CPT topics
Ordered by official blueprint weight (the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), NHA CPT Test Plan, based on a job analysis completed in 2024).
The largest domain on the exam at 28 of the 100 scored items. It runs the whole venipuncture sequence: selecting and verifying equipment, tourniquet application, site selection by observation and palpation, antisepsis, anchoring, insertion angle, the order of draw for both venipuncture and capillary collection, recognising and responding to complications, tube inversion, dermal puncture, post-procedural care and labelling.
The second largest domain at 26 of the 100 scored items. It covers the regulators and standards bodies a phlebotomist works under, HIPAA and protected health information, scope of practice and ethics, quality control for equipment and for CLIA-waived and point-of-care testing, sharps and biohazard disposal, the bloodborne pathogens standard, exposure control, transmission-based and standard precautions, hand hygiene, PPE, and emergency response.
Twenty of the 100 scored items. It covers communication and cultural competence, obtaining and verifying the requisition, positive patient identification, the forms of consent including consent from a legal guardian, insurance and billing, verifying fasting and medication compliance, interviewing for allergies and a history of fainting, positioning, and determining the venipuncture site against CLSI standards.
Fourteen of the 100 scored items. It covers preparing specimens by centrifuging, aliquoting, freezing or refrigeration; maintaining specimen integrity against temperature, light and time requirements; chain of custody for forensic and blood alcohol work; clinical research protocols and packaging; the laboratory information system; recognising and reporting critical values; distributing results; and contacting patients for re-collection.
The smallest domain at 12 of the 100 scored items. It covers blood culture collection including skin preparation, equipment, volume and the order of draw for cultures; assisting with pediatric, geriatric and line collections; metabolic screening; blood donation; volume limits for at-risk patients; non-blood specimens; point-of-care testing; tolerance tests; blood alcohol collection; and drug screening.