Test Writing Tune Up

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Test Writing Tune Up

• How to turn ho-hum questions into high-octane
  performers

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Question 1 OK
• 1. Patient age is an example of
• A.     demographic data.
• B.     Payer information
• C.     Epidemiological data
• D. Aggregate data

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Question 1 Better
• Which of the items listed below is an example of
  demographic data?
• A. Age
• B. Diagnosis
• C. Treatment
• D. Insurance

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Question 1 High Performance
• Which of the following items contains demographic
  data?
• A. The patient is a 49 year old male admitted
  with cancer of the lung, stage II.
• B. The patient was treated with surgery and
  radiation therapy.
• C. The patients insurance is Blue Cross/Blue
  Shield.
• D. The patient was discharged after 5 days to
  continue treatment as an outpatient.

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Question 2 OK
• Objective symptoms of an illness are also called
• A. Diseases
• B. Signs
• C. Impressions
• D. Diagnoses

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Question 2 Better
• Abdominal pain is an example of
• A. An objective symptom
• B. A subjective symptom
• C. A syndrome
• D. A sign

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Question 2 High Performance
• The patient was admitted with the complaints of
  headache, chest pain, and fever. The patient took
  aspirin which did not relieve the pain, however,
  after taking the aspirin he experienced nausea,
  and had one episode of vomiting, after which he
  said he felt somewhat dizzy and had blurring of
  vision. No loss of consciousness. The patient
  stated he has been under a lot of stress
  recently.
•  
• What are the patients objective symptoms?
• A. Headache and chest pain
• B. Stress and nausea
• C. Fever and vomiting
• 4. Dizziness and blurred vision

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Avoid these potholes!
•  The correct answer is much longer than the
  distractors.
•  Which of the following could be called reference
  data?
• A. ICD-9-CM codes
• B. Laboratory results for an individual patient
• C. An American Hospital Formulary Service drug
  listing used in a hospital pharmacy
• D. Birth and death certificates

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Avoid these potholes!
• The stem of the question is ambiguous, such that
  more than one choice could be correct.
•  Which of the following represents documentation
  of the patients current and past health status?
• A. Physical Exam
• B. Medical History
• C. Physician Orders
• D. Face Sheet

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Avoid these potholes!
• A catch-all response, with more than one correct
  distractor.
• The first step in planning an in-service should
  be to
• A. Identify the audience and then select the
  topic
• B. Select a topic and then identify the
  appropriate audience
• C. Design a program to respond to an
  organizational change
• D. Any of the above, depending on the specific
  circumstances

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Avoid these potholes!
• Grammatical constructions in the stem that favor
  a specific response.
• Redness, swelling, pain and heat are signs of an
• A. Infection
• B. Tumor
• C. Seizure disorder
• D. Keratoma

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Test Writing Tune Up

• Take these questions to the shop
• Turn these knowledge-recall question into an
  application or analysis-level question.
• When a patient develops symptoms as the result of
  the interaction of two prescribed drugs this is
  called
• A. An accident
• B. An adverse effect
• C. A late effect
• D. Poisoning

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Test Writing Tune Up

• A condition that is passed from parent to child
  through genetic inheritance is most correctly
  called
• A. A congenital disease
• B. A hereditary disease
• C. A familiar disease
• D. A blood disease

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Test Writing Tune Up

• When a patient is admitted to the hospital for an
  acute condition, and also has a
  previously-existing chronic condition, this is
  called
•  
• A. A complication
• B. A co-syndrome
• C. A codiagnosis
• D. A comorbidity

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Test Writing Tune Up

• For questions, comments or feedback please
  contact
• Pat Hertel, MA, RHIT
• Education Specialist
• pat.hertel_at_ahima.org