Risk Assessment & Mitigation Flashcards
7 cards from real CMAS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Risk Assessment & Mitigation flashcards as text
A CMAS notices that a physician has been signing blank prescription pads. What type of risk does this PRIMARILY represent?
Answer: Drug diversion and prescription fraud risk
Signing blank prescription pads creates a serious drug diversion and prescription fraud risk, as blank signed prescriptions can be stolen and misused to obtain controlled substances.
Which federal law creates a risk of significant civil monetary penalties for medical practices that submit false claims to Medicare or Medicaid?
Answer: False Claims Act (FCA)
The False Claims Act imposes civil monetary penalties per false claim plus treble damages on entities that knowingly submit fraudulent claims to federal healthcare programs.
A risk assessment reveals that the practice's fire suppression system has not been tested in over two years. This falls under which risk category?
Answer: Facilities/environmental risk
An untested fire suppression system is a facilities or environmental safety risk that could result in physical harm to patients and staff and regulatory penalties.
What does 'risk tolerance' mean in the context of healthcare risk management?
Answer: The level of risk an organization is willing to accept before taking action
Risk tolerance defines the boundary of acceptable risk exposure; risks exceeding this threshold require active mitigation strategies.
Which scenario BEST exemplifies a 'near miss' in a medical office risk management context?
Answer: A staff member almost gives a patient the wrong chart but catches the error before any action is taken
A near miss is an event that could have caused harm but was caught before reaching the patient, and it should be documented and analyzed to prevent future errors.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), what is a key liability risk for practices with emergency departments?
Answer: Patient dumping — transferring or discharging patients without stabilizing them
EMTALA prohibits patient dumping — transferring or refusing emergency care based on inability to pay — and violations can result in significant civil monetary penalties.
A risk mitigation plan assigns each risk to a specific staff member. What is this person's role called?
Answer: Risk owner
A risk owner is the individual accountable for monitoring, managing, and reporting on a specific identified risk and its mitigation actions.