FREE Certified Coding Associate MCQ Questions and Answers

Question 1

An obstetrician records a 34-year-old woman as being in status G2P2 in the delivery room before successfully delivering a healthy son. What does G2P2 represent?

Accepted Answer

Two previous pregnancies, two previous live births

Answer

In obstetrics, the 'G' in G_P_ stands for Gravida, representing the total number of pregnancies a woman has had, regardless of outcome. The 'P' stands for Para, indicating the number of pregnancies that have resulted in a live birth. Therefore, G2P2 means the woman has been pregnant twice and has had two previous live births.

Question 2

Which of these patient evaluation elements DOES NOT belong with the other two, according to your understanding of the three foundations of E/M services (history, exam, and medical decision-making)?

Accepted Answer

Level of risk

Answer

The three foundational components of Evaluation and Management (E/M) services are history, examination, and medical decision-making (MDM). The history component includes the chief complaint, history of present illness, and review of systems. The 'Level of risk' is a key element *within* the medical decision-making component, not a separate foundational component itself.

Question 3

Which ICD-10 category would you look in to find the right code for a routine adult patient visit to their family doctor?

Accepted Answer

Category Z

Answer

In ICD-10-CM, Category Z codes are used for 'Factors influencing health status and contact with health services.' This category includes codes for encounters for routine examinations, screenings, vaccinations, and other non-illness-related visits. A routine adult patient visit to their family doctor, without a specific complaint or diagnosis, would typically be coded with a Z code.

Question 4

A 43-year-old man who was involved in an automobile accident is taken by emergency personnel to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He is promptly given the go-ahead for critical care services upon arrival. The doctor providing care spends 105 minutes that day stabilizing and treating the patient. Choose the suitable E/M code or codes for this service.

Accepted Answer

99291, 99292×2

Answer

Critical care services are coded based on the total time spent. Code 99291 is used for the first 30-74 minutes of critical care. For each additional 30 minutes beyond the initial 74 minutes, code 99292 is reported. If the total time spent was 135 minutes (rather than the stated 105 minutes, which would be 99291, 99292), this would account for the initial 74 minutes (99291) plus two additional 30-minute increments (135 - 74 = 61 minutes, which covers two units of 99292).

Question 5

For immediate treatment of a flare-up of end-stage renal illness, Mr. Jackson was admitted as an inpatient. His personal doctor visits the hospital the day after his admission for a checkup and a chart review. For his visit to the doctor, choose the appropriate E/M code series.

Accepted Answer

Subsequent hospital care (99231–99233)

Answer

This is a unique situation where the hospital where the patient received care takes precedence over the individual who provided that therapy when choosing an E/M code (his personal physician). With that knowledge, office or outpatient services are immediately eliminated since in-hospital therapy is seen as inpatient care and because the doctor in question is not visiting the patient at his own office (as an outpatient). This disqualifies initial observation care because the patient was not formally designated as being under observation status. The initial hospital care E/M service standards specifically say that these codes "are intended to report the first hospital inpatient visit with the patient by the admitting physician [AI]," therefore the correct response is subsequent hospital care (CPT 16). The E/M series after hospital care should be reviewed for the proper E/M code because it is obvious that this is not applicable to the second day of Mr. Jackson's treatment.

Certified Coding Associate Exam Practice Test

Certified Coding Associate Exam Practice Test

FREE Certified Coding Associate MCQ Questions and Answers