hanging up before the caller
C) Discouraging inappropriate chatting
D) Thanking the person for calling

Question 5

Enunciation is

A) the choice of words.
B) the highness or lowness of sound.
C) articulation of sounds.
D) a change in pitch.

Question 6

The medical assistant may help an angry caller to calm down by

A) speaking in a lower tone of voice.
B) getting angry in return.
C) passing the situation off to the office manager immediately.
D) calling the physician into the situation.

Question 7

Which of the following is not required when a telephone message is taken?

A) The caller's name and phone number
B) The time and date
C) The name of the person to whom the call is directed
D) The caller's account number

Question 8

Which of the following calls is considered urgent, but not an emergency?

A) Symptoms of chest pain
B) Severe allergic reactions
C) Animal bite
D) Broken bones

Question 9

Active listening involves

A) listening to what the speaker is saying.
B) interpreting what the message is.
C) restating the message to make sure that you have receive the intended message.
D) All of the above

Question 10

When answering a telephone for a healthcare practice, which of the following practices helps create a positive impression on the caller?

A) Speak in monotone
B) Smile
C) Use medical jargon
D) All of the above

Question 11

Which of the following types of calls should be limited in the professional setting?

A) Local
B) Long distance
C) Toll free
D) Personal

Question 12

The medical assistant should be extremely careful when using a speakerphone because

A) the service is expensive.
B) it is distracting.
C) the call can be traced.
D) confidentiality can be violated.

Question 13

When placing callers on hold, how often should you check back to make sure the caller still wants to remain on hold?

A) No longer than 1 minute
B) Every 2 minutes
C) Until time is available to talk
D) It is not necessary to check back; patients will hold until you return to the call.

Question 14

If your office is in California and it is noon, what time is it on the East Coast?

A) 8 am
B) 9 am
C) 3 pm
D) 4 pm

Question 15

Pitch is

A) the choice of words.
B) the depth of a sound.
C) the quality of being clear.
D) a change in pitch.

Question 16

The vocabulary of a particular group is called

A) salutation.
B) monotone.
C) jargon.
D) enunciation.

Question 17

If your office is on the West Coast, what time is the latest time to call the East Coast?

A) 11 am
B) 1 pm
C) 2 pm
D) 4 pm

Question 18

Which of the following are common sources of incoming calls to the physician's office?

A) Other physicians
B) New patients
C) Laboratories
D) All of the above

Question 19

If your office is in New York and you need to contact a supplier in Seattle, which New York time would be the earliest that you should call to place an order, assuming that the supplier opens at 8 am?

A) 8 am
B) 9 am
C) 10 am
D) 11 am

Question 20

When using speakerphone, which of the following should occur to comply with HIPAA?

A) Inform the caller that you will be using speakerphone
B) Let the person know who else will be listening in
C) Door or reception window should be closed
D) Should not be used in areas where conversation can be overheard

Question 21

The appointment setting method by which a patient logs on to the internet and views a facility's schedule to set his or her own appointment is called

A) flexible office hours.
B) self-scheduling.
C) grouping procedures.
D) advance booking.

Question 22

Which of the following scheduling systems reduces the number of calls to the office and is available to the patient 24 hours a day?

A) Computerized scheduling
B) Self-scheduling
C) Appointment book scheduling
D) Paper-based scheduling

Question 23

Which types of outpatient procedures might be scheduled by the physician's office?

A) MRIs
B) CT scans
C) Blood work
D) All of the above

Question 24

The way to organize appointment scheduling so that it best supports the success of the practice is to

A) schedule as many patients as possible throughout the entire day.
B) allow frequent rest breaks.
C) include a lot of time for the physician's administrative activities.
D) consider the preferences of the physician.

Question 25

When informing patients that you must postpone their appointments because of the absence of the provider, it is good practice to

A) give them the option of seeing another provider.
B) explain exactly why the provider cannot see them.
C) offer them priority over patients already scheduled in the future.
D) be extremely apologetic about the inconvenience.

Question 26

Most providers allow medical assistants to give test results in which of the following circumstances?

A) Only normal test results
B) Abnormal test results if authorized by the provider
C) A caller asking for information on a spouse or child
D) Both A and B

Question 27

When the physician is scheduled at outside facilities, the medical assistant must be sure to allow time for

A) emergencies.
B) travel.
C) returning phone calls.
D) the physician's late arrival.

Question 28

The statistical data of a populations are called

A) numbers.
B) perceptions.
C) demographics.
D) phonetics.

Question 29

When patients need a series of appointments, it is best to

A) schedule them individually.
B) let the patient call when he or she is ready to come in.
C) try to set the appointments for the same day of the week at the same time.
D) use any method of scheduling; they will all be effective.

Question 30

Which of the following is true concerning the scheduling of new patients?

A) Financial arrangements should be explained when the appointment is made if the patient is expected to pay at the time of service.
B) The patient should be offered only the times reserved for new patient appointments, without flexibility.
C) It should be assumed that the patient will look up directions to the office on the internet.
D) The medical assistant should wait to obtain information about the chief complaint until the patient arrives for the appointment.

Question 31

An effective way to deal with patients who are always late for appointments is to

A) refuse to schedule them after this happens several times.
B) have them wait until it is convenient for the physician.
C) advise them that they disrupt the office schedule.
D) give them the last appointment of the day.

Question 32

Patients may fail to appear for appointments because

A) they have been pressed for a payment but do not have the funds to pay.
B) they are in denial and are having difficulty facing their illness.
C) the office consistently runs behind schedule.
D) Both A and B

Question 33

A matrix in the schedule

A) prevents overcrowding.
B) prevents booking of patients during meetings and hospital rounds.
C) is used only in large offices.
D) is done at the end of the day.

Question 34

The principal advantage of using the wave method when designing the scheduling process is that it

A) allows flexibility to accommodate the unpredictable.
B) gives priority to established patients.
C) provides more breaks for staff members.
D) enables the physician to see more patients each day.

Question 35

Why is it necessary to include a note in the patient's chart when the person does not show up for a scheduled appointment?

A) To bill the patient for the time
B) To keep count of the number of no-shows for a possible drop in the future
C) To provide the medical assistant with a reminder to call and reschedule
D) To be prepared for future legal consequences regarding the patient's care

Question 36

When a patient calls in complaining about the care he or she received, or the fee charged, which of the following should be avoided?

A) Placing blame for the error
B) Responding with "Let me help you"
C) Finding the source of the problem and then presenting options for resolution
D) Providing good customer service

Question 37

An obstetrician who devotes two afternoons a week to seeing pregnant patients is using an appointment scheduling method called

A) wave scheduling.
B) advance booking.
C) grouping procedures.
D) modified wave scheduling.

Question 38

Answering services can be used for which of the following?

A) Cover the telephone if all staff members need to be away at the same time
B) Buffer and screen after-hours calls
C) Act as the first point of contact with the practice
D) Both A and B

Question 39

A person who fails to keep an appointment without giving advance notice is called a

A) disruption.
B) no-show.
C) cancellation.
D) reschedule.

Question 40

When a requested appointment time is not available, the medical assistant should

A) explain why the time is not available and offer a different date and time.
B) insist that the patient accept the next available appointment.
C) immediately put the patient on a waiting list for that time slot.
D) suggest the patient see an alternate physician in the practice.

Question 41

The medical assistant should always ask permission before placing a caller on hold.

Question 42

Open office hours do not work well for most practices.

Question 43

The provider's habits should not influence appointment scheduling.

Question 44

Patients should always be given an exact time that the physician will return a call.

Question 45

For security reasons, stating that the doctor is unavailable is best used in which of the following situations?

A) When provider is called to an emergency.
B) When provider is out of town.
C) When provider is delayed.
D) All of the above

Question 46

The medical assistant should never give patients an estimate of what the cost of their visit will be, even on the initial visit.

Question 47

If a late patient is scheduled as the last patient of the day and does not show up before the office closes, the medical assistant is obligated to wait until the patient arrives.

Question 48

Most physicians do not expect the medical assistant to screen calls.

Question 49

Transferring a call to a staff member without announcing the caller's name is considered unprofessional.

Question 50

When rescheduling an appointment, which of the following needs to occur?

A) Set the new appointment time
B) Remove the first appointment day and time
C) Schedule for the last appointment of the same day
D) Both A and B

Question 51

If a caller refuses to identify himself or herself, the medical assistant can put the call through to the physician right then.

Question 52

If a patient calls the office and states that his or her condition has not improved since the office visit earlier in the week, the medical assistant can suggest over-the-counter medications that the patient could try.

Question 53

For legal purposes, what needs to occur when a patient fails to keep an appointment?

A) Call to determine reason for failed appointment
B) Reschedule as soon as possible
C) Place documentation in the patient health record and appointment schedule
D) Classify the patient as a "deadbeat"

Question 54

Which type of scheduling system is often used in an urgent care setting?

A) Open office hours
B) Modified wave scheduling
C) Grouping procedures
D) Time patterns

Question 55

Which type of scheduling is an attempt to create short-term flexibility within each hour?

A) Time-specified scheduling
B) Stream scheduling
C) Wave scheduling
D) Modified-wave scheduling