Conclusion: Case Studies

Case Study 7

  • The setting is the cafeteria in a hospital or the lounge in an independent laboratory. Two employees from different departments are old friends are having lunch together. A billing clerk and a medical technologist are friends and are having lunch together. The billing clerk mentions that she saw a bill go through the system for one of her coworkers for a biopsy. She asks the medical technologist if she has the necessary security level access to see pathology test results because she is concerned about the welfare of the coworker. The medical technologist does have the necessary security clearance to see the results. She should:
  • Correct Answer: Refuse to look up the results for the clerk and remind the clerk that it is a violation of compliance policies to do so, or to ask another to do so. Remind her of the requirement for each employee to report any violations of policy.
  • Discussion: The Medical technologist has a responsibility to report violations of compliance policies and the friend has put her in a difficult position. For that reason, it is not enough to just refuse the clerk's request. If the medical technologist does not take the responsibility to inform the employee of the policy then there is a possibility that the employee would ask some other employee to do it for her.

Review for ASCP Boards or test your clinical laboratory science knowledge with the FREE LabCE.com Quiz Game.

Medicare Compliance for Clinical Laboratories course details »

Learn more about medical technologist continuing education for MTs, MLTs, and other lab personnel »

Get information on laboratory safety training for clinical and medical laboratories »