Part A:Marge Riley, an overweight 50-year-old woman with a history of abdominal pain, has been scheduled for a lower GI series on Monday morning. She states she has board meetings every Monday morning at which breakfast is served and that she will come in for her x-rays after the meeting is over. Marge indicates that she does not understand why she needs these procedures.

Questions:

What, if anything, would you tell the patient regarding her need for these procedures?

How would you describe these procedures to the patient?

What combination of teaching methods would you use to explain the procedures?

You are still concerned, after explaining everything to Marge, that she will not follow the instructions. What do you do?

PartB:Jenny Watmore, a medical assistant working in Dr. Cory's orthopedic practice, has been asked to assist Mr. Ivy from the wheelchair onto the examination table. Mr. Ivy, who is 70 years old, is weakened on the left side of his body from a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). He weighs 200 pounds and is reluctant to provide much help to Jenny when she has to transfer him from the wheelchair to the examination table.

Questions:

How can Jenny get Mr. Ivy to help her assist him?

Describe the body mechanics that Jenny should use to assist Mr. Ivy.

What patient education does Mr. Ivy need?

What documentation should Jenny provide on Mr. Ivy's record?

PartC:Dr. Waring has a solo practice. When she is on vacation, she arranges for Dr. Dumphey to cover her patients. Dr. Dumphey's medical assistant, Theresa, has just received a call from a patient of Dr. Waring. The patient is an elderly woman, with multiple medical problems, who is possibly having a reaction to a medication that Dr. Waring prescribed two days ago for bronchitis. Her symptoms include nausea, upset stomach, dizziness, headache, rash on her chest, and extreme exhaustion. Theresa senses that the patient may be exhibiting some disorientation to time and place, because it is difficult to elicit consistent responses from her regarding her medications. The patient reports to Theresa that the newest medication she has been taking is Biaxin. The other medications she takes include Prinivil, Cardizem CD, Premarin, Prilosec, Robaxin, Zocor, Ambien, Prozac, Fosamax, Seldane, and aspirin. The patient does not know the dosage of any of these medications but is willing to "open up her bag of medicine" and read each prescription label to Theresa.

Questions:

Does Theresa have an obligation, as Dr. Dumphey's medical assistant, to handle this situation with this patient, or should Dr. Waring simply be notified?

Is this an emergency situation or potential emergency situation and, if so, what should Theresa do immediately?

Because the patient seems disoriented, should Theresa even trust what the patient is reporting?

Should Theresa have the patient read the label of each of her medications?

PartD:Stacy Friedlander is the lead medical assistant in an ophthalmology practice of ten physicians. The eye clinic has patients, literally, from all over the world. Several of the physicians are leaders in their specific area of ophthalmology, such as Dr. Keeler, who specializes in retinal diseases.

Today, Stacy is going to interview a potential new employee, Sarah Banks. Sarah is currently finishing a CAAHEP-approved medical-assisting program at a local college and is searching for full-time employment. She has some on-the-job experience dating back to when she was an after-school receptionist for a general practitioner, but that was more than ten years ago.

The clinic tends to hire medical assistants who are certified, experienced, and very capable of dealing with patients from different age groups, races, and cultures. However, Sarah is being considered for the position because, first of all, her father is a personal friend of Dr. Keeler and, second, qualified medical assistants are difficult to find because of the high demand.

Questions:

What should Stacy do to prepare for the interview with Sarah?

Considering that the practice is limited to ophthalmology, would any special requirements be warranted in a medical assistant who was going to work in this area?

Considering that the clinic's patient population is mixed by age and race, would any special requirements in a medical assistant be warranted in this case?

Is it proper procedure for Sarah to be applying for this position given that she has not yet completed her medical assisting program?

Should Stacy, given the circumstances, invest a lot of time in interviewing Sarah? Why or why not?

Should Sarah's ten-year-old job experience be factored into Stacy's decision to hire Sarah or not?

If Stacy decides not to hire Sarah, does Stacy need to personally contact the reference and thank him anyway, given that he is a friend of Dr. Keeler?