Cheat sheet
CCMA Cheat Sheet
Foundations
- 10% of exam
- Terminology Pharmacology Healthcare Teams Nutrition
Anatomy + Physiology
- 5% of exam
- Body Systems Directional Terms Disease Basics Homeostasis
Clinical Patient Care
- 56% of exam
- Vitals Infection Control Phlebotomy EKG Clinical Picker
Coordination + Education
- 8% of exam
- Teach-Back Referrals Preventive Care Follow-Up
Admin Assisting
- 8% of exam
- Scheduling EHR Billing Claims
Communication + Service
- 8% of exam
- De-Escalation Active Listening Barriers Teamwork
Law + Ethics
- 5% of exam
- HIPAA Consent Scope Reporting Admin Picker
Quick Facts
- Exam NHA CCMA
- Items 150 scored + 30 pretest
- Time 3 hours
- Pass 390 scaled
- Scale 200-500
- Largest Clinical care 56%
- Renewal 2 years + 10 CE
Allergy vs Side Effect FO
Allergy
- Immune response
- Hives/anaphylaxis
Side effect
- Expected effect
- Nausea/drowsiness
- Immune vs expected
Terminology FO
- Prefix Word beginning
- Suffix Word ending
- Root Core meaning
- A- Without
- Brady- Slow
- Tachy- Fast
- itis Inflammation
- ectomy Surgical removal
Pharmacology FO
- Indication Reason for drug
- Contraindication Reason to avoid
- Side effect Expected unwanted effect
- Adverse reaction Harmful response
- Allergy Immune reaction
- PRN As needed
- PO By mouth
- SL Under tongue
Body Systems AN
- Cardiac Heart pumping
- Respiratory Gas exchange
- Endocrine Hormone signaling
- GI Digestion
- Renal Fluid filtering
- Neuro Control signals
- Integumentary Skin barrier
- Musculoskeletal Movement support
Order Draw CL
- Cultures, blue, red, green, lavender, gray.
- Sterile Citrate Serum Heparin EDTA Fluoride
Asepsis vs Sterile CL
Asepsis
- Reduces microbes
- Routine clean care
Sterile
- No microbes
- Procedural field
- Clean vs microbe-free
Clinical Picker CL
- New patient arrives → Verify identity
- Chest pain reported → Notify provider
- Bleeding after draw → Apply pressure
- Faint during draw → Stop and lower
- Fever with cough → Mask patient
- POCT control fails → Do not test
- EKG wandering baseline → Reduce movement
- Need sterile setup → Keep field dry
Vitals CL
- Temp Body heat
- Pulse Heart rate
- Respirations Breaths per minute
- BP Arterial pressure
- SpO2 Oxygen saturation
- Pain Subjective scale
- BMI Weight-height ratio
- Orthostatic Position BP change
Medication Rights CL
- Right patient, drug, dose, route, time.
- Patient Drug Dose Route Time
Systolic vs Diastolic CL
Systolic
- Top number
- Heart contracts
Diastolic
- Bottom number
- Heart relaxes
- Pump vs rest
Infection Control CL
- Standard All patients
- Contact Gown and gloves
- Droplet Surgical mask
- Airborne N95 respirator
- Asepsis Reduce microbes
- Sterile field Microbe-free area
- Sharps Dispose immediately
- Exposure Wash, report, document
EKG Limbs CL
- White right, smoke over fire.
- RA white LA black RL green LL red
Phlebotomy CL
- Two IDs Name plus DOB
- Tourniquet One minute max
- Bevel Face up
- Angle 15-30 degrees
- Median cubital First choice
- Cephalic Second choice
- Basilic Last choice
- Label At bedside
Order of Draw CL
- Cultures Sterile first
- Light blue Citrate coag
- Red/SST Serum tests
- Green Heparin plasma
- Lavender EDTA hematology
- Gray Glucose/lactate
- Discard tube Butterfly before blue
- Invert tubes Gentle mixing
EKG CL
- RA Right arm
- LA Left arm
- RL Right leg ground
- LL Left leg
- V1 Right fourth ICS
- V2 Left fourth ICS
- V4 Fifth ICS MCL
- Artifact False tracing
Patient Education CO
- Teach-back Patient repeats plan
- Health literacy Plain language
- Barrier Blocks understanding
- Referral Outside service link
- Follow-up Next care step
- Portal Electronic access
- Prevention Screening and vaccines
- Community resource Support service
Referral vs Prior Auth AD
Referral
- Provider direction
- Specialist access
Prior auth
- Payer approval
- Payment requirement
- Provider vs payer
Admin Picker AD
- Wrong chart found → Stop documentation
- Missing referral → Contact payer
- Coding question → Ask biller
- Record request arrives → Check ROI
- Angry patient → Acknowledge concern
- Late provider → Update patient
- Interpreter needed → Use qualified interpreter
- Portal message urgent → Route immediately
Administration AD
- EHR Electronic chart
- Chief complaint Visit reason
- Demographics Patient identifiers
- Copay Patient portion
- Deductible Before insurance pays
- Prior auth Approval before service
- Referral Provider authorization
- Superbill Visit charge sheet
Communication CO
- Empathy Acknowledge feeling
- Reflection Restate meaning
- Open question Invites detail
- Closed question Specific answer
- Interpreter Qualified language help
- SBAR Structured handoff
- De-escalation Lower tension
- Boundary Professional limit
Consent vs Authorization LE
Consent
- Care permission
- Procedure focused
Authorization
- PHI release
- Disclosure focused
- Treat vs disclose
Law + Ethics LE
- HIPAA Protect PHI
- Consent Permission for care
- Scope Allowed duties
- Negligence Duty breach harm
- Incident report Internal event record
- Mandatory report Required legal alert
- ROI Release authorization
- Ethics Right conduct
Common Traps
Pretest Items
- Still answer carefully ≠ Not identified
Tourniquet Time
- One minute max ≠ Avoid hemoconcentration
HIPAA Minimum
- Need-to-know only ≠ Curiosity is violation
Incident Reports
- Internal document ≠ Not charted as filed
Scope Boundary
- Assist provider ≠ Do not diagnose
EKG Artifact
- Fix patient setup ≠ Do not interpret
Last Minute
- 1. Clinical care is 56%
- 2. Verify two identifiers first
- 3. Tourniquet: one minute max
- 4. Label specimens at bedside
- 5. HIPAA: minimum necessary
- 6. Consent treats; ROI discloses
- 7. Teach-back confirms understanding
- 8. Chest pain: notify provider
- 9. Sterile field stays dry
- 10. Pass standard is 390