CMAA Education & Occupational Skills Learning Path • Module 4

Referrals and Care Coordination

Apply tracking referrals, authorizations, and administrative handoffs through approved procedures, objective verification, documentation, and escalation.

22 minutes80% mastery targetPractice—unlimited attempts

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Learning outcomes

Explain the purpose of tracking referrals, authorizations, and administrative handoffs.
Apply approved procedures to a realistic CMAA situation.
Verify results, document objective evidence, and escalate conditions outside authorized scope.

Apply the approved workflow

Track referral status and required documentation through completion. Identify missing administrative information early and route it correctly. Reliable performance begins with correct identification, current instructions, safe conditions, and a clear understanding of authority.

Key points

Track referral status and required documentation through completion.
Identify missing administrative information early and route it correctly.
Confirm scope and prerequisites before acting.

Verify, document, and communicate

Use a complete handoff with status, owner, deadline, and next action. A task is not complete until the result is checked against the expected outcome and the record allows another authorized person to understand what occurred.

Key points

Use a complete handoff with status, owner, deadline, and next action.
Record objective facts, actions, results, and unresolved risks.
Escalate exceptions promptly through the authorized channel.

Applied scenario

Referrals and Care Coordination: verify before proceeding

During a busy outpatient administrative shift, a medical administrative assistant is completing the Referrals and Care Coordination module scenario. An identifier, instruction, measurement, or expected result does not agree with the available record. The task has a deadline, but proceeding without resolving the conflict could create safety, privacy, quality, compliance, or service risk. Decide how the task should continue and what evidence must be recorded.

Practice check

Apply what you learned

Answer all five questions. Feedback will identify what to review before you try again.

1Which action best supports tracking referrals, authorizations, and administrative handoffs? Track referral status and required documentation through completion. Close the request after sending it without confirming receipt or ownership Change the appointment or record before confirming the patient and request Promise an outcome that depends on a payer, referral source, or clinician

2Within Referrals and Care Coordination, what should happen before the participant proceeds? Document only the final result and omit the concern, action, and handoff Identify missing administrative information early and route it correctly. Discuss the case where unauthorized people may hear the details Treat an urgent symptom report as a routine administrative message

3For tracking referrals, authorizations, and administrative handoffs, which closeout action provides the strongest evidence of reliable performance? Use an old instruction even though the current request conflicts with it Combine information from two similar patient records to complete the task Use a complete handoff with status, owner, deadline, and next action. Leave the next responsible owner and response deadline undefined

4During Referrals and Care Coordination, what is the best response when the result conflicts with expectations? Use the first similar patient record so the request is not delayed Place protected details in an unapproved message for convenience Give clinical guidance instead of routing the question to authorized staff Pause the task involving Referrals and Care Coordination, reconcile the evidence and requirements, and obtain authorized guidance before proceeding

5After work involving tracking referrals, authorizations, and administrative handoffs, what should the complete task record communicate? Record the facts for Referrals and Care Coordination, authorized actions, verification results, unresolved risks, and next responsible owner Close the request after sending it without confirming receipt or ownership Change the appointment or record before confirming the patient and request Promise an outcome that depends on a payer, referral source, or clinician

Reflection and workplace transferDescribe how you would apply verification and documentation during a CMAA task involving tracking referrals, authorizations, and administrative handoffs.

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