AHIMA Updated CDIP Exam Questions and Answers by karter

This response provides the highest level of specificity for the patient’s diagnosis because it includes the following elements:

• The type of heart failure: diastolic, which means the heart has difficulty relaxing and filling with blood during diastole, resulting in increased filling pressures and pulmonary congestion. Diastolic heart failure is also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which is defined as an ejection fraction of 50% or higher 2.
• The acuity of heart failure: acute on chronic, which means the patient has a history of chronic heart failure that has worsened acutely due to a precipitating factor, such as infection, ischemia, arrhythmia, or medication noncompliance. Acute on chronic heart failure is associated with higher mortality and morbidity than stable chronic heart failure 3.
• The associated conditions: hypertensive renal disease and CKD 3, which indicate that the patient has kidney damage and reduced kidney function due to high blood pressure. CKD 3 is the third stage of chronic kidney disease, which is characterized by a glomerular filtration rate of 30 to 59 mL per minute per 1.73 m2 4.

The other responses are less specific because they either omit or misrepresent some of these elements. For example, response B incorrectly states that the patient has systolic heart failure, which is contradicted by the echocardiogram result. Response C does not specify whether the heart failure is chronic or acute on chronic, which has implications for treatment and prognosis. Response D does not specify the type of heart failure, which affects the coding and classification of the condition.

References: 1: AHIMA CDIP Exam Prep, Fourth Edition, p. 133 5 2: Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) | American Heart Association 3: Acute-on-Chronic Heart Failure: A High-Risk Phenotype Needing Separate Attention 4: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) | National Kidney Foundation

The manager of HIM/Coding should be included as a key stakeholder in the clinical documentation integrity (CDI) steering committee to promote CDI initiatives because they are responsible for overseeing the coding and billing processes, ensuring compliance with coding guidelines and regulations, and collaborating with the CDI team to resolve coding and documentation discrepancies. The manager of HIM/Coding can also provide feedback on the CDI program’s impact on coding quality, accuracy, productivity, and reimbursement. (CDIP Exam Preparation Guide)

References:

• CDIP Exam Content Outline1
• CDIP Exam Preparation Guide2

A query should be generated to ask the physician for the POA indicator of the fall because the documentation is unclear whether the fall was present at the time of inpatient admission or not. The POA indicator is used to identify conditions that are present or not present at the time of admission, and has payment implications for certain hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). According to CMS, a fall resulting in trauma is one of the HACs that will not be paid at a higher rate if it is not present on admission. Therefore, it is important to clarify the POA indicator of the fall to ensure accurate coding and reimbursement. A query should be non-leading, concise, clear, relevant, and consistent with CDI standards and guidelines.

References:

• CDIP® Exam Content Outline (https://www.ahima.org/media/1z0x0x1a/cdip-exam-content-outline.pdf)
• Coding | CMS1
• Present on Admission Indicators - Novitas Solutions2