CMAA - Certified Medical Administrative Assistant Certified Medical Administrative Assistant 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is a core administrative responsibility of a Certified Medical Administrative Assistant?
- Diagnosing patient conditions based on symptoms
- Scheduling patient appointments and managing medical records (Correct answer)
- Prescribing medications for minor ailments
- Performing routine blood draws and lab specimen collection
Correct answer: Scheduling patient appointments and managing medical records
CMAAs are trained in front-office and administrative functions such as scheduling, medical records management, billing, and patient communication — not clinical diagnosis or prescribing.
Question 2: A CMAA is asked to verify a patient's insurance eligibility. Which step should be taken FIRST?
- Submit a prior authorization request to the insurer
- Contact the patient's pharmacy to confirm coverage
- Call or log into the insurance portal to confirm active coverage and benefits (Correct answer)
- Ask the billing department to process the claim and wait for a rejection
Correct answer: Call or log into the insurance portal to confirm active coverage and benefits
Verifying eligibility before the appointment — via phone or the payer's online portal — prevents claim denials and ensures the patient understands their coverage in advance.
Question 3: When a patient calls to report a medical emergency, the CMAA should:
- Schedule an urgent appointment for the next available slot
- Instruct the patient to call 911 immediately and notify the on-call provider (Correct answer)
- Transfer the call to the billing department
- Ask the patient to come to the front desk to fill out an intake form
Correct answer: Instruct the patient to call 911 immediately and notify the on-call provider
In a medical emergency, the CMAA's immediate duty is to direct the patient to emergency services (911) and simultaneously alert the clinical team — patient safety takes priority over administrative steps.
Question 4: Under HIPAA, a CMAA may release a patient's protected health information (PHI) WITHOUT a written authorization when:
- A neighbor of the patient requests an update on their condition
- The information is requested by the patient's employer for performance review
- Disclosure is required for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations (Correct answer)
- A pharmaceutical company requests data for a marketing study
Correct answer: Disclosure is required for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations
HIPAA's Privacy Rule permits disclosure of PHI without patient authorization for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations (TPO). All other disclosures generally require a signed authorization.
Question 5: A CMAA receives a subpoena for a patient's medical records. The correct course of action is to:
- Immediately release all records to the requesting attorney
- Ignore the subpoena because HIPAA prohibits all disclosures
- Notify the practice's legal counsel or compliance officer before releasing any records (Correct answer)
- Destroy the records to protect patient privacy
Correct answer: Notify the practice's legal counsel or compliance officer before releasing any records
A subpoena does not automatically override HIPAA. The CMAA should escalate to legal counsel or a compliance officer who can determine whether a court order, proper authorization, or a qualified protective order is in place before releasing records.
Question 6: Which coding system is primarily used by CMAAs when entering diagnoses for insurance claim submission?
- CPT (Current Procedural Terminology)
- ICD-10-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification) (Correct answer)
- HCPCS Level I codes only
- NPI (National Provider Identifier) codes
Correct answer: ICD-10-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification)
ICD-10-CM codes are the standardized system used to classify and report patient diagnoses on insurance claims. CPT codes describe procedures, while NPI numbers identify providers.
CMAA - Certified Medical Administrative Assistant Certified Medical Administrative Assistant 1
Which of the following is a core administrative responsibility of a Certified Medical Administrative Assistant?