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| Section | Weight | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| Quality, Risk Adjustment & Health Initiatives | 15% | - Severity of Illness (SOI) / Risk of Mortality (ROM) - Risk adjustment models and documentation impact - Quality reporting, public reporting, and compliance programs |
| Clinical Documentation Review & Query Practices | 20% | - Query development, communication, and ethical standards - Documentation gap identification and resolution - Concurrent and retrospective chart review methodologies |
| Clinical Knowledge & Disease Processes Application | 20% | - Medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology - Clinical indicators, lab results, medications, diagnostic findings - Disease processes across body systems applied to chart review |
| Coding Guidelines & Official Reporting Standards | 15% | - AHIMA/ACDIS Guidelines for Compliant Query Practice - ICD-10-CM/PCS Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting - Coding integrity and compliant documentation practices |
| CDI Program Management & Professional Practice | 15% | - Ethics, HIPAA, and professional conduct - Program metrics, benchmarks, and performance measurement - Provider education and training strategies |
| Healthcare Regulations, Reimbursement & Documentation Requirements – IPPS | 15% | - Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) fundamentals - Documentation responsibilities of medical and clinical staff - Medicare Severity Diagnostic Related Groups (MS-DRGs) |
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NEW QUESTION # 13
At discharge, the attending physician documents, "Probable aspiration pneumonia causing the patient's respiratory symptoms." The patient is an inpatient. No subsequent documentation rules out aspiration pneumonia. How should the diagnosis be handled for inpatient coding?
Answer: D
Explanation:
For an inpatient discharge, a diagnosis documented as "probable" may be coded as though the condition existed or was established when it remains documented as such at discharge.
The FY 2026 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines provide a specific inpatient rule for uncertain diagnoses documented at the time of discharge. Terms such as probable, suspected, likely, questionable, possible, still to be ruled out, compatible with, and consistent with are coded as if the condition existed, because the diagnostic workup and treatment generally correspond to the suspected condition.
Therefore, aspiration pneumonia-not merely the respiratory symptoms-is the appropriate condition to code in this scenario.
This rule is specific to inpatient hospital coding and should not be generalized to outpatient encounters, where uncertain diagnoses are handled differently and symptoms or confirmed conditions are generally reported instead.
A query would still be appropriate if the documentation were contradictory, clinically ambiguous, or if multiple competing diagnoses remained without sufficient clarification. But the word "probable" itself does not create a mandatory inpatient query.
CCDS Reference Topics: Inpatient uncertain diagnoses; aspiration pneumonia; discharge documentation; Official Guidelines.
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NEW QUESTION # 14
A physician responds to a clinically supported CDI query by stating that the proposed diagnosis does not apply and documents a different diagnosis supported by the patient's condition. What is the BEST action by the CDI specialist?
Answer: A
Explanation:
The CDI specialist should respect the provider's independent clinical judgment, provided the response clearly addresses the query and the resulting documentation is clinically coherent.
A query is a request for clarification-not a mechanism for compelling the provider to select CDI's preferred diagnosis. Physician disagreement is therefore not inherently a failed query. The provider may appropriately document another condition, rule out a suspected condition, or explain why the indicators have another clinical interpretation.
Repeatedly querying until a desired diagnosis appears creates serious compliance risk and can undermine the integrity of the documentation process. Escalation may be appropriate in defined circumstances-for example, unresolved contradictions, unanswered high-priority queries, or persistent clinical-validation issues-but should follow organizational policy and should not occur merely because CDI dislikes the provider's answer.
The 2026 ACDIS/AHIMA guidance is the current foundational query-practice standard and emphasizes compliant clarification across healthcare settings.
Effective CDI communication requires clinical knowledge, professional dialogue, and recognition that final diagnostic determinations belong to the responsible provider.
CCDS Reference Topics: Physician communication; query responses; provider independence; escalation; professional conduct.
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NEW QUESTION # 15
A patient with colon cancer is admitted solely for transfusion and management of anemia caused directly by the malignancy. No chemotherapy-related adverse effect is involved. Which condition is sequenced first?
Answer: B
Explanation:
When the admission is for management of anemia associated directly with the malignancy, and treatment is directed only at the anemia, the malignancy is sequenced as principal diagnosis, followed by the appropriate anemia code.
The FY 2026 Official Guidelines specifically distinguish malignancy-associated anemia from anemia caused by chemotherapy. For anemia associated with the malignancy, the neoplasm is sequenced first. For anemia resulting from an adverse effect of chemotherapy or immunotherapy, the anemia code is sequenced first.
This distinction makes documentation of anemia etiology essential. Phrases such as "anemia in cancer patient" may not clearly establish whether anemia is attributable to malignancy, chemotherapy, bleeding, nutritional deficiency, chronic kidney disease, or another process.
An encounter code for transfusion does not replace the principal-diagnosis rules for an inpatient hospitalization when the underlying reason for treatment is established.
Likewise, weakness is a symptom and would not supersede the definitive documented cancer-related anemia.
CDI professionals should therefore look beyond the fact that transfusion occurred and identify whether the medical record clearly establishes the cause of the anemia.
CCDS Reference Topics: Neoplasm-related anemia; principal diagnosis; sequencing; chemotherapy versus malignancy; medical record specificity.
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NEW QUESTION # 16
A patient's record contains fever, tachycardia, hypotension, positive blood cultures, and treatment with IV antibiotics and fluids. No corresponding diagnosis has been documented. Which query format is MOST appropriate?
Answer: A
Explanation:
A neutral multiple-choice query is appropriate when significant clinical indicators exist but no corresponding diagnosis has been documented. The query should present the relevant patient-specific facts and allow the provider to exercise independent clinical judgment among reasonable alternatives.
For example, depending on the complete record, options could include sepsis, localized infection without sepsis, bacteremia, another condition, or unable to determine. Each offered diagnosis must be clinically supported.
A yes/no query is generally inappropriate when it introduces a completely new diagnosis that has never appeared in the health record. Option B is overtly leading because it directs the provider to document sepsis rather than requesting clarification.
The 2026 ACDIS/AHIMA compliant-query guidance, published August 20, 2026, supersedes all previous versions and serves as the current foundational standard for CDI and coding query practice. It applies across inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory, and professional-fee settings.
The purpose of the query is documentation integrity-not obtaining an MCC, changing the MS-DRG, or achieving a particular quality result.
CCDS Reference Topics: Multiple-choice queries; missing diagnosis; nonleading queries; clinical indicators; compliance.
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NEW QUESTION # 17
A patient is admitted with right-sided weakness and aphasia. MRI confirms an acute left cerebral infarction.
Two days later, aphasia resolves but right-sided weakness remains. The physician's documentation continues to state "TIA." What should the CDI specialist do?
Answer: A
Explanation:
The record contains a significant clinical-documentation discrepancy. A TIA is characterized by transient neurologic dysfunction without acute infarction, whereas this patient's MRI demonstrates an acute cerebral infarction and the patient continues to have a persistent focal neurologic deficit.
Therefore, the provider should be asked to clarify the final diagnosis.
The CDI specialist cannot independently replace TIA with cerebral infarction, even though the clinical findings strongly favor an infarction. Provider documentation must reconcile the diagnostic evidence.
Automatically reporting both conditions could also misrepresent the encounter when one diagnosis has effectively been superseded by subsequent findings.
The query should objectively present the initial TIA documentation, MRI-confirmed infarction, persistent right-sided weakness, and resolution of aphasia, then ask the physician to clarify the final neurologic diagnosis.
This scenario illustrates why concurrent CDI review must continue beyond initial admission documentation.
Early diagnoses may evolve as diagnostic testing becomes available.
Accurate stroke documentation affects principal diagnosis, severity representation, rehabilitation planning, risk adjustment, quality reporting, and longitudinal patient history.
CCDS Reference Topics: Cerebral infarction; TIA; imaging; conflicting documentation; diagnostic evolution.
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NEW QUESTION # 18
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