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NHA CCMA MEDICAL ASSISTANT CERTIFICATION
EXAM||2025-2026|| (COMLETE FORM A, B & C) 350 +
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS
WITH RATIONALES||A+ GRADE
FORM A
an examination by the provider. Which of the following manifestations should the assistant expect? - answer Shortness of breath (SOB) RATIONALE: Expected manifestations of CHF include shortness of breath, fatigue, and edema When measuring a patients respiratory rate, which of the following actions should a medical assistant take to ensure an accurate reading?
- answer Count the respiration's while the patient thinks his pulse is being obtained. RATIONALE: In order to obtain the most accurate reading, the assistant should count the respirations without the patient being aware that his breathing is being assessed. The patient can easily control or alter breathing patterns when he is conscious that the assistant is paying attention to his respirations. Which of the following laboratory results should the medical assistant recognize is abnormal? - answer Potassium 3 mEq/L RATIONALE: This potassium level is below the expected reference range of 3.5 to 5 mEq/L. A medical assistant is preparing a patient who has congestive heart failure (CHF) for
A provider has requested a dissecting instrument on a sterile tray that a medical assistant is preparing. Which of the following instruments should the assistant include on the tray? - answer Scissors RATIONALE:Scissors are considered cutting and dissecting instruments because they include a sharp blade or surface that can cut, dissect, or scrape. A medical assistant is replacing a sharps container in an examination room and receives a small laceration on her arm from the plastic lid. Which of the following types of documentation should the assistant complete as a result of this incident?
- answer OSHA Form 301 RATIONALE:The assistant should recognize that the OSHA Form 301 is an incident rep RATIONALE:ort used when reporting details about a work-related injury or illness. A medical assistant is reviewing a patient's history prior to the patient's appointment. Which of the following laboratory results indicates the need to schedule an extension of the current visit?
- answer Fasting blood glucose 168 mg/dL RATIONALE:This fasting blood glucose level is above the expected reference range of 70 to 130 mg/dL. The assistant should notify the provider and schedule
RATIONALE:The lithotomy position is appropriate for pelvic examinations. Which of the following cardiac procedures is within a medical assistants scope of practice and does not require a licensed technician or provider to assist or perform it? - answer Holter monitor application RATIONALE : A Holter monitor is a system for recording cardiac activity for 24 hr or longer. It is within an assistant's scope of practice to place and remove a Holter monitor. Which of the following EKG artifacts is caused by a disconnected electrode and results in the tracing going into the margins of the paper? - answer Interrupted baseline RATIONALE: Interrupted baseline is caused by an electrical disconnection or a detached electrode and results in the tracing moving into the margins of the paper. A medical assistant receives a telephone call from a patient who seems anxious about the results of a test. Which of the following responses should the assistant make? - answer "I know you are concerned about your test results. We'll call you as soon as your results come in." RATIONALE: This response shows empathy and active listening skills on the part of the assistant, which communicates to the patient that the assistant recognizes his emotions. Empathy allows the assistant to validate the patient's emotions
without becoming unprofessional and losing objectivity. This response is an example of an appropriate way to communicate with the patient. A medical assistant is assisting with the physical examination of a patient who has scabies. Besides gloves, which of the following pieces of personal protective equipment should the assistant wear? - answer Gown RATIONALE:Scabies requires contact precautions; therefore, the assistant should wear gloves and a gown. Other patient conditions that require contact precautions include hepatitis A, rotavirus, and herpes zoster (shingles). A patient loses consciousness. The EKG reveals ventricular fibrillation. Which of the following actions should a medical assistant take first?
- answer Call for help and begin CPR RATIONALE: According to the American Heart Association's resuscitation guidelines, the assistant should call for help and perform CPR immediately after witnessing a cardiac arrest. A medical assistant is composing business correspondence using the simplified letter style. Which of the following features should the assistant use? - answer A subject line in all capital letters. RATIONALE: In the simplified letter style, the subject line is in all capital letters and replaces the salutation.
releases the patient. Which of the following levels of examination should a medical assistant use for the procedural coding for this visit? - answer Problem focused examination. Problem-focused examinations are limited to the single body area or system mentioned in the chief complaint. Prior to a patient's follow-up appointment, which of the following information should a medical assistant report to the provider? - answer Recent laboratory results. The assistant should report recent laboratory results to the provider prior to the visit so the provider can review them with the patient during the follow-up appointment. A medical assistant is reviewing a provider's instructions as the patient is preparing to leave the office. The provider recommends that the patient purchase an over-the- counter antitussive, but the patient tells the assistant that she does not know what an
antitussive is. Which of the following responses should the assistant make? - answer "It is a medication that suppresses the cough reflex." An antitussive suppresses the cough reflex. One of the active ingredients used in antitussive medications is dextromethorphan. A medical assistant is reinforcing teaching with a patient about the use and care of a transdermal patch. Which of the following instructions should the assistant include in the teaching? - answer Select a different application location for each new patch. The assistant should instruct the patient to rotate the location of application for each new patch to help avoid skin irritation. Areas of excess body hair and scaring should be avoided in order to maximize medication absorption. In which of the following positions should a medical assistant place a healthy patient in preparation for a rectal examination. - answer Sims' The Sims' position is appropriate for a rectal examination. Which of the following steps for a finger stick should a medical assistant complete first?
- answer Confirm the correct identity of the patient. The assistant should confirm the patient's identity before preparing for the fingerstick procedure.
specimens for processing. The assistant is responsible for receiving and preparing tissue specimens obtained from a punch biopsy for processing by the laboratory. Which of the following actions should a medical assistant take to verify the quality of venipuncture supplies before beginning a blood draw? - answer Inspect the integrity of the needles seal. Inspecting the needle's seal helps ensure the sterility of the needle. A medical assistant is contacting a patient to schedule a repeat Papanicolaou test due to abnormal results. The assistant should identify that which of the following factors can interfere with the test results? - answer Using an over-the-counter vaginal cream prior to the test. A patient should avoid using over-the-counter vaginal creams prior to the test. A medical assistant has requested a preauthorization for a patient's referral to a specialist. Which of the following is a reason for the claim submitted by the specialist to be denied? - answer The service is provided after the expiration date. The assistant should recognize that an authorization provided for a specialist indicates a range of dates for evaluation and treatment. Any action taken outside of this range is
subject to denial of payment. A medical assistant has a request to collect a routine CBC from a healthy 10 month old infant. Which of the following is the most appropriate collection site? - answer Left heel If a child is under 12 months of age, an assistant should select the child's heel as the collection site for routine testing, even if there is a well-developed vein available. The heel stick is sufficient and causes less trauma. A patient tells a medical assistant that his provider's office is incompetent, as there is no improvement in his condition. Which of the following is an appropriate response for the assistant to make? - answer "I think that you feel that your treatment is not effective." This response validates the patient's feelings. This also allows the assistant to restate the patient's words in order to verify an understanding of what is being communicated. A medical assistant is preparing a community resource library. Which of the following actions should the assistant take first? - answer Compile a list of local community agencies. The first step the assistant should take is to research, identify, and create a list of available local community resources and services. Which of the following information should the medical assistant enter into the appointment calendar when scheduling a patient for a skin rash? - answer Daytime phone number.
A patient reports getting a bill that includes services she did not receive. Which of the following actions should a medical assistant take to reconcile these charges? - answer Review that days encounter forms to determine if another patient received the services. The purpose of the encounter form is to account for current charges, payments, and balances for each patient. The assistant can review these documents to determine that the patient was seen on the indicated date of service and what services the patient received. A medical assistant is monitoring an infant patient for microcephaly. Which of the following describes the anthropometric measurement that the assistant should perform?
- answer Head Circumference Microcephaly refers to an abnormally small head. Therefore, the assistant should measure the infant's head circumference when monitoring for microcephaly. A medical assistant is faxing a prescription to a patients pharmacy. Which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Call the pharmacy to confirm receipt of the faxed prescription. In order to guarantee that all necessary information for the patient's prescription has been correctly communicated, the assistant should call the patient's pharmacy to confirm the faxed prescription was received. A medical assistant is collecting a health history from an older adult patient who exhibits
moderate hearing loss. Which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Remain within the patient's view to allow lip-reading. Remaining within the patient's view allows for lip-reading and association of facial expressions with verbal communication. This technique promotes successful communication with patients who exhibit moderate hearing loss. A medical assistant is performing spirometry testing for a patient who has shortness of breath. Which of the following results of the spirometry test indicates a successful maneuver? - answer A fast and steady flow with no variability. An acceptable spirometry maneuver must have an expiratory flow that is fast and steady with no variability and must also be consistent with two other spirometry maneuvers. A medical assistant is measuring a patient's oxygen saturation with a pulse oximeter. Which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Check capillary refill in the patients finger. If capillary refill is adequate, the assistant should apply the sensor to the patient's finger. If not, an earlobe or the nose should provide an accurate measurement. A medical assistant is reinforcing teaching with a patient about the self-administration of insulin injections. Which of the following patient statements indicates an understanding of the teaching? - answer I will roll the bottle between my hands before drawing the medication.
care is the most appropriate service to provide daily wound care for this patient. A medical assistant is determining the amount a patient will be required to pay for a scheduled procedure that has an allowable amount of $200. The patient has a 90/ coinsurance and has met his deductible. What is the total amount the patient will pay the provider for this procedure? - answer $ The patient's deductible has been met and the patient's coinsurance is 90/10. The patient's responsibility of coinsurance is 10% of $200, which is $20. Therefore, the patient should pay a total of $20. A medical assistant is encouraging a patient to increase her intake of insoluble fiber to help prevent constipation and hemorrhoids. Which of the following foods should the assistant recommend as the best source of insoluble fiber? - answer Pears with skin A medium pear with skin contains 4 g of insoluble fiber per serving. A medical assistant is cleaning an examination room after assisting a provider with a biopsy.which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Hold sharps by the blunt end to avoid a needlestick injury. The assistant should hold sharps by the blunt end to avoid an injury. A provider places an open sharps container in the linen hamper by mistake. Which of
the following is appropriate action for the medical assistant to take? - answer dispose of the linen hampers contents as a biohazard. The linen hamper's contents must be considered a biohazard and should be disposed of properly. A patient calls the clinic to cancel a postoperative appointment and states that she will reschedule at a later date. For which of the following reasons should the medical assistant document to see information on the patient's chart? - answer To prove that the office was not negligent. Documenting this information is a legal responsibility and covers the clinic for liability. Because the patient said she would reschedule, this communication breaks the physician-patient contract and places responsibility for any postoperative care issues on the patient, not the provider. A medical assistant is entering a new prescription into a patient's electronica medical record. While entering the prescription, and alert notifying this is another medication interaction appears on the screen. Which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Consult with the provider before continuing to process the prescription. If an alert appears while entering a prescription into an EMR, the assistant should recognize that the provider needs to be consulted due to the medication's potential interactions with other medications or certain foods. The assistant should consult the provider before continuing with prescription entry. A medical assistant is caring for a child who has varicella zoster virus. The
The assistant should use the intradermal route to administer a tuberculin skin test. This route of administration applies the medication to the epidermal layer of the skin and allows for subsequent evaluation of the reaction to the tuberculin testing agent. A medical assistant is preparing to create a report about patients who have a family history of breast cancer. Which of the following types of software will allow the assistance to sort, retrieve, and combine information for this report? - answer Database management The assistant should use a database management system to sort and retrieve information quickly. A database allows the assistant to track specific information and create customized applications to sort the information and create reports. A medical assistant is preparing a patient who has psoriasis to be examined by the provider. When inspecting the patient's skin lesions, the assistant should expect to observe which of the following characteristics? - answer Silvery, scaly. Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterized by pink or red lesions, with scaly patches that have a silvery appearance. A medical assistant is administering eye ointment to a patient. Which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Apply a thin ribbon of ointment along the conjunctival sac. Ointment should be applied along the conjunctival sac from the inner canthus to the outer canthus.
A medical assistant discovers a garbage can fire has started in the break room of the medical office. According to the RACE acronym for emergency response, which of the following actions should the assistant take first? - answer Evacuate staff and patients from the immediate area. Using the RACE acronym, the first action the assistant should take is to remove staff and patients who are in immediate danger from the fire. A patient request a female provider to perform her examination due to a religious conviction. A female provider is not available. Which of the following is the appropriate response by the medical assistant? - answer Assist the patient in locating a provider to accommodate the patient's needs. The medical assistant should make every effort to accommodate the patient's religious convictions. In medical system is reviewing a Medicare claim denial. The assistant determines that there are charges that exceed the usual, customary, and reasonable fees. Which of the following actions should the assistant take? - answer Adjust the patient's account to reflect no unpaid charges and write off the balance. According to Medicare guidelines, the fee schedule must follow the usual, customary, and reasonable requirements for repayment. The charges on the patient's account should be written off.
