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| Section | Weight | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| 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 - Provider education and training strategies - Program metrics, benchmarks, and performance measurement |
| Quality, Risk Adjustment & Health Initiatives | 15% | - Severity of Illness (SOI) / Risk of Mortality (ROM) - Quality reporting, public reporting, and compliance programs - Risk adjustment models and documentation impact |
| Clinical Knowledge & Disease Processes Application | 20% | - Clinical indicators, lab results, medications, diagnostic findings - Medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology - Disease processes across body systems applied to chart review |
| Healthcare Regulations, Reimbursement & Documentation Requirements – IPPS | 15% | - Medicare Severity Diagnostic Related Groups (MS-DRGs) - Documentation responsibilities of medical and clinical staff - Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) fundamentals |
| Clinical Documentation Review & Query Practices | 20% | - Concurrent and retrospective chart review methodologies - Query development, communication, and ethical standards - Documentation gap identification and resolution |
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NEW QUESTION # 65
A patient is admitted with pneumonia. On hospital day 3, the patient deteriorates and the physician documents that sepsis developed after admission as a consequence of the pneumonia. Which diagnosis is generally sequenced first?
Answer: A
Explanation:
When a patient is admitted with a localized infection and sepsis develops after admission, the localized infection is generally sequenced as the principal diagnosis, followed by the appropriate sepsis code.
The FY 2026 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines explicitly distinguish this circumstance from cases in which both the localized infection and sepsis are present on admission. When sepsis develops only after admission, the localized infection responsible for the original hospitalization remains principal.
Therefore, pneumonia is sequenced first in this scenario.
If the patient subsequently develops acute organ dysfunction related to sepsis and the provider documents severe sepsis, additional severe-sepsis and organ-dysfunction codes are assigned as appropriate. The severe- sepsis code cannot itself serve as principal diagnosis.
This question demonstrates why CDI specialists must clarify timing. Simply seeing both "pneumonia" and
"sepsis" in a discharge summary is insufficient to determine correct sequencing when the onset relationship is unclear.
The POA status of sepsis also becomes relevant because documentation indicates that it developed after inpatient admission.
CCDS Reference Topics: Sepsis; pneumonia; sequencing; timing; POA; principal diagnosis.
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NEW QUESTION # 66
Which pressure-ulcer category is specifically included in the traditional CMS HAC payment policy when the condition is not present on admission?
Answer: C
Explanation:
CMS's Hospital-Acquired Condition payment framework specifically identifies Stage III and Stage IV pressure ulcers among the defined HAC categories when applicable conditions are not present on admission.
The distinction is important because not every pressure injury automatically triggers HAC payment treatment.
Stage and POA status therefore require accurate documentation.
A hospital-acquired pressure ulcer remains reportable even when HAC payment provisions apply. CMS does not instruct hospitals to suppress or omit such conditions. Instead, defined HAC diagnoses that are not POA may lose the CC/MCC payment effect they otherwise would contribute to the MS-DRG, subject to applicable grouper rules.
The CDI specialist should ensure that wound location, laterality when relevant, stage, progression, and timing are accurately documented. Qualified wound-care nurse documentation may be used for pressure-ulcer staging under the ICD-10-CM non-provider documentation exception, while the diagnosis itself remains subject to provider-documentation requirements.
CDI professionals must also distinguish the HAC/POA MS-DRG payment provision from the separate HAC Reduction Program, which reduces applicable hospital payments by 1% for hospitals in the worst-performing quartile.
CCDS Reference Topics: HACs; pressure ulcers; POA; MS-DRG adjustment; wound documentation.
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NEW QUESTION # 67
A CDI specialist identifies a diagnosis that would change the case from a lower-weight MS-DRG to a higher- weight MS-DRG. The medical record contains no clinical indicators supporting that diagnosis. What is the BEST action?
Answer: B
Explanation:
A query should not be issued solely because a diagnosis would increase reimbursement when the record contains no clinical basis for that diagnosis.
The 2026 ACDIS/AHIMA compliant-query guidance establishes that CDI clarification must be grounded in the patient's clinical record and directed toward ensuring accurate representation of clinical status. The updated guidance supersedes all previous versions and applies across CDI and coding environments.
Financial impact may occur as a consequence of accurate documentation, but it cannot be the clinical rationale for introducing an unsupported condition. A query containing a single unsupported diagnosis would also risk being leading or otherwise noncompliant.
Likewise, a coder cannot provisionally manufacture a diagnosis simply because it would affect the MS-DRG.
Code assignment depends on the documented clinical record and applicable coding conventions.
This principle applies equally in the opposite direction: if clarification could reduce reimbursement but is necessary to correct inaccurate, conflicting, or unsupported documentation, CDI should still pursue clarification. Effective CDI programs protect the integrity of the health record, not a predetermined financial outcome.
CCDS Reference Topics: Ethics; query compliance; clinical support; reimbursement neutrality; documentation integrity.
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NEW QUESTION # 68
A patient presents with crushing substernal chest pain, diaphoresis, ST-segment depression, and a significant rise and fall in cardiac troponin. The cardiologist documents acute coronary syndrome but does not specify the final diagnosis. Which clarification is MOST clinically appropriate?
Answer: B
Explanation:
The clinical picture presents an appropriate opportunity to clarify whether the patient has NSTEMI, unstable angina, or another acute coronary diagnosis.
A significant rise and/or fall in cardiac troponin consistent with acute myocardial injury, together with ischemic symptoms and ECG abnormalities, strongly raises concern for acute myocardial infarction. In contrast, unstable angina generally refers to ischemia without the biomarker evidence required for myocardial infarction.
Nevertheless, CDI should not make the diagnosis independently. Troponin elevations can occur in multiple conditions, including myocarditis, pulmonary embolism, sepsis, tachyarrhythmia, renal disease, and other forms of myocardial injury.
Therefore, the cardiologist should be asked to clarify the final diagnosis based on the complete clinical evaluation.
GERD, chronic stable angina, and old MI do not adequately reflect the acute findings described.
For CCDS preparation, cardiovascular questions frequently require distinguishing symptoms from established diagnoses and understanding the clinical indicators associated with NSTEMI, STEMI, type 2 MI, and other myocardial injury categories.
The ACDIS candidate handbook identifies anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology, and clinical record analysis as essential examination competencies.
CCDS Reference Topics: NSTEMI; acute coronary syndrome; troponin; myocardial ischemia; diagnostic clarification.
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NEW QUESTION # 69
At discharge, the physician documents, "Possible gram-negative pneumonia." No later documentation rules out the condition. How should the diagnosis generally be handled for an inpatient admission?
Answer: A
Explanation:
In the inpatient hospital setting, an uncertain diagnosis documented at discharge using terminology such as possible, probable, suspected, likely, questionable, compatible with, or consistent with may generally be coded as though the condition existed or was established.
Therefore, "possible gram-negative pneumonia" may be coded in accordance with the inpatient uncertain- diagnosis guideline when it remains the final diagnostic conclusion.
The rationale is that inpatient diagnostic evaluation and treatment frequently occur before absolute confirmation is available, and the patient may have been managed as though the suspected disease were present.
This rule is materially different from outpatient coding, where uncertain diagnoses are generally not coded as established and the documented signs, symptoms, or confirmed conditions are reported instead.
The presence of the uncertain terminology alone does not mandate a query. A query would be appropriate if documentation is contradictory, if the diagnosis is clinically unsupported, or if another documentation issue prevents correct code assignment.
CDI specialists need to recognize this inpatient-specific rule because unnecessary queries for "possible" or
"probable" diagnoses can create physician burden without improving coding accuracy.
CCDS Reference Topics: Uncertain inpatient diagnoses; discharge documentation; pneumonia; inpatient versus outpatient coding.
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NEW QUESTION # 70
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