CBCS - Certified Billing and Coding Specialist Coding and Coding Guidelines Questions and Answers

Question 1

A patient is seen in the clinic and the provider's final diagnosis is 'acute bronchitis caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae.' Which is the correct ICD-10-CM code assignment?

Accepted Answer

J20.0

Answer

The ICD-10-CM Alphabetic Index under 'Bronchitis, acute or subacute, due to, Mycoplasma pneumoniae,' directs the coder to J20.0. This is a combination code that captures both the condition (acute bronchitis) and the causative organism, making it unnecessary and incorrect to code them separately.

Question 2

A surgeon performs a procedure on a patient's left fourth toe. To specify the exact anatomical location, which type of modifier should be appended to the CPT code?

Accepted Answer

A HCPCS Level II modifier

Answer

HCPCS Level II modifiers are used to provide specific details not covered by CPT modifiers, including precise anatomical locations such as individual fingers and toes (e.g., T1-T9). Modifiers like -T3 would be used to specify the left fourth toe.

Question 3

A patient is admitted to the hospital for management of severe dehydration. The dehydration is a direct result of infectious norovirus gastroenteritis. Both conditions are treated. According to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, what is the correct sequencing for the principal diagnosis?

Accepted Answer

The principal diagnosis is the infectious norovirus gastroenteritis.

Answer

According to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, if a patient is admitted for a condition that is a manifestation or result of an underlying disease, the underlying disease should be sequenced as the principal diagnosis. In this case, the gastroenteritis (A08.1) is the underlying cause of the dehydration (E86.0), so it is sequenced first.

Question 4

When using an external cause code from Chapter 20 of ICD-10-CM (V00-Y99) to describe the circumstances of an injury, which of the following is a primary guideline for its use?

Accepted Answer

It can never be the principal or first-listed diagnosis.

Answer

The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting state that external cause codes are supplemental and provide additional information. They can never be sequenced as the principal (inpatient) or first-listed (outpatient) diagnosis.

Question 5

In the ICD-10-CM Tabular List, what does the instructional note 'Excludes1' signify?

Accepted Answer

The excluded code should never be used at the same time as the code above the note.

Answer

An 'Excludes1' note in ICD-10-CM indicates that the two conditions are mutually exclusive and cannot occur together. The code for the condition mentioned in the Excludes1 note should never be reported with the code it is listed under.

(CBCS) Certified Billing and Coding Specialist Practice Test

(CBCS) Certified Billing and Coding Specialist Practice Test

CBCS - Certified Billing and Coding Specialist Coding and Coding Guidelines Questions and Answers