Deck 13: Patient Scheduling

Question 1

Which of the following best describes the purpose of screening?

A) Evaluate patients when they come to the office for a routine visit.
B) Determine urgency of call and care needed.
C) Arrange all patients in schedule as soon as possible.
D) Allow emergency patients only for same-day appointments.

Answer 1

Determine urgency of call and care needed.

Question 2

Which of the following scheduling systems plans for two or more patients to be given a particular appointment time?

A) Double booking
B) Modified wave
C) Open hours
D) Stream
E) Clustering

Answer 2

Double booking

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT an interpersonal skill required for a person scheduling appointments?

A) Acting in a hurried manner
B) Being able to reduce anxiety
C) Being attentive
D) Being sensitive to the patients' needs

Answer 3

Acting in a hurried manner

Question 4

Which of the following is an appropriate action when scheduling a patient in the office and the phone rings?

A) Ignore the call until the appointment is completed with the patient.
B) Leave the patient, turn your back, walk away for privacy, and answer the call.
C) Let the answering service answer the call and follow up when finished with the current patient.
D) Excuse yourself first and then ask the caller to hold for a moment.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a basic item that should be obtained from a new patient?

A) Patient's full legal name
B) Chief complaint
C) Daytime telephone number
D) Address of the patient

Question 6

Which of the following is the most appropriate action when there are delays in the physician's schedule?

A) Notify patients when there will be more than a 45-minute wait.
B) Notify patients when there is an emergency only, because physician will catch up.
C) Offer to cancel and let them call for another appointment.
D) Give patients an estimate of delay and options to deal with delay.

Question 7

Which of the following scheduling systems allows patients to be seen throughout a particular time frame?

A) Double booking
B) Modified wave
C) Open hours
D) Stream
E) Clustering

Question 8

Which of the following best describes one of the primary sources for any provider?

A) Physician referrals
B) Yellow pages
C) Media advertising
D) Patient referrals

Question 9

Which of the following scheduling systems allows unscheduled periods to be used for purposes other than assisting the provider with patients?

A) Double booking
B) Modified wave
C) Open hours
D) Stream
E) Clustering

Question 10

Which of the following best describes the key to having an effective scheduling system?

A) Meet only acute patient needs.
B) Customize system to the type of practice.
C) Tailor system to physician's needs.
D) Give patients appointments on the dates and times they desire.
E) Provide effective monitoring of all appointments.

Question 11

What is the primary purpose of analyzing patient flow?

A) To not allow providers too much time with patients
B) To maximize office scheduling practices
C) To build in a large amount of slack time
D) To put time limits on types of visits

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a variable involved in scheduling appointments?

A) Patient's urgency of need
B) Referral from another provider
C) Implementation of payment at time of visit
D) Use of reminder systems
E) Implementation of cancellation and rescheduling policies

Question 13

Which of the following best describes one of the patients' most frequently voiced frustrations with medical clinics?

A) Providers cancel appointments too frequently.
B) Medical assistants are often abrupt and discourteous.
C) Patients have excessive waiting times.
D) Patients are too often not diagnosed correctly.

Question 14

Which of the following scheduling records should be kept for legal purposes?

A) Appointment books
B) Hard copy day sheets
C) Computerized schedules
D) All of the above

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a requirement of screening?

A) Ask appropriate questions.
B) Determine whether it is a life-threatening matter.
C) Obtain information to help determine urgency.
D) Send all patients to the emergency room.

Question 16

Which of the following,regarding appointments,should always be documented in the patient's medical record?

A) Time change of appointment
B) Patient arrival late for appointment
C) Cancellation or no-show of appointment
D) Patient inquiry of time of appointment

Question 17

Which of the following best describes the most widely used scheduling system in which each patient is assigned a specific time?

A) Double booking
B) Modified wave
C) Open hours
D) Stream
E) Clustering

Question 18

When analysis of patient flow is reviewed,what does this help a practice determine?

A) Day of the week most patients come in
B) Amount of time the provider sees patients per week
C) Number of times per year a patient visits the medical office
D) Realistic time frame for each appointment

Question 19

What is the purpose of analyzing patient flow and the compiled data?

A) To determine whether office personnel are being used efficiently
B) To obtain a clear picture of patient flow
C) To estimate how many patients to schedule in a time frame
D) All of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a reason why the medical office should retain all records for legal purposes?

A) Identify how many no-shows a patient has
B) Determine how many canceled appointments a patient has
C) Verify a patient has been seen
D) Keep track of how many patients are seen for a specific condition

Question 21

Which of the following best describes a behavior indicating to the patient that their time is valued?

A) Impress the patient with your business manner.
B) Acknowledge his presence when he arrives.
C) Demonstrate a cool, detached atmosphere.
D) Provide restful music in the waiting room.
E) Allow only the allotted time for the visit.

Question 22

Which of the following is the most appropriate action when a pharmaceutical representative walks in asking for an appointment?

A) Schedule an appointment for the same day.
B) Explain office policy and schedule an appointment for the next available space.
C) Interrupt the provider and ask permission to work the person into the schedule.
D) Tell the person you will call when there is an available space.

Question 23

Which of the following is the most appropriate action documenting patient "no-shows" in the appointment schedule?

A) It is not necessary to document them.
B) Erase or delete the patient's name in the appointment schedule and note in the chart in red.
C) Black out the name in the appointment schedule.
D) Indicate with a red X.

Question 24

Which of the following best describes a typical office policy concerning no-shows?

A) Automatically send a letter to the patient with instructions to transfer to a new provider.
B) Automatically send a warning letter to the patient that provider's services may be terminated.
C) Have the provider review the patient's record after a certain number of incidences.
D) Call and inform the patient that the provider's services are terminated and not to call for future appointments.

Question 25

Which of the following situations will require the most time for an appointment?

A) Minor illness
B) Routine checkup
C) Suspicious rash
D) Complete physical examination, first visit
E) Blood pressure check

Question 26

Which of the following actions is most appropriate when checking in patients?

A) Interview patients in the reception area only.
B) Leave the patient in waiting room until the physician is ready.
C) Discuss vital information with the patient in a private location.
D) Retrieve the patient's chart only when the patient arrives.

Question 27

Which of the following is the most appropriate action when a patient telephones with symptoms of acute illness?

A) Work an appointment into the schedule immediately.
B) Schedule an appointment for the following day.
C) Send the patient to the emergency room.
D) Offer to work in an appointment over the next few days.
E) Offer to schedule the patient for the last appointment of the day.

Question 28

When using a sign-in method for patients' arriving for a office visit at the clinic,one method to ensure confidentiality is

A) mandate all patients to use this system for equality.
B) instruct patients to remove the top ticket portion on the form that has a number that can be used to identify them.
C) have patients list only their first names.
D) Instruct patients to list their full names and addresses.

Question 29

Which of the following actions for appointment scheduling is a courtesy for the patient?

A) Make appointment when it is most convenient for the patient.
B) Confirm the patient clearly understands the date and time of appointment.
C) Use reminder cards.
D) All of the above.

Question 30

When screening phone calls,what question would NOT be considered appropriate to determine the urgency of the situation?

A) Is the patient in immediate need of medical assistance?
B) How far are you from the facility?
C) Is there any bleeding?
D) Are there chest pains?

Question 31

Which of the following is an advantage of using scheduling software programs?

A) Software can select the next available appointment.
B) Software can search for appointments by patient name.
C) The staff can view multiple schedules at the same time.
D) All of the above

Question 32

Which of the following is an action that would motivate a patient to not miss an appointment?

A) Schedule the patient to fit into open office time periods.
B) Do not allow the patient many time choices.
C) Do not ask for payment when the patient is leaving.
D) Remind the patient at least twice of the next appointment.
E) Give the patient an appointment card or notify the patient by telephone the day before.

Question 33

Which of the following describes an action of the medical assistant that best facilitates service to the patient when scheduling a procedure?

A) Provides the patient with a phone number of the facility.
B) Informs the patient that the facility will contact them.
C) Gets workable dates and times and schedules the appointment for the patient.
D) Provides the patient with directions to the facility.

Question 34

Which of the following best describes how the medical assistant can make patients feel welcome?

A) Talk and laugh with staff members.
B) Act quietly and avoid eye contact.
C) Acknowledge their presence.
D) Fill out the registration form for the patient.