PTCB Patient Safety Quiz: Free Quality Assurance Practice

Correct answer: A. 23.75%

Patient Safety and Quality Assurance is weighted at 23.75 percent of the PTCE. The other domains are Medications at 35 percent, Federal Requirements at 18.75 percent, and Order Entry and Processing at 22.50 percent. The safety domain covers high-alert and LASA drugs, error prevention, pharmacist intervention issues, event reporting, error types, and infection prevention.

Correct answer: C. Making an over-the-counter product recommendation

PTCE knowledge area 3.3 lists issues requiring pharmacist intervention, including drug utilization review, adverse drug events, OTC recommendations, therapeutic substitution, misuse, adherence, post-immunization care, allergies, and drug interactions. Recommending an OTC product is clinical advice reserved for the pharmacist. Counting, labeling, and restocking are routine technician duties.

Correct answer: B. Refer the patient to the pharmacist, because OTC recommendations and drug interactions require pharmacist intervention

This request combines two pharmacist-intervention triggers from the PTCE outline: an OTC recommendation and a potential drug interaction. NSAIDs and aspirin can significantly increase bleeding risk with warfarin, a clinical judgment the pharmacist must make. Technicians must recognize the situation and hand it off rather than advise.

Correct answer: A. Pass the alert to the pharmacist for clinical review rather than bypassing it

Drug utilization review findings and drug interactions are pharmacist-intervention issues under PTCE area 3.3. Resolving an interaction alert requires clinical judgment about risks, alternatives, and monitoring, which is outside the technician's role. Overriding alerts without review is a well-documented path to patient harm.

Correct answer: D. Alert the pharmacist right away, because a suspected adverse drug event requires pharmacist intervention

Tongue swelling and breathing difficulty suggest angioedema, a serious adverse drug event, and ADEs are listed in PTCE area 3.3 as requiring pharmacist intervention. The pharmacist evaluates the reaction, contacts the prescriber, and may submit a MedWatch report to FDA. A technician recommending an OTC product or advising discontinuation would be practicing outside their role.

Correct answer: B. Stop and escalate the allergy alert to the pharmacist before any further processing

Allergies are explicitly listed among the pharmacist-intervention issues in PTCE area 3.3. Amoxicillin is a penicillin, so this alert flags a potentially dangerous cross-reaction that only the pharmacist can assess, often by contacting the prescriber. Technicians never delete allergy records, bypass alerts, or make therapeutic substitutions on their own.

Correct answer: C. Suspected misuse and adherence concerns are issues that require pharmacist intervention

A repeated pattern of early opioid refills raises misuse and adherence concerns, both named in PTCE area 3.3 as requiring pharmacist intervention. The pharmacist exercises corresponding responsibility in deciding whether the prescription is legitimate and whether to contact the prescriber. DEA Form 222 governs Schedule I and II ordering between registrants, not patient refills.

Correct answer: C. Drug names that look alike in print or sound alike when spoken

LASA stands for look-alike/sound-alike. ISMP publishes the List of Confused Drug Names, made up of name pairs that have actually been confused in errors reported to its national reporting programs. Confusion can happen in handwriting, on computer selection screens, or in spoken orders.