📋 Laboratory Management Review for the MedTech Board Exam

What the Laboratory Management course covers

1. Unit 1: Management & Leadership

   What managers do, classic management theories, leadership styles and motivation.

   What managers do · Management theories · Leadership styles · Motivation

2. Unit 2: Human Resources & Professionalism

   Ethics, hiring, job descriptions, evaluation, competency, discipline, communication and teams.

   Professionalism & ethics · Hiring & job descriptions · Evaluation, competency & discipline · Communication, teams & conflict

3. Unit 3: Quality Management

   Quality assurance and quality systems, quality control rules, proficiency testing and procedure manuals.

   Quality assurance & quality systems · Quality control in practice · Proficiency testing & procedure manuals

4. Unit 4: Regulation & Accreditation

   CLIA test complexity, personnel and inspections, accreditation bodies, and Philippine and international rules.

   CLIA & test complexity · Personnel, inspections & records · Philippine & international standards

5. Unit 5: Laboratory Safety

   Bloodborne pathogens, chemical hygiene and hazard communication, formaldehyde, TB control, fire and electrical safety.

   Bloodborne pathogens · Chemical safety · TB control, fire & other hazards

6. Unit 6: Finance, Information & Operations

   Budgets, costs and staffing, reimbursement and coding, privacy, laboratory information systems and choosing instruments.

   Budgets, costs & staffing · Reimbursement, coding & privacy · Lab information systems · Choosing & verifying instruments

7. Unit 7: Improvement, Education & Outreach

   Problem solving and root cause analysis, teaching with objectives, and growing lab services.

   Problem solving & improvement · Teaching & training · Outreach & marketing

Sample Laboratory Management board exam questions

A few practice questions from the course, with explanations. Thousands more are in the app.

1. 1. A supervisor writes a plan to reduce ED turnaround time by 20% in 6 months, assigns tasks, coaches staff, then tracks TAT monthly. Tracking TAT is which management function?

   1. Organizing
   2. Directing
   3. Controlling
   4. Planning
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Controlling

   Management has four classic functions: planning (setting the goal), organizing (assigning tasks and resources), directing (coaching and leading) and controlling. Tracking TAT against the target and correcting deviations is controlling.

2. 2. During an interview, which question is appropriate?

   1. “What is your religion?”
   2. “Are you married?”
   3. “How old are you?”
   4. “Are you able to work night shifts if scheduled?”
   Show answer

   Answer: D. “Are you able to work night shifts if scheduled?”

   Interview questions must relate to the job’s requirements. Asking whether someone can work the scheduled shifts is job-related. Age, marital status and religion are protected characteristics and can lead to discrimination claims.

3. 3. Glucose control level 1 (mean 100, SD 2) gives 107 mg/dL in one run. The rule violated and type of error:

   1. 2₂s — systematic error
   2. 1₃s — random error; reject the run
   3. 1₂s — warning only
   4. No rule violated
   Show answer

   Answer: B. 1₃s — random error; reject the run

   (107 − 100) ÷ 2 = 3.5 SD above the mean. One control beyond 3 SD breaks the 1₃s rule, which usually signals random error. The run is rejected and patient results held.

4. 4. A clinic performs only urine dipsticks, urine pregnancy tests and glucose meter tests. It needs a CLIA:

   1. High-complexity certificate
   2. No certificate
   3. Certificate of waiver
   4. PPM certificate only
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Certificate of waiver

   Dipstick urinalysis, urine hCG and glucose meters are waived tests: simple, with low risk of error. A certificate of waiver allows them, as long as the manufacturer’s instructions are followed.

5. 5. A technologist gets a needlestick from a used needle. After washing the site, the next step is to:

   1. Report it immediately and get a medical evaluation
   2. Apply bleach and ignore it
   3. Recap the needle
   4. Finish work and report tomorrow
   Show answer

   Answer: A. Report it immediately and get a medical evaluation

   After washing the site, report the exposure right away and get medical evaluation. Fast reporting allows testing of the source patient and starting post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV within hours if needed.

6. 6. A test has fixed costs of ₱240,000 a year, variable cost ₱60 per test and price ₱180. How many tests a year are needed to break even?

   1. 3,000
   2. 4,000
   3. 1,333
   4. 2,000
   Show answer

   Answer: D. 2,000

   Break-even volume = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost). Each test contributes ₱180 − ₱60 = ₱120 toward fixed costs, so ₱240,000 ÷ ₱120 = 2,000 tests a year.

7. 7. After a wrong-blood-in-tube event, the team asks “why” repeatedly until it reaches a missing bedside barcode check. This is:

   1. Budget variance analysis
   2. Root cause analysis (5 Whys)
   3. SWOT analysis
   4. Pareto analysis
   Show answer

   Answer: B. Root cause analysis (5 Whys)

   Root cause analysis looks past the immediate error to the system cause. The 5 Whys technique keeps asking why until a fixable process gap, like a missing bedside barcode check, is found.

8. 8. A new graduate is unsure how to run the coagulation analyzer. Under Hersey–Blanchard, the best approach is:

   1. Participating — let them decide
   2. Telling — clear instructions and close supervision
   3. Delegating — leave them alone
   4. Laissez-faire
   Show answer

   Answer: B. Telling — clear instructions and close supervision

   Hersey–Blanchard matches style to the worker’s readiness. A new graduate who is willing but unsure needs high direction: clear, step-by-step instructions and close supervision (telling). Delegating suits experienced, confident staff.

Practice more Laboratory Management questions

How you review in MedTech Reviewer

• Learning path: short lessons, each followed by questions, with a checkpoint at the end of every unit.
• Spaced repetition: questions you miss come back sooner, so key facts stick for exam day.
• Flashcards and timed quizzes in exam style, with an explanation for every answer.
• Board-readiness score per subject, so you know where to focus.
• Arcade games, PvP battles and Guilds to keep reviewing fun with classmates.

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