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: Michelle Kunup, a 40-year-old woman, comes into the office to see the neurologist for a consultation and is escorted by her husband. She has just had a major stroke and was released from the hospital last week. She is walking fine and has full use of her arms and so forth but her speech has been affected. Role-play the communication between the administrative medical assistant and the patient” (French, 2019, Job Skill 4-8).

This scenario requires three people: Michelle, a speech-impaired patient; Michelle’s husband; and Amy, a medical assistant. Following Michelle’s hospitalization for a stroke, she and her husband enter a neurologist’s office for a consultation. She is speech-impaired due to the stroke but is otherwise functioning normally. The couple approaches the front desk to check in.

Amy looks up directly at them and smiles at them both, greeting them warmly. Michelle announces that she has an appointment to see Dr. Jones. Amy notices Michelle has a speech impairment and is talking very slowly with difficulty. Amy did not understand her initially and politely asked her to repeat herself. Amy looks at Michelle directly, patiently waiting for Michelle to repeat her statement without interrupting or completing it for her. Amy informs Michelle they need her to complete new patient forms and asks for her insurance card. She treats Michelle respectfully like any other patient, not looking at her strangely or shouting.

Michelle goes to sit down with her husband in the waiting area to complete the forms. They return to the front desk with the completed forms and insurance card. Amy makes a copy of the card and returns it. Michelle asks, “Where is the bathroom?” Amy politely asks her to repeat the question slowly. This time she cannot understand after several tries and provides Michelle with a notepad and pen. Amy smiles at her and asks if she could please write her question down for her. Amy reads the note, points to the side, and says, “It is around this corner to the left.” She also adds that someone will be calling them shortly. The man heads to the waiting room, and Michelle walks around the corner towards the bathroom (French, 2019, 4-3g, Procedure 4-6, Job Skill 4-8).

References

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

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