RHIT - Registered Health Information Technician Rhit/Questions/Mcq 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which reimbursement methodology groups inpatient hospital cases into payment categories based on principal diagnosis, procedures, and other factors for Medicare payment?
- Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS)
- Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) (Correct answer)
- Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs)
- Resource Utilization Groups (RUGs)
Correct answer: Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs)
DRGs are used under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) to reimburse acute care hospitals a fixed amount based on how a patient's case is grouped according to diagnosis, procedures, age, and discharge status.
Question 2: Under HIPAA, the 'minimum necessary' standard requires covered entities to:
- Encrypt all PHI both at rest and in transit
- Limit disclosures of PHI to the least amount needed to accomplish the intended purpose (Correct answer)
- Obtain written authorization for every internal use of PHI
- Destroy PHI immediately after the applicable retention period expires
Correct answer: Limit disclosures of PHI to the least amount needed to accomplish the intended purpose
The minimum necessary standard mandates that covered entities make reasonable efforts to use, disclose, or request only the PHI needed for the specific purpose, reducing unnecessary exposure of patient information.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT a required element of a valid HIPAA authorization for the release of protected health information?
- A description of the information to be used or disclosed
- An expiration date or expiration event
- The patient's primary diagnosis (Correct answer)
- The right of the individual to revoke the authorization
Correct answer: The patient's primary diagnosis
HIPAA's required authorization elements include a description of PHI, the recipient, purpose, expiration, signature, and revocation rights — but the patient's specific diagnosis is not a required element of the authorization form itself.
Question 4: A health information technician finds that a physician has not completed a required discharge summary 30 days after patient discharge. This situation is documented through which process?
- Utilization review
- Deficiency analysis (Correct answer)
- Concurrent coding
- Compliance auditing
Correct answer: Deficiency analysis
Deficiency analysis is the HIM process of reviewing medical records for completeness and notifying providers of missing or late entries such as unsigned orders, missing history and physicals, or overdue discharge summaries.
Question 5: Which organization is responsible for maintaining and publishing the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set?
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
- American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
- American Medical Association (AMA) (Correct answer)
- National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
Correct answer: American Medical Association (AMA)
The AMA owns and publishes CPT codes, which are used to report medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures and services primarily in the outpatient and physician office setting.
Question 6: In health information management, 'data integrity' is best defined as:
- The process of encrypting patient data to prevent unauthorized access
- The accuracy, completeness, consistency, and reliability of health data (Correct answer)
- The legal right of patients to inspect and copy their own medical records
- The physical security measures applied to medical record storage areas
Correct answer: The accuracy, completeness, consistency, and reliability of health data
Data integrity means that health data is accurate, complete, consistent, and trustworthy throughout its lifecycle — a foundational principle in HIM because decisions about patient care, billing, and quality reporting all depend on reliable data.
Which reimbursement methodology groups inpatient hospital cases into payment categories based on principal diagnosis, procedures, and other factors for Medicare payment?