RHIT - Registered Health Information Technician Medical Coding Principles Questions and Answers

Question 1

According to the UHDDS, the definition of Principal Diagnosis is the condition that:

Accepted Answer

is established after study to be chiefly responsible for the patient's admission to the hospital.

Answer

is the most resource-intensive during the hospital stay.

Answer

is the underlying cause of a manifestation, coded second.

Answer

is the first diagnosis documented by the admitting physician in the emergency department.

Question 2

A patient is admitted to the hospital with acute abdominal pain. After evaluation and a CT scan, the physician diagnoses acute appendicitis and performs an appendectomy. What should be sequenced as the principal diagnosis?

Accepted Answer

Acute appendicitis.

Answer

The appendectomy procedure code.

Answer

Acute abdominal pain.

Answer

A code for the CT scan.

Question 3

Which of the following is the primary purpose of CPT modifiers?

Accepted Answer

To provide additional information about a procedure or service without changing its definition.

Answer

To indicate the severity of a patient's condition.

Answer

To specify the final diagnosis for an encounter.

Answer

To replace the need for a written report for a procedure.

Question 4

An ICD-10-CM code for a manifestation is being assigned. The coding guidelines and instructional notes in the Tabular List indicate a 'code first' note. What does this convention require the coder to do?

Accepted Answer

Sequence the underlying etiology (cause) of the disease first, followed by the manifestation code.

Answer

Sequence the manifestation code as the principal diagnosis.

Answer

Assign only the manifestation code and ignore the underlying disease.

Answer

Query the physician to determine which code should be sequenced first.

Question 5

A patient is admitted with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. In ICD-10-CM, Alzheimer's disease is the etiology and dementia is the manifestation. How should these conditions be sequenced?

Accepted Answer

Code for Alzheimer's disease first, followed by the code for dementia.

Answer

Code for dementia first, followed by the code for Alzheimer's disease.

Answer

Assign a combination code that includes both conditions.

Answer

Report only the code for dementia as it was the reason for admission.

Question 6

Which of the following conventions is used in ICD-10-CM when the information in the medical record provides detail for which a specific code does not exist?

Accepted Answer

NEC (Not Elsewhere Classifiable)

Answer

NOS (Not Otherwise Specified)

Answer

Brackets [ ]

Answer

Excludes1 note