CPC Medicine Practice Questions
Medicine 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. When a vaccine is given, the coder reports:
- A.An E/M code instead
- B.Product and administration codes
- C.Only the code for the vaccine product
- D.Only the administration code
Answer: B. Vaccine product codes are reported with immunization administration codes. A separate E/M needs modifier 25 and documentation.
2. For physician reporting, the initial infusion code is the one that:
- A.Lasted the longest
- B.Has the highest fee
- C.Was given first in time
- D.Fits the main reason for visit
Answer: D. CPT lets physicians choose the initial service by the primary reason for the encounter. Facilities follow a hierarchy instead.
3. An IV infusion lasting 15 minutes or less is reported as:
- A.An IV push
- B.A sequential infusion
- C.An initial infusion
- D.Hydration
Answer: A. CPT reports an infusion of 15 minutes or less as a push.
4. To report initial hydration, the infusion must last at least:
- A.8 minutes
- B.61 minutes
- C.31 minutes
- D.16 minutes
Answer: C. Hydration of 30 minutes or less is not reported. The initial code covers 31 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Psychotherapy codes are selected by:
- A.Number of diagnoses
- B.Session location
- C.Face-to-face time
- D.Diagnosis severity
Answer: C. Psychotherapy codes are time-based (about 30, 45 and 60 minutes), with time ranges set in CPT.
6. Monthly ESRD dialysis services are coded by patient age and:
- A.Number of visits per month
- B.Hours on dialysis
- C.Kidney function
- D.Type of dialysis
Answer: A. ESRD monthly services split by age group and the number of face-to-face visits in the month.
7. A physician only reviews and reports an ECG recorded elsewhere. The coder reports:
- A.An office E/M with modifier 25
- B.The complete ECG code
- C.The tracing-only code
- D.The interpretation-only code
Answer: D. ECG codes split into complete, tracing only and interpretation and report only.
8. Under Medicare's timed therapy rule, the minimum time to bill one 15-minute unit is:
- A.23 minutes
- B.8 minutes
- C.15 minutes
- D.7 minutes
Answer: B. Medicare's 8-minute rule bills one unit for 8 to 22 minutes; 23 minutes starts a second unit.
9. Moderate sedation is reportable when intraservice time is at least:
- A.30 minutes
- B.10 minutes
- C.5 minutes
- D.15 minutes
Answer: B. Since 2017 CPT says not to report moderate sedation of less than 10 minutes.
10. Moderate sedation codes vary by patient age and by whether:
- A.Oxygen was given
- B.The procedure is major
- C.The patient is an inpatient
- D.The same doctor does the procedure
Answer: D. Codes differ for sedation by the physician performing the procedure versus another provider, and for patients under or over 5.
Practice all 12 medicine 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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