Deck 40: Scheduling Appointments

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT A guideline for appointment scheduling?

A) Concentrate on the person to whom you are speaking.
B) Repeat information back to the patient.
C) Speak quickly to save time when another patient is waiting.
D) Schedule the proper amount of time for the type of appointment.

Answer 1

Speak quickly to save time when another patient is waiting.

Question 2

Discuss applications of electronic technology in effective communication

Answer 2

not answered

Question 3

Describe the implications of HIPAA for the medical assistant in various medical settings

Answer 3

not answered

Question 4

Describe scheduling guidelines

Question 5

Basic Keyboarding/Computer Concepts

Question 6

Which of the following applies to any manual appointment book?

A) The pages display a single day.
B) There is a separate book for each physician.
C) It is a legal document that must be kept on file.
D) It may be written in pencil to facilitate corrections.

Question 7

Describe procedures for implementing both managed care and insurance plans

Question 8

Recognize office policies and protocols for handling appointments

Question 9

Identify critical information required for scheduling patient admissions and/or procedures

Question 10

What interval(s) is/are commonly used in a manual appointment book or computer schedule?

A) 5 minutes
B) 10 minutes
C) 30 minutes
D) 45 minutes
E) All of the above

Question 11

Medical Law and Ethics

Question 12

What is the name for scheduling patients with similar problems or conditions on certain days?

A) Wave
B) Clustering
C) Modified wave
D) Stream

Question 13

Explore issue of confidentiality as it applies to the medical assistant

Question 14

Medical Office Business Procedures/Management

Question 15

Discuss pros and cons of various types of appointment management systems

Question 16

Discuss referral process for patients in a managed care program

Question 17

Where does the medical assistant record the appointments when a manual system is used for scheduling?

A) Spiral-bound appointment book
B) Computer program for keeping track of appointments
C) Both of the above
D) None of the above

Question 18

How is patient confidentiality maintained related to the daily schedule?

A) Create only one copy of the daily appointment schedule.
B) Do not post the schedule in areas to which patients have access.
C) Accompany patients at all times when walking through the office.
D) Use a number system instead of a name system for the daily schedule.

Question 19

Explain how the following impact the medical assistant's practice and give examples (b. Malpractice)

Question 20

What system schedules three or four patients every half hour, who are seen in the order they arrive?

A) Wave
B) Clustering
C) Modified wave
D) Stream

Question 21

If an office uses a modified wave scheduling system, how many patients are given individual appointment times?

A) No patients (0%)
B) All patients (100%)
C) Most patients (80-90%)
D) About half of the patients (50%)

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT a physician preference or need that may affect the appointment schedule?

A) The time of day a physician prefers to do certain types of examinations
B) Other obligations such as hospital rounds or nursing home visits
C) Attendance at conferences and meetings
D) The number of satellite offices affiliated with the medical practice

Question 23

What is the advantage of open office hours?

A) They give patients more flexibility.
B) They reduce patient waiting time.
C) They take full advantage of a computer scheduling system.
D) Patients know what to expect about how long they will have to wait.

Question 24

If an unscheduled patient comes to the office but does not appear to be ill, what should the medical assistant do?

A) Plan to fit the patient in between patients
B) Allow the patient to wait until the end of office hours to be seen as the last patient of the day
C) Tell the patient that he can wait to see if there is a cancellation or missed appointment
D) Explain that patients are seen with appointments only, and give the patient the first available appointment

Question 25

Which of the following variables will affect the appointment matrix the most?

A) The availability of facilities and equipment
B) The season of the year
C) The type of scheduling system used by the office
D) The location of examination rooms within the office

Question 26

How does the medical assistant set up the appointment schedule?

A) Block out the times when patients can be seen.
B) Block out the times when the medical assistant will not be available.
C) Block out the times when the physician is not available to see patients.
D) Block out the times when the medical office is open.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of patient self-scheduling?

A) Patients can often select their desired time if it is available.
B) Patients always receive the appointment time they request.
C) Patients can be notified of appointment times electronically or by letter.
D) Patients do not need to place a telephone call to the office to schedule an appointment.

Question 28

If patients must fast for laboratory tests, what special scheduling requirements should be initiated?

A) Schedule the patient for the laboratory test at least one week before an appointment with the physician.
B) Schedule the patient early in the morning if possible.
C) Instruct the patient to arrive for the laboratory test with a full bladder.
D) The patient can be scheduled at any time of day that is convenient.

Question 29

Which of the following reasons for an office visit will require the most time?

A) An immunization
B) A postoperative checkup
C) A complete physical examination
D) A follow-up visit for hypertension

Question 30

How does the office usually handle visits from pharmacy representatives or medical salespeople who want to see the physician?

A) Give them a specific appointment time, often during the lunch break
B) Take their cards and inform them that the physician will contact them if needed
C) Allow them to wait until the physician has a free minute between patients
D) See them at the completion of scheduled office hours

Question 31

Which of the following are included as established patients?

A) Patients who do not need a physical examination
B) Patients who have appointments at regular intervals
C) Patients with insurance referrals
D) Patients who have been seen in the medical office during the past three years

Question 32

When is double-booking often used?

A) When the physician uses two examination rooms
B) When a patient with an acute injury or illness must be fitted into the schedule
C) When there is more than one physician scheduled to be in the office
D) When the physician is running behind schedule

Question 33

What is important when changing the appointment date and time for a patient?

A) Delete or erase the original appointment completely.
B) Record that the appointment was changed in the patient's medical record.
C) Always draw a line through the original appointment if a manual appointment book is used.
D) Give the patient an appointment within 2 days of the original appointment, double-booking if necessary.

Question 34

What is the minimum amount of time that would commonly be allotted for the examination of a new patient?

A) 10 minutes
B) 15 minutes
C) 20 minutes
D) 30 minutes

Question 35

What is the goal of stream scheduling?

A) To schedule the same amount of time for each appointment
B) To be sure that there is always a patient waiting to see the physician
C) To give the physician time to respond to telephone messages between patients
D) To schedule patients so that there is a steady flow of patients moving through the office

Question 36

Which method(s) can be used to allow the physician to avoid falling behind or catch up with appointment times?

A) Leave at least 15-20 minutes free each morning and/or afternoon
B) Schedule a lunch break that is 20-30 minutes longer than the physician will need
C) End appointment times about an hour before the physician really plans to go home
D) Schedule the physician for examination rooms that are side by side
E) All of the above

Question 37

Which of the following adult patients should be seen by the physician on the day the patient calls, if possible?

A) The patient who complains of nausea and vomiting for the past three days
B) The patient with a fever of 101.8 °F since the previous evening
C) The patient who has an unexplained weight loss over the past two months
D) A patient who has had difficulty falling asleep for two weeks
E) All of the above

Question 38

Which condition is the lowest priority and could wait until an available appointment in 1 or 2 days?

A) Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy
B) Earache with drainage
C) Cold with runny nose
D) A laceration (cut) that will not stop bleeding

Question 39

What information must be obtained from a new patient?

A) The patient's work schedule
B) The patient's past medical history
C) Whether the patient smokes cigarettes
D) The type of medical insurance and coverage

Question 40

How long in advance can patients usually schedule appointments?

A) Up to 3 months
B) Up to 6 months
C) Up to 12 months
D) Up to 2 years

Question 41

In appointment scheduling, a blocked time is a time that already has a patient appointment.

Question 42

If a patient with managed care insurance must be referred to a specialist physician, what is the responsibility of the primary care physician's office?

A) Nothing; the patient just makes an appointment with the specialist.
B) To make the appointment with the specialist.
C) To submit a referral form the managed care organization and obtain preauthorization for the referral.
D) To notify the specialist so that the specialist's office can obtain preauthorization for a patient appointment.

Question 43

If a patient has been seen in by a dermatologist in a medical group, the patient will be considered an established patient for all physicians affiliated with the medical group even if they have different medical specialties.

Question 44

When appointments are changed or cancelled in a computer appointment scheduling program, the original appointment remains visible, but appears in a different color.

Question 45

Scheduling an appointment for an established patient requires the medical assistant to ask more questions than scheduling an appointment for a new patient.

Question 46

Which of the following diagnostic tests is usually included in preadmission testing before any surgery?

A) Ultrasound of the operative area
B) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
C) Electroencephalogram (EEG)
D) Electrocardiogram (ECG)
E) All of the above

Question 47

Why should the office have a system to verify that the results of diagnostic tests were given to patients?

A) To verify that the tests were done
B) To place the results of the test somewhere permanent
C) To protect the physician from possible lawsuits for malpractice or abandonment
D) To have test results ready for the physician to discuss with the patient at the next visit

Question 48

Established patients are usually scheduled for 10-20 minutes for a sick visit.

Question 49

Which of the following information should the medical assistant have on hand before scheduling a diagnostic test for a patient?

A) The patient's name and telephone number
B) The patient's insurance information
C) The type of procedure being performed
D) The patient's diagnosis or the reason the procedure is being performed
E) All of the above

Question 50

When using a computer program to schedule appointments, it is usually only necessary to confirm that the computer has brought up the correct telephone number (instead of asking the patient for the telephone number).

Question 51

What is a way to handle a patient who has a pattern of being late for appointments?

A) Give the patient the last appointment of the day.
B) Encourage the patient to find another physician.
C) Call the patient the day before the appointment and remind him or her to be on time.
D) Send the patient a note encouraging him to be on time for his or her next appointment.

Question 52

Who is responsible for giving the patient written instructions before surgery?

A) The surgeon's office
B) The primary care physician's office
C) The hospital or day surgery center
D) Written instructions are not necessary

Question 53

When the patient is going to be admitted to the hospital from home, what should the medical assistant do?

A) Make sure there is preauthorization for the admission.
B) Arrange transportation for the patient.
C) Schedule the physician to be at the hospital when the patient is admitted.
D) Instruct the patient not to eat or drink after midnight the night before the admission.
E) All of the above.

Question 54

Why must proper procedures be adhered to in scheduling patients for consultations with specialists?

A) Specialists will only accept patients who are referred by another physician.
B) Managed care insurance often requires written referral forms, or it will not pay.
C) The physician must demonstrate that the patient needs the service.
D) The specialist needs to have a complete history on the patient before seeing him.

Question 55

Within what time period must the physician visit a patient he or she has admitted to the hospital?

A) Within 1 hour
B) Within 12 hours
C) Within 24 hours
D) Within 48 hours

Question 56

Why is it important to document missed appointments in the patient's medical record?

A) It shows that the patient had an appointment and didn't keep it.
B) It is a potential defense against a claim that the physician was not available.
C) It provides grounds to terminate a relationship with the patient.
D) If provides written documentation that the patient does not follow medical advice.
E) All of the above.

Question 57

What is important when rescheduling a group of patients due to an unexpected change in the physician's schedule?

A) Give the patients new appointments as soon as possible.
B) Reschedule the patients on an extra day, such as a Saturday.
C) Write a note of apology to each patient because of the appointment change.
D) Extend the physician's schedule by one hour for each of the next three days.

Question 58

When scheduling surgery for a patient, what information should be provided in addition to the type of surgery, name of the surgery, and name of the surgeon and any assistant surgeon?

A) The insurance prior authorization number
B) The exact date that the surgeon wants to perform the surgery
C) The name and telephone number of the patient's next of kin
D) Whether the patient has completed a living will or health care proxy
E) All of the above

Question 59

If a patient telephones the medical office with a serious medical problem, the medical assistant should instruct the patient to come to the office immediately.

Question 60

When a patient does not keep an appointment or call to cancel, what should the medical assistant do?

A) Send the patient a letter instructing him or her to find another physician.
B) Have the physician call the patient.
C) Document the missed appointment in the medical record.
D) Nothing-the patient obviously does not want to see the physician.

Question 61

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Open hours

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 62

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Single booking

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 63

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Modified wave scheduling

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 64

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Time-specified scheduling

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 65

If there are scheduled patients in the medical office and the physician must leave for an emergency, it is important to give the patients the option to reschedule.

Question 66

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Clustering

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 67

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Fixed appointment scheduling

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 68

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Categorization

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 69

If a patient will be admitted to the hospital, admitting orders must be telephoned or faxed from the attending physician's office before the patient is admitted.

Question 70

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Double-booking

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 71

Managed care insurance requires the medical office to submit a referral request so that the proposed care can be reviewed and approved or denied.

Question 72

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Stream scheduling

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours

Question 73

Match the definition of the scheduling system to its name(s). Each definition can be used more than once.

Wave scheduling

A) Scheduling two patients for the same appointment time
B) An appointment scheduling method in which each patient is given a specific appointment time
C) Scheduling similar types of patients for examinations on the same day or part of the day
D) An appointment system in which some patients have individual appointment times and some have the same appointment time as other patients
E) A method of scheduling appointments in which several patients are given the same appointment time and seen in the order they arrive
F) Patients may come to the office at any time during a range of hours