HIM 101 Final Actual Exam Questions
and CORRECT Answers
HIMs most important functions - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- storage and retrieval of patient
information. Additional functions managed: Research and statistics, Cancer and/or trauma
registries, and Birth certificate completion
Critical support services managed by HIM - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Record processing,
Monitoring of record completion, transcription, release of patient information, clinical
coding, abstracting, and clinical data analysis
HIM functions are: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- information centered and involves ensuring
information quality, security, and availability.
What dictates how the specific functions are carried out? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The
medium in which the information is stored.
What is the goal of the health record system? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- To ensure that
accurate information is available to authorized users to support quality patient care.
What is record reconciliation? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Hybrid System, upon patient
discharge, receipt of the health record is checked with a discharge list for completeness.
What are the most fundamental responsibilities of most HIM departments? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- storage and retrieval, record processing, record completion, transcription,
release of information (ROI), and clinical coding
What is the most important index used by the HIM department? What is it? What is its
function? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Master Patient Index (MPI) and is the permanent
record of every patient ever seen in the healthcare entity. The MPI functions as the primary
guide to locating pertinent demographic data about the patient and his or her health record
number. It is the initial point of documentation of the health record
,What is an Enterprise Master Patient index (EMPI)? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- references
all patients in two or more facilities (ie integrated healthcare delivery system or health
information exchange (HIE).
What can function as a MPI? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Often the patient registration
system aka registration, admission, discharge, and transfer system (R-ADT) functions as the
MPI
What are the benefits of an electronic system? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- ability to access
data by more than one individual at a time, edit checks can be applied against specific fields
in the database to better ensure data accuracy, can be easily cross-referenced (when a patient
has used more than one name during hospital or clinic visits), permits the use of several
search techniques for locating an existing patient's information.
When searching for a patient's record, what data elements can be used? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- medical record or billing number, date of birth, or social security number.
Maintenance - To ensure the integrity of the MPI, several quality control mechanisms are
essential and include: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Quality - MPI prone to errors:
misspellings, incorrect demographic data, transposition of numbers, and typographical errors
are a few. Can cause treatment errors, billing problems and distorting data analysis of the
organization's patient population.
Duplicate, Overlay, and Overlap Medical Record Number Issues - Patient info not found
upon admission and new record created; Or patient matched with wrong health record
What is overlay? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- A patient is assigned another patient's medical
record number comingling the medical information of both patient's resulting in problems in
identifying what medical information belongs to which patient
What is overlap? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- When more than one medical record number
exists for the same patient within an enterprise at different facilities or in different databases.
Often occur in organization with multiple facilities or can occur in the health information
exchanges. Frequently problem arises when there are facility or organization mergers and an
enterprise master person/patient index (EMPI) is created
Strategies for MPI Integrity - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Integrity must be maintained in
order to avoid patient safety, customer service, risk management, legal and other issues. MPI
,cleanup process - uses matching algorithms to identify and fix these problems. 3 types: are
often part of the MPI application: a DETERMINISTIC algorithm requires an exact match of
combined data elements such as name, birth date, sex, and social security number.
PROBABILISTIC algorithm is base on complex mathematical formulas that analyze facility
specific MPI data to determine precisely matched weight probabilities for attribute values of
various data elements. RULES-BASED algorithm assigns weights, for significant values, to
particular data elements and later uses these weights in the comparison of one record to
another.
The management of high-quality, error free MPI requires constant maintenance that includes:
What is first line of defense? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- oversight, evaluation, and
correction of errors.
Prevention of problems should be the front line of defense. Communication back to the
department responsible for the errors is key to providing awareness of the importance of the
MPI and identifying opportunities for training and workflow issues.
HIE - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Health Information Exchange= the sharing of health
information electronically among two or more entities and also an organization that provides
services to accomplish this information exchange.
What is the purpose of an HIE organization? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- to increase the
availability of health information to authorized stakeholders in order to improve quality and
safety of healthcare delivery across the continuum.
How do they ensure the integrity of patient identity in health information exchange -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Standardization of health information exchange practices is
paramount.
Paper based identification systems patient ID:
Serial numbering System - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Patient receives a unique numerical
identifier for each encounter or admission to a healthcare facility. Disadvantage: information
about the patient's care and treatment is filed in separate health records and at separate
locations. retrieval more difficult. inefficient.
Unit numbering system - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- most commonly used in large facilities.
Patient receives a unique number on his first admission and the same number is used for
, subsequent encounters. Method most commonly used as the unique identifier in the EHR
environment.
Serial Unit Numbering System - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- numbers are assigned in a serial
manner, just as they are in the serial numbering system. However, during each new patient
encounter, the previous health records are brought forward and filed under the last assigned
health record number.
Where should the process for checking patient records be located? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- in the facility's charting policies and procedures
The system in which a health record number is assigned at the first encounter and then used
for all subsequent healthcare encounters is the: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Unit numbering
system
The primary guide to locating a record in a numerical filing system is the - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- Master Patient Index MPI
What type of algorithm(s) may be used to identify duplicate medical record numbers? -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Deterministic, Probabilistic, and Rules Based.
The health record number is typically assigned by: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Patient
registration
Which of the following is used to locate an electronic health record - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- Health record number
John Smith, treated as a patient at a multi-hospital system, has three medical record numbers.
The term used to describe multiple health record numbers is: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔-
Duplicates
Which of the following should be part of a comprehensive MPI maintenance program? -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Advanced Person Search
and CORRECT Answers
HIMs most important functions - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- storage and retrieval of patient
information. Additional functions managed: Research and statistics, Cancer and/or trauma
registries, and Birth certificate completion
Critical support services managed by HIM - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Record processing,
Monitoring of record completion, transcription, release of patient information, clinical
coding, abstracting, and clinical data analysis
HIM functions are: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- information centered and involves ensuring
information quality, security, and availability.
What dictates how the specific functions are carried out? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- The
medium in which the information is stored.
What is the goal of the health record system? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- To ensure that
accurate information is available to authorized users to support quality patient care.
What is record reconciliation? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Hybrid System, upon patient
discharge, receipt of the health record is checked with a discharge list for completeness.
What are the most fundamental responsibilities of most HIM departments? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- storage and retrieval, record processing, record completion, transcription,
release of information (ROI), and clinical coding
What is the most important index used by the HIM department? What is it? What is its
function? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Master Patient Index (MPI) and is the permanent
record of every patient ever seen in the healthcare entity. The MPI functions as the primary
guide to locating pertinent demographic data about the patient and his or her health record
number. It is the initial point of documentation of the health record
,What is an Enterprise Master Patient index (EMPI)? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- references
all patients in two or more facilities (ie integrated healthcare delivery system or health
information exchange (HIE).
What can function as a MPI? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Often the patient registration
system aka registration, admission, discharge, and transfer system (R-ADT) functions as the
MPI
What are the benefits of an electronic system? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- ability to access
data by more than one individual at a time, edit checks can be applied against specific fields
in the database to better ensure data accuracy, can be easily cross-referenced (when a patient
has used more than one name during hospital or clinic visits), permits the use of several
search techniques for locating an existing patient's information.
When searching for a patient's record, what data elements can be used? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- medical record or billing number, date of birth, or social security number.
Maintenance - To ensure the integrity of the MPI, several quality control mechanisms are
essential and include: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Quality - MPI prone to errors:
misspellings, incorrect demographic data, transposition of numbers, and typographical errors
are a few. Can cause treatment errors, billing problems and distorting data analysis of the
organization's patient population.
Duplicate, Overlay, and Overlap Medical Record Number Issues - Patient info not found
upon admission and new record created; Or patient matched with wrong health record
What is overlay? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- A patient is assigned another patient's medical
record number comingling the medical information of both patient's resulting in problems in
identifying what medical information belongs to which patient
What is overlap? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- When more than one medical record number
exists for the same patient within an enterprise at different facilities or in different databases.
Often occur in organization with multiple facilities or can occur in the health information
exchanges. Frequently problem arises when there are facility or organization mergers and an
enterprise master person/patient index (EMPI) is created
Strategies for MPI Integrity - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Integrity must be maintained in
order to avoid patient safety, customer service, risk management, legal and other issues. MPI
,cleanup process - uses matching algorithms to identify and fix these problems. 3 types: are
often part of the MPI application: a DETERMINISTIC algorithm requires an exact match of
combined data elements such as name, birth date, sex, and social security number.
PROBABILISTIC algorithm is base on complex mathematical formulas that analyze facility
specific MPI data to determine precisely matched weight probabilities for attribute values of
various data elements. RULES-BASED algorithm assigns weights, for significant values, to
particular data elements and later uses these weights in the comparison of one record to
another.
The management of high-quality, error free MPI requires constant maintenance that includes:
What is first line of defense? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- oversight, evaluation, and
correction of errors.
Prevention of problems should be the front line of defense. Communication back to the
department responsible for the errors is key to providing awareness of the importance of the
MPI and identifying opportunities for training and workflow issues.
HIE - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Health Information Exchange= the sharing of health
information electronically among two or more entities and also an organization that provides
services to accomplish this information exchange.
What is the purpose of an HIE organization? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- to increase the
availability of health information to authorized stakeholders in order to improve quality and
safety of healthcare delivery across the continuum.
How do they ensure the integrity of patient identity in health information exchange -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Standardization of health information exchange practices is
paramount.
Paper based identification systems patient ID:
Serial numbering System - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Patient receives a unique numerical
identifier for each encounter or admission to a healthcare facility. Disadvantage: information
about the patient's care and treatment is filed in separate health records and at separate
locations. retrieval more difficult. inefficient.
Unit numbering system - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- most commonly used in large facilities.
Patient receives a unique number on his first admission and the same number is used for
, subsequent encounters. Method most commonly used as the unique identifier in the EHR
environment.
Serial Unit Numbering System - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- numbers are assigned in a serial
manner, just as they are in the serial numbering system. However, during each new patient
encounter, the previous health records are brought forward and filed under the last assigned
health record number.
Where should the process for checking patient records be located? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- in the facility's charting policies and procedures
The system in which a health record number is assigned at the first encounter and then used
for all subsequent healthcare encounters is the: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Unit numbering
system
The primary guide to locating a record in a numerical filing system is the - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- Master Patient Index MPI
What type of algorithm(s) may be used to identify duplicate medical record numbers? -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Deterministic, Probabilistic, and Rules Based.
The health record number is typically assigned by: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Patient
registration
Which of the following is used to locate an electronic health record - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔- Health record number
John Smith, treated as a patient at a multi-hospital system, has three medical record numbers.
The term used to describe multiple health record numbers is: - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔-
Duplicates
Which of the following should be part of a comprehensive MPI maintenance program? -
CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Advanced Person Search
