NHA Review: Communication & Customer Service

What spatial consideration should the medical assistant make when checking in patients?

18 inches to 4 feet

Who encodes a though into a message?

sender

Who decodes the message based on their own understanding and background?

receiver

Physical sounds like a crying baby, a loud television in the waiting room, or a buzzing phone

external noise

Physiological or psychological barriers within the patient. If a patient is in severe pain, terrified of a diagnosis, or worrying about the cost of the visit, they cannot hear your instructions effectively

Internal noise

This occurs when the sender uses words the receiver does not understand

Semantic noise

when words and actions do not match, you must address the body language

incongruence

direct patient contact like drawing blood or taking a pulse. You must ask permission before entering this zone. (intimate zone)

0 to 18 inches

Ideal distance for a patient interview or taking a history. It allows for priave conversations, and checking patients in (personal zone)

18 inches to 4 feet

Standard distance for impersonal business (social zone)

4 to 12 feet

Unconscious stereotypes that affect our understanding and actions wihtout us realizing it

implicit bias

hearing loss often affects high-pitched sounds first

presbycusis

involves repeating the main idea of what the patient said back to them using your own words. This confirms that the factual content of the message was recieved. It acts as a mirror for the patient’s thoughts

restatement (paraphrasing)

focuses on the emotional content of the message, You identify the feeling the patient is expressing and verbalize it back to them.

Reflection

Used when a patient’s message is vague, wandering, or confusing. You ask specific questions to get a clear, concise detail.

Clarification

A MA is composing a business correspondence using the simplified letter style. Which of the following features should the assistant use?

all caps

In addition to receiving a paper copy of the prescription, a pt has requested that the prescription be called into their pharmacy. After calling the pharmacy, which of the following actions should the medical assistant take to complete the request?

paper with “copy only”

Which forms of health information exchange does the office of the national coordinator for health information technology promote in order to provide patients the ability to control the use of their health information?

consumer- mediated exchange

A MA has acquired a preauthorization for a patient’s referral to a specialist. Which of the following is a reason for the insurer to deny the claim submitted by the specialists?

expiration date of the preauthorization

A MA is preparing to print an after-visit summary for a pt. Which direct identifiers should the assistant verify to protect the patient’s protected health information?

mailing address

every single line is flushed with the left margin

full block letter

the body of the letter and the recipient’s address remain left-aligned however the dateline and complimentary closing and the signature block are shifted to the center of the page or aligned to the right margin

modified block letter

first line of every paragraph is indented

semi block letter