The Other 66 CCMA Questions: Basic Science, A&P, Care Coordination, Admin, Communication and Law

Strong clinical skills cover only 84 of the CCMA's 150 scored questions. NHA's CCMA test plan puts 66 of the 150 scored questions in six domains outside Clinical Patient Care, and they reach from medical word building to insurance appeals. Here is what each one lists and where its recall facts come from, as checked on October 28, 2026.

The six CCMA domains outside Clinical Patient Care

Counts are from the test plan; shares and statements per question are Passy's arithmetic.

The last column shows where breadth hurts. Foundational Knowledge and Administrative Assisting have about two knowledge statements for every question, so they reward wide, light coverage. Anatomy and Physiology and Patient Care Coordination have one statement per question, so each statement deserves real depth. Practice should follow the same weights, and planned CCMA prep includes 54 questions for each of the three 12-question domains.

Domain 1: Foundational Knowledge and Basic Science (15 questions)

The largest non-clinical domain has five areas rather than numbered tasks:

• A. Health care systems and settings (k1–k8). Medical assistant roles and scope of practice, other providers' credentials, licensing versus certification, organization types such as patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, telehealth and patient portals, and payment models such as fee for service and value-based plans
• B. Medical terminology (k9–k13). Abbreviations and symbols, The Joint Commission's "Do Not Use" list, word building with roots, prefixes and suffixes, lay versus medical terms, and positional and directional terms
• C. Basic pharmacology (k14–k24). Drug classes, controlled-substance schedules, side versus adverse effects, indications versus contraindications, measurement and dosage math, forms and routes, look-alike/sound-alike drugs, pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion), rights of medication administration, storage and disposal, and FDA regulations
• D. Nutrition (k25–k28). Nutrients and food labels, diets for conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease and celiac disease, vitamins and supplements, and eating disorders
• E. Psychology (k29–k34). Developmental stages, signs of common mental health conditions, stressors, defense mechanisms, and end of life and the stages of grief

The math in k17 is covered in the CCMA math guide. Two recall lists in this domain have a single official source each.

The Joint Commission's prohibited abbreviations

The Joint Commission's standards FAQ (last updated April 21, 2026) says accredited organizations must follow a list of prohibited abbreviations that at a minimum includes:

• U and u
• IU
• Q.D., QD, q.d. and qd
• Q.O.D., QOD, q.o.d. and qod
• A trailing zero (X.0 mg)
• A missing leading zero (.X mg)
• MS, MSO4 and MgSO4

The list applies to "all orders, preprinted forms, and medication-related documentation," handwritten or electronic. A trailing zero is allowed only where it shows the precision of a reported value, such as a lab result or a catheter size, never in a medication order.

Controlled-substance schedules with examples

DEA's schedules are in 21 CFR Part 1308. A few examples from each list, as they appear there:

Schedules matter at work because the refill rules follow them: no refills for Schedule II, and no more than five refills within six months for Schedules III and IV. The Clinical Patient Care guide gives the DEA citations.

Domain 2: Anatomy and Physiology (8 questions)

Eight questions, eight knowledge statements. Area 2A covers cell structure (nucleus, membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, mitochondria, lysosomes), anatomical structures and positions, the structure and function of the major body systems, and how systems interact to keep homeostasis. Area 2B covers the signs, symptoms and causes of common diseases, diagnostic measures and treatments, risk factors and comorbidities, and epidemics and pandemics.

A&P also runs underneath the clinical domain: injection sites, electrode placement and venipuncture sites are anatomy questions in disguise. If you study the body system by system, link each system to the clinical tasks that touch it.

Domain 4: Patient Care Coordination and Education (12 questions)

The ten tasks describe the work around a visit rather than in it: reviewing records before the visit, documenting and tracking preventive screenings (the plan names mammograms, Pap tests, colonoscopies and immunizations), finding community resources, coordinating with other providers and community organizations, supporting follow-up and medication compliance, team-based care in patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, transitions of care, education by telehealth, and teaching communicable disease prevention.

The knowledge statements add clinical quality measures, teaching methods and learning styles, nutrition education, barriers to care such as language and cultural differences, and referral forms and processes. Because the tasks describe actions, study them as decisions: which resource, which follow-up, which way to explain.

Domain 5: Administrative Assisting (12 questions)

Twenty-two tasks, the most of any domain outside Clinical Patient Care: scheduling and triaging appointment types, patient flow sheets and superbills, verifying insurance and financial eligibility, checking patients in and out, confirming diagnostic and procedural codes, prior authorizations, documentation and billing, charge reconciliation, billing patients and payers, resolving denials and appeals, records, mail and faxes, referrals, databases, safety reporting, inventory, patient portals and telehealth support.

Insurance terms, in the government's definitions

Knowledge statement k182 names "copayment, coinsurance, deductible, tier levels, explanation of benefits, medical necessity." HealthCare.gov's glossary defines the core three:

• Deductible. "The amount you pay for covered health care services before your insurance plan starts to pay" (definition)
• Copayment. "A fixed amount ($20, for example) you pay for a covered health care service after you've paid your deductible" (definition)
• Coinsurance. "The percentage of costs of a covered health care service you pay (20%, for example) after you've paid your deductible" (definition)

A worked example in Passy's arithmetic, following those definitions. The plan's allowed amount for a visit is $180 and coinsurance is 20%:

That kind of calculation is a typical office-math item, and coinsurance math is worked step by step in planned CCMA explanations.

Prior authorization and the ABN

HealthCare.gov's preauthorization entry describes it as the plan's decision that a service, treatment, prescription drug or durable medical equipment is medically necessary, also called prior authorization or precertification, and adds that it "isn't a promise your health insurance or plan will cover the cost."

The advance beneficiary notice in k186 is a Medicare form. CMS's ABN page says the Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage, Form CMS-R-131, is given to Original Medicare beneficiaries "in situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied," to transfer potential financial liability to the patient.

Coding appears as task 5G, "Confirm appropriate diagnostic and procedural codes," and k184. The test plan doesn't name code sets or a number of codes, so study what codes do in the billing cycle and how documentation and medical necessity support them.

Domain 6: Communication and Customer Service (12 questions)

The 13 tasks cover cultural and personal diversity, bias, adapting verbal and nonverbal communication to the audience and to pediatric, geriatric, hearing, vision or cognitive needs, telehealth visits, relaying messages between patients and providers, telephone communication "using HIPAA guidelines," written and electronic correspondence, difficult customer service situations, conflict resolution, crucial conversations, teamwork and professionalism. The knowledge list adds gender identity and pronoun use, therapeutic communication, open-ended, closed-ended and probing questions, active listening, telephone and email etiquette, business letter formats, incident reports, and when to escalate.

For the phone, the HIPAA rule that matters most is minimum necessary. Under 45 CFR 164.502(b), a covered entity must make reasonable efforts to limit protected health information to "the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose." Its listed exceptions include disclosures to a health care provider for treatment and disclosures to the patient themselves.

Domain 7: Medical Law and Ethics (7 questions)

Seven tasks: comply with laws and regulations, obtain consent, follow professional codes of ethics, handle advance directives (living wills, health care proxies, medical orders for life-sustaining treatment), protect privacy and records, report reportable violations and incidents, and give unbiased care whatever your own beliefs. The knowledge statements name HIPAA, the ACA, HITECH, the 21st Century Cures Act and the Controlled Substances Act among the laws; the Patient's Bill of Rights; informed (verbal or written) and implied consent, including for minors and people unable to consent; DNR/DNI and MOLST forms; power of attorney and guardianship; record retention; release of information; malpractice; and mandatory reporting of abuse.

Two HIPAA rules from the regulation itself are worth knowing exactly:

• Treatment, payment and operations. A covered entity "may use or disclose protected health information for its own treatment, payment, or health care operations" (45 CFR 164.506)
• A patient's request for records. The covered entity must act on it "no later than 30 days after receipt," with one extension of no more than 30 days if it notifies the patient (45 CFR 164.524)

The test plan doesn't tie consent for minors, advance directive forms or reporting duties to any one state, so for work, check the rules where you practice. For the exam, know the categories and which document does what.

Two CCMA practice questions on insurance math and abbreviations

These are original questions in the exam's style. They aren't NHA items.

1. A patient's plan allows $240 for an office visit. The patient has already met the annual deductible and has 20% coinsurance. How much does the patient owe for this visit?

• A. $48
• B. $192
• C. $240
• D. $20

Keyed answer: A. Coinsurance is the patient's percentage after the deductible, so 20% × $240 = $48. Option B is the plan's share, option C is the full allowed amount, which the patient would owe only if at least $240 of the deductible were still unmet, and option D treats coinsurance as a $20 copayment.

2. Which dose, as written in a medication order, uses a notation on The Joint Commission's prohibited list?

• A. 0.5 mg
• B. .5 mg
• C. 5 mg
• D. 50 mg

Keyed answer: B. The list includes a missing leading zero (".X mg"). Option A is the same dose written correctly with the leading zero, and options C and D use no prohibited notation.

How much time the six domains deserve

The 60-hour budget in the CCMA study plan guide gives these six domains about 27 hours: 6 for Foundational Knowledge, 3 for A&P, 5 each for care coordination, administrative assisting and communication, and 3 for law and ethics. Passy's suggestions for using them:

• Match your gaps. If your externship was clinical, start here rather than with Clinical Patient Care
• Learn lists as lists. Prohibited abbreviations, drug schedules and insurance terms are pure recall, so short daily reviews beat rereading
• Practice scenarios for domains 4, 6 and 7. These questions ask what the medical assistant should do or say next, so read the full scenario before the options

The recall layer is where flashcards help most, and planned flashcards cover controlled-substance schedules, insurance terms and legal documents.

Your next step with the other CCMA domains

Take the 20 free CCMA practice questions and note which of these six domains your misses fall in. Then put those domains into the free CCMA study planner first, and pair this guide with the Clinical Patient Care guide for the other 84 questions.