TEXAS MEDICAL LIABILITY TRUST
Medical liability coverage for Texas physicians

Reporter CME — test questions

"There is an 'e' in medicine"
November-December 2010

Please answer the following questions and click the submit button. All questions must be answered.

  1. Almost one-third of health care IT projects fail as they run into issues such as unplanned costs, poor quality, and excessive delays.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  2. Studies demonstrate that using physician-patient email can lead to:

    1. a decreased number of office visits
    2. misuse by patients for emergent needs
    3. improved satisfaction with physician communication
    4. increased use of staff and physician time in answering email
     

  3. Common medicolegal issues that may be encountered when implementing physician-patient email include:

    1. medical record management
    2. archiving and retrieving
    3. secure storage of email addresses and passwords
    4. none of the above
    5. all of the above
     

  4. Texas Medical Board rules require a semi-annual review of the physician's email policy.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  5. SMS text messages are encrypted and are generally thought to be more secure than email.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  6. Before using social media on a professional basis, physicians are urged to:

    1. consider recommendations on social media usage from their professional societies
    2. decide which patients they want to "friend" on Facebook
    3. remember that since there are no specific regulations for social media usage, anything goes
    4. assign a staff member to oversee your social media activities
     

  7. While many physician-only online communities claim to only allow access to physicians, some of these communities offer advertisers or other non-health care personnel the ability to monitor online physician discussions.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  8. Telemedicine is defined as the remote delivery of health services through an electronic exchange of health data between two different sites using:

    1. two-way video
    2. telephones
    3. remote Internet access
    4. a and c only
    5. all of the above
     

  9. The legal rules, ethical guidelines, and professional etiquette that apply for face-to-face patient encounters do not apply to online consultations.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  10. Patient portals allow patients to complete the following functions:

    1. review the physicians' notes from their last visit
    2. review their complete medical record
    3. enter or edit their clinical information
    4. all of the above
    5. none of the above
     

  11. Personal health records and patient portals will likely gain a prominent role in the "meaningful use" requirements for electronic medical records.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  12. According to the Texas Medical Board, a licensed Texas physician who engages in telemedicine or electronic communications with patients across state borders is not required to be licensed in the other state.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  13. If a lawsuit is filed against a physician by a patient treated through telemedicine who lives in another state, the physician should be aware that:

    1. the standard of care and laws of the physician's state will likely be applied in the case
    2. the standard of care and laws of the patient's state will likely be applied in the case
    3. federal law and a federal standard of care will be applied in the case
    4. the applicable laws and the standard of care that apply will be decided by the jury
     

  14. Electronic medical records are now meeting previously expressed expectations as key components in improving patient safety and containing health care costs.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  15. EMR hardware and software issues can be mitigated by the following:

    1. ensuring that EMR hardware and software is managed by reputable IT experts
    2. ensuring that EMR hardware and software is managed by a clinical staff member who understands the content
    3. plan for and simulate EMR downtime
    4. a and c only
    5. all of the above
     

  16. To prevent errors caused by automation in EMRs, physicians and their staffs should:

    1. turn off the automation features of the EMR
    2. assign a staff member to check all the automated, pre-filled content
    3. design the automation based on previously used paper-based processes
    4. customize clinical content for parts of the EMR such as order sets, documentation templates, physician orders, and discharge instructions
     

  17. Physicians should oversee the processes used to manage and monitor the development of clinical content in an EMR.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  18. Case studies of EMR implementations consistently list "clear communication among staff members" as a key factor for success.

    1. true
    2. false
     

  19. Displaying data in the following ways can fragment a physician's thought patterns, making EMR use more difficult:

    1. multiple screens
    2. poor resolution
    3. numerous mouse clicks
    4. excessive scrolling
    5. all of the above
     

  20. Most of the technology-related problems discussed for e-mail, telemedicine services, and EMRs can be traced back to controllable factors involving people and processes.

    1. true
    2. false
     


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Physician name/signature: *

Date: 05-17-2012

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