This blog post is a writing assignment for MAST 1060: Medical Office Procedures, part of the Health Care Management (HC23) Associate of Applied Science Degree program at Southern Crescent Technical College.

“Scenario: Mrs. Gretna, a 50-year-old legally blind patient, comes into the office to have her back checked. She is complaining of lumbar pain. The physician has asked you to escort Mrs. Gretna to his office where he would like to obtain information before the clinical medical assistant escorts her into an examination room. Role-play the communication between the administrative medical assistant and the patient” (French, 2019, Job Skill 4-7).

This scenario requires two people: Mrs. Gretna, a legally blind woman, and Amy, a medical assistant. Mrs. Gretna has been waiting in the waiting room, and the doctor is ready to see her in his office to collect information.

Amy approaches Mrs. Gretna in the waiting room, greets her warmly with a smile, and introduces herself. She speaks clearly but normally and looks directly at Mrs. Gretna when she speaks. Amy says, “Dr. Smith would like me to escort you to his office to get your current information before examining you.” Amy offers her arm or elbow to Mrs. Gretna, telling her that she has her arm extended for assistance if she desires. Mrs. Gretna takes Amy’s elbow and thanks her.

Amy escorts Mrs. Gretna to Dr. Smith’s office, saying, “We are heading down a hallway, and Dr. Smith’s office is three doors down on the left. A nurse is walking towards us on your left just now. Here it is.” They enter Dr. Smith’s office. Amy asks if she would like assistance with a tour of her surroundings. Mrs. Gretna says she would like that, and Amy escorts her around Dr. Smith’s office, pointing out furniture and surfaces, letting Mrs. Gretna familiarize herself with the office and furniture at her own pace. They complete the tour at two chairs in front of Dr. Smith’s desk, where they sit.

Amy asks Mrs. Gretna if she would like assistance with the forms. Mrs. Gretna gratefully accepts. Since she wants help, Amy informs her that she will remain in the office in the chair next to her. She said that the doctor will be in shortly and that she will escort her to the exam room when the forms are complete. Amy also explains that Dr. Smith enjoys cuckoo clocks and tells her that a clock is in the office that will cuckoo soon.

Dr. Smith enters the office and greets Mrs. Gretna. Mrs. Gretna is legally blind but can still see and read some and prefers to do so when she can. Amy hands her the forms in large print format and explains that they are large print but will assist her as needed. In the end, Amy reads most of the form aloud, filling parts out for Mrs. Gretna and indicating where she should sign at her request. Upon completing the forms, Amy offers Mrs. Gretna her elbow again to escort her to the exam room in the same manner, following the same steps (French, 2019, 4-3g, Procedure 4-5, Job Skill 4-7).

References

French, L. L. (2018). Administrative Medical Assisting. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

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