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| Section | Weight | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting | 14.17% | - Principal and secondary diagnosis assignment - Coding guidelines, AHA Coding Clinic, HACs, and POA indicators |
| Professionalism, ethics, and compliance | 9.17% | - Confidentiality, DRG compliance, and ethical CDI practices - Query compliance, DRG creep, and audit risks |
| Impact of reportable diagnoses on quality of care | 8.33% | - Mortality, severity of illness, and risk of mortality - Quality metrics, reporting programs, and financial impact |
| Healthcare facility CDI program analysis | 8.33% | - Data analysis, forecasting, and performance measurement - CDI productivity, provider response, CMI, and program metrics |
| Medical record documentation | 19.17% | - Documentation clarification and compliant physician queries - Documentation requirements and diagnosis or procedure code assignment |
| Healthcare regulations, reimbursement, and documentation requirements related to the IPPS | 12.5% | - IPPS, MS-DRGs, reimbursement, and medical necessity - CC/MCC, CMI, Medicare contractors, and compliance |
| Anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and medical terminology | 19.17% | - Anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and terminology - Clinical conditions and clinical indicators |
| Communication skills | 9.17% | - CDI and coding roles and interdisciplinary collaboration - Physician education and effective communication |
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NEW QUESTION # 94
Which of the following diagnoses is classified as a major complication/comorbidity (MCC) under the FY
2026 MS-DRG system?
Answer: C
Explanation:
Severe protein-calorie malnutrition is the correct answer. This question is adapted from an official CCDS sample question published by ACDIS.
Under the FY 2026 MS-DRG Definitions Manual, E43, unspecified severe protein-calorie malnutrition, is classified as an MCC. In contrast, moderate and mild protein-calorie malnutrition codes are classified as CCs rather than MCCs.
An MCC can materially affect MS-DRG assignment when the applicable DRG family differentiates cases by MCC status and when no exclusion or other grouper rule prevents the effect. However, the financial effect is never sufficient justification for a query. Documentation must be clinically supported and reflect the patient's actual condition.
A dietitian may document detailed nutrition findings and malnutrition criteria, but the reportable diagnosis ordinarily requires documentation by the provider responsible for establishing diagnoses. Therefore, when strong nutritional indicators exist but the provider has not documented malnutrition, a compliant query may be appropriate.
For CCDS preparation, candidates should understand both the clinical characteristics of malnutrition and its coding/reimbursement classification.
CCDS Reference Topics: MCCs; malnutrition; MS-DRG methodology; documentation requirements; IPPS.
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NEW QUESTION # 95
A CDI program is developing a query escalation policy. A clinically significant query remains unanswered despite normal reminders. Which action is MOST appropriate?
Answer: C
Explanation:
An unanswered clinically significant query should be managed through the organization's defined escalation process. The process may involve CDI leadership, coding leadership, a physician advisor, department leadership, or other designated personnel, depending on organizational policy.
Neither CDI nor coding may independently supply the missing diagnosis because diagnostic conclusions remain the provider's responsibility. Removing an unresolved query simply to accelerate billing can undermine documentation integrity and may create compliance problems.
Escalation policies should be standardized rather than applied only when a particular diagnosis affects reimbursement. Policies commonly address expected response time, reminder intervals, responsible escalation personnel, high-priority queries, retrospective queries, and final-bill procedures.
The 2026 ACDIS/AHIMA Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice supersede prior versions and serve as the current foundational guidance for organizations establishing compliant query policies and procedures.
A mature escalation process balances timely claim completion with respect for provider workload and independent clinical judgment. Its purpose is obtaining complete and accurate documentation, not forcing agreement with a CDI-generated diagnosis.
CCDS Reference Topics: Query escalation; organizational policy; unanswered queries; compliance; provider responsibility.
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NEW QUESTION # 96
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 # 97
A CDI specialist reviews the MS-DRG mismatch report and notes a difference in a case. The coder noted that a current Coding Clinic affects the final coding of the record, which changed the MS-DRG assignment. To BEST understand this discrepancy, the specialist should FIRST:
Answer: A
Explanation:
The CDI specialist should first review the final coded record together with the Coding Clinic guidance identified by the coder. This provides an objective basis for understanding why the final MS-DRG differs from the CDI working DRG.
A mismatch does not automatically indicate that either CDI or coding made an error. Working DRGs are provisional and may change after complete review of discharge documentation, operative reports, pathology, final diagnostic information, coding conventions, official guidelines, or authoritative Coding Clinic advice.
Reviewing the applicable guidance before contacting the coder promotes an informed and efficient reconciliation process. Once the specialist understands the coding rule, discussion with the coder may still be useful if ambiguity remains. Immediately escalating to the coding manager is unnecessary unless the issue cannot be resolved through normal collaboration. Forwarding the record without investigating the mismatch would defeat the purpose of a reconciliation process and could allow recurring education opportunities to remain unidentified.
Mismatch analysis is a valuable CDI quality metric because it can identify documentation gaps, coding- knowledge issues, changes in authoritative guidance, and opportunities to improve CDI/coding alignment.
CCDS Reference Topics: MS-DRG reconciliation; CDI/coder collaboration; Coding Clinic application; CDI program analysis.
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NEW QUESTION # 98
A patient develops chest pain and elevated troponins while receiving care in the emergency department. The physician diagnoses an NSTEMI. Several hours later, an inpatient admission order is written. How should the NSTEMI generally be considered for POA purposes?
Answer: A
Explanation:
For POA reporting, "present on admission" refers to a condition present at the time the order for inpatient admission occurs. Conditions that develop during an outpatient encounter-including emergency-department, observation, or outpatient surgery care-before the inpatient admission order are generally considered POA when they are present at that inpatient admission point.
Therefore, the NSTEMI in this scenario is considered present on admission even though it developed after the patient physically arrived at the hospital.
This distinction is essential because hospital arrival and inpatient admission are not synonymous for POA purposes. A patient may spend hours in the ED or observation status before an inpatient order is entered.
The POA indicator applies to applicable principal and secondary diagnoses and is important to CMS's HAC payment provisions as well as quality analysis. A condition does not become hospital acquired merely because it arose somewhere on hospital premises before inpatient status began.
CDI specialists should clarify timing when the record does not establish whether a diagnosis existed before or after the inpatient admission order rather than relying solely on note timestamps or physical location.
The FY 2026 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines contain the governing POA definitions and reporting rules.
CCDS Reference Topics: POA; emergency department; observation; timing of diagnosis; HAC payment logic.
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NEW QUESTION # 99
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