CPC ICD-10-CM Practice Questions
ICD-10-CM makes up 3 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest CPC practice test. Here are 10 of the 12 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Based on AAPC's published CPC exam areas, the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, CMS rules and CPT conventions. Original questions; no code-book lookups.
1. In ICD-10-CM, an Excludes1 note means the two conditions:
- A.Need an additional code
- B.Are not coded together
- C.Are always coded together
- D.Must be sequenced together
Answer: B. Excludes1 means "not coded here": the conditions cannot occur together, such as a congenital and an acquired form. The one exception is when the two conditions are documented as unrelated. Excludes2 means "not included here" and both may be coded.
2. An Excludes2 note means:
- A.Report only the first code
- B.Use a combination code
- C.Never report both codes
- D.Both codes may be reported
Answer: D. Excludes2 says the excluded condition is not part of this code, but the patient may have both at the same time, so both can be coded when documented.
3. In outpatient coding, a diagnosis documented as "probable" or "rule out" should be:
- A.Coded to signs or symptoms
- B.Queried and coded as confirmed
- C.Coded as if it were confirmed
- D.Coded as a personal history
Answer: A. Outpatient guidelines (Section IV) say not to code uncertain diagnoses; code the signs, symptoms or abnormal findings to the highest certainty. Coding uncertain diagnoses as confirmed applies only to inpatient admissions.
4. For an injury code, the 7th character A is used while the patient is receiving:
- A.Care for a sequela
- B.Delayed healing care
- C.Active treatment
- D.Routine healing care
Answer: C. A is the initial encounter, used for as long as the patient receives active treatment. D is subsequent care during healing and S is a sequela.
5. When a code needs a 7th character but has fewer than six characters, the empty spaces are filled with:
- A.The letter Z
- B.A hyphen
- C.The placeholder X
- D.Zeros
Answer: C. The placeholder X fills empty positions so the 7th character lands in the 7th position. Zeros would create an invalid or different code.
6. ICD-10-CM presumes a causal link between hypertension and:
- A.Chronic kidney disease
- B.Peripheral vascular disease
- C.Hyperlipidemia
- D.Atrial fibrillation
Answer: A. The guidelines presume a relationship between hypertension and CKD (and certain heart conditions) unless the provider says they are unrelated, so a combination code is used.
7. An external cause code may be reported:
- A.Only with a Z code
- B.As the first-listed code
- C.Only for inpatient stays
- D.Only as a secondary code
Answer: D. External cause codes add detail about how an injury happened and are never sequenced first. They may be used in any setting.
8. When the type of diabetes is not documented, the default is:
- A.Drug-induced diabetes
- B.Type 2 diabetes
- C.Type 1 diabetes
- D.Other specified diabetes
Answer: B. The guidelines default undocumented diabetes type to E11, type 2. Insulin use alone does not make diabetes type 1.
9. A type 2 diabetic takes both insulin and an oral hypoglycemic. Which long-term drug use is coded?
- A.Neither; diabetes type covers it
- B.Both insulin and oral drug use
- C.Long-term insulin use only
- D.Long-term oral drug use only
Answer: B. Since FY2022 the guidelines say to assign both Z79.4 (insulin) and Z79.84 (oral hypoglycemic) when a patient uses both.
10. When a pregnant patient is seen, the obstetric chapter (O) codes generally are:
- A.Used only for delivery
- B.Optional, at the coder's choice
- C.Sequenced after others
- D.Sequenced ahead of others
Answer: D. Chapter 15 codes have sequencing priority. If the provider documents that the pregnancy is incidental to the visit, Z33.1 is used instead.
Practice all 12 icd-10-cm questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free CPC training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
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