Front Desk
Common Concerns
General Knowledge
Forms
Clinical
100

Patient comes in after collecting medication from the pharmacy and asks: "Why did the doctor give me this medication? What is it for?"

1. If the provider is readily available, ask them. 

2. If the office is really busy, nicely explain that it may take some time before the doctor can become available. We can have someone from the clinical team call them shortly if they do not prefer to wait. 

3. Assign task to Dr. Arafat for clinical team.

100

The PSR team receives a call from a radiology office: "The patient's MRI Lumbar Spine order was received, but insurance requires prior authorization before scheduling." Which department should we schedule this for? 

Clinical Team

100

What is the normal adult body temperature commonly considered to be?

98.6°F (37°C).

100

What does ROI stand for and when must an ROI be signed?

Release

Of

Information


Before releasing or requesting patient records from another facility.

100

Patient says:

“I think I’m allergic, so I stopped my medication already.”

Question: What is the correct response?

Acknowledge concern, do not confirm or deny allergy. Put them on schedule as a walk in for provider to evaluate reaction and adjust treatment safely.

200

Patient says: “I never got my prescription from the pharmacy.”

1. Front desk/ Medical Assistant to confirm if it was sent & verify correct pharmacy name with patient

2. If needed, escalate to PSR team ( assign task to Raja)  to call pharmacy and find out what is going on

From there, it gets handled accordingly.

200

 The PSR team receives a call from another clinic/insurance: 

"We are processing this patient's claim and need the patient's PCP information and ICD diagnosis codes associated with the visit." 

Which department should get this task? 

Billing Team

200

Which side of the brain controls the right side of the body?

Left

200

What does NYIA stand for and what is the form used for? 

NYIA stands for the New York Independent Assessor. 

It is a program managed by the NYS Department of Health used to evaluate whether an individual qualifies for Medicaid-funded long-term home care services. 

200

The PSR team receives a call from a patient stating: 

"I've been having severe chest pain since this morning, I feel short of breath, and my symptoms are getting worse. I am coming now." 

What should be the appropriate next workflow step? 

 Send a task directly to Provider/Clinical Team immediately as an urgent matter and send a teams message to front desk staff to be prepared for this patient

300

Patient arrives and says: "" I do not like this new medication the doctor gave me 4 days ago. I feel dizzy and it makes me vomit. Can I stop taking it?" How should you respond to this situation? 

1. Listen and validate.

2. Inform the patient that for any medication concerns or reactions, the patient needs to be evaluated. 

3. Put them on schedule as a walk in. 

300

Pharmacy is calling to confirm medication dosage. Which department should be encountered? 

Clinical team

300

What does “PRN” mean?

As needed.

300

What form do we typically need to fill out for transportation? 

2015

300

During triage, patient complains of consistent headaches. States" I saw my neurologist 2 months ago and I don't remember what my results showed.” What is the appropriate next step?

1. Gather information about Neurologist

2. Have ROI signed

3. Assign task to Raja for PSR team to follow up with collecting the reports from Neurologist 

400

A patient comes into the office and seems like she is in a rush. She asks: "I did my MRI last week. Can you just tell me if my MRI result is normal?" How should you respond?


“I’m sorry, but I’m not able to interpret any results, as that discussion needs to come directly from the provider. However, I can certainly help support you by confirming whether the results have been received in our system, and I’d also be happy to check if there is a sooner appointment available so the provider can review the results with you as soon as possible.”

This shows: clear professional boundaries, empathy, ownership, proactive support, solution-oriented communication

400

Patient states: " I have a quick question for the doctor." How should you respond?

1. " Can you please let me know the concern, I would like to see if I can help you."

2. If it is a clinical question or a question you cannot answer, say:" The doctor is seeing other patients now, I will note you question and have someone call you with an answer as soon as possible." If they still want to see the doctor, explain that they will have to wait and it may take some time. 

400

True or False:

Babies are born with more bones than adults.

True.

400

A patient submits DOH forms but key documents are missing. They are insisting:


“Just fill out what you can and send it now.”


Answer (what staff should say to the patient):

“Thank you for sending this in. We want to complete your DOH forms accurately and avoid any delays or rejections. At this time, we are missing some required documents, so we are not able to finalize the form yet. Once we receive everything, we will begin processing it under our standard 7-business-day turnaround time. If you’d like, I can tell you exactly what is still needed so we can complete this as quickly as possible.”

400

Two patients arrive at the same time:

Patient A:

  • Chest pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Pale, diaphoretic
  • History of cardiac disease

Patient B:

  • Severe abdominal pain (10/10)
  • Vomiting
  • Stable vital signs
  • Alert and speaking clearly

Question: Which patient should be seen first, and why?

Patient A should be seen first.

Chest pain with shortness of breath suggests a potential life-threatening cardiac emergency.

Patient B is also urgent and needs evaluation, but is currently more stable (airway/breathing/circulation not immediately compromised) compared to Patient A.

500

Patient Samuel had an appointment for 10AM. Patient Fahim has an appointment at 12PM. It is now 12:05PM.


Which appointment should go first and why? 

Fahim as he came within his appointment time. Patient Samuel is over 2 hours late and will be treated as a walk in.

Front desk must nicely manage expectations. 

500

Patient's friend calls the office and is very upset. They would like to speak to the manager to see why the DOH has not been signed yet. What should you do in this scenario? 

1. First, confirm if this person is authorized to discuss PHI for this patient. 

2. Once confirmed, listen to the patient without interrupting, validate their frustration. 

3. Reassure that the manager will call shortly to sort this out. 

4. Do not discuss anything further at this point. ( If someone calls in an upset manner and requests manager, escalate immediately)

5. Call Tafira and explain the situation. 

6. Put a detailed note in all relevant areas. 

500

What is the largest organ in the human body?

THE SKIN!

500

A patient drops off a DOH form at the front desk, what happens next. 

1. Front desk notifies MA and writes it in the visit reason ( DOH cannot be the only reason)

2. Scans blank copy into chart

3. MA makes sure doctor has all orders he needs to complete

4. If anything is missing, doctor will discuss with the patient what is needed before we can sign off on the form. From the time we get all required orders, we take 7 days to return the document.

500

What acronym do we use for recognizing strokes? What does it stand for 

FAST (Stroke Recognition)

F — Face

Ask the patient to smile.

  • Look for facial drooping on one side

A — Arms

Ask the patient to raise both arms.

  • Look for one arm drifting downward or weakness

S — Speech

Ask the patient to repeat a simple sentence.

  • Look for slurred, strange, or unable to speak clearly

T — Time

If any of the above are positive:

  • Note the exact time symptoms started (last known well time is critical)
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