Alabama Certified Health Information
Technician Practice Exam 2026/2027 –
Complete Exam-Style Questions with Correct
Answers & Detailed Rationales | Verified &
Reliable
Question 1
A health information technician discovers that a patient's date
of birth is incorrect in the electronic health record. Which
action best preserves the integrity of the legal health record?
A. Delete the incorrect demographic field and replace it
B. Ask the patient to create a new medical record
C. Correct the information using the organization's approved
amendment/correction process while preserving the original
information and audit trail
D. Create a second record containing the correct demographic
information
Correct answer: C
The appropriate correction method preserves the original entry,
documents the correction, and maintains an audit trail. Deleting
,information outright can compromise record integrity and may
violate organizational policies governing the legal health record.
Question 2
Which HIPAA Privacy Rule principle most directly supports
limiting an employee's access to only the protected health
information needed to perform assigned duties?
A. Accounting of disclosures
B. Notice of Privacy Practices
C. Patient right of access
D. Minimum necessary
Correct answer: D
The minimum-necessary standard generally requires covered
entities to limit uses, disclosures, and requests for protected
health information to what is reasonably necessary for the
intended purpose. It does not mean that every disclosure is
automatically subject to the standard; several HIPAA exceptions
apply.
Question 3
,A physician documents a diagnosis in the assessment but
provides no supporting clinical detail elsewhere in the record.
The coder should first:
A. Assign the diagnosis because the provider documented it
B. Query the patient directly
C. Follow the organization's compliant provider-query process
when clarification is needed
D. Automatically code the most specific related condition
Correct answer: C
When documentation is ambiguous, incomplete, conflicting, or
clinically insufficient for accurate code assignment, a compliant
provider query may be appropriate. The query should be non-
leading, supported by the record, and designed to obtain
clarification rather than influence the provider toward a
particular answer.
Question 4
Which coding system is primarily used in the United States to
report physician and other professional services?
A. ICD-10-PCS
B. SNOMED CT
C. CPT
D. LOINC
, Correct answer: C
CPT is used primarily to report medical, surgical, and diagnostic
services and procedures performed by physicians and other
qualified professionals. ICD-10-CM is primarily used for
diagnoses, while ICD-10-PCS is used for inpatient hospital
procedures.
Question 5
Which code set is specifically designed for reporting procedures
performed on patients in U.S. inpatient hospital settings?
A. CPT
B. HCPCS Level II
C. ICD-10-CM
D. ICD-10-PCS
Correct answer: D
ICD-10-PCS is the procedure classification used for reporting
procedures performed in hospital inpatient settings in the
United States. ICD-10-CM is used for diagnoses, while CPT and
HCPCS Level II serve different reporting purposes.
Question 6
Technician Practice Exam 2026/2027 –
Complete Exam-Style Questions with Correct
Answers & Detailed Rationales | Verified &
Reliable
Question 1
A health information technician discovers that a patient's date
of birth is incorrect in the electronic health record. Which
action best preserves the integrity of the legal health record?
A. Delete the incorrect demographic field and replace it
B. Ask the patient to create a new medical record
C. Correct the information using the organization's approved
amendment/correction process while preserving the original
information and audit trail
D. Create a second record containing the correct demographic
information
Correct answer: C
The appropriate correction method preserves the original entry,
documents the correction, and maintains an audit trail. Deleting
,information outright can compromise record integrity and may
violate organizational policies governing the legal health record.
Question 2
Which HIPAA Privacy Rule principle most directly supports
limiting an employee's access to only the protected health
information needed to perform assigned duties?
A. Accounting of disclosures
B. Notice of Privacy Practices
C. Patient right of access
D. Minimum necessary
Correct answer: D
The minimum-necessary standard generally requires covered
entities to limit uses, disclosures, and requests for protected
health information to what is reasonably necessary for the
intended purpose. It does not mean that every disclosure is
automatically subject to the standard; several HIPAA exceptions
apply.
Question 3
,A physician documents a diagnosis in the assessment but
provides no supporting clinical detail elsewhere in the record.
The coder should first:
A. Assign the diagnosis because the provider documented it
B. Query the patient directly
C. Follow the organization's compliant provider-query process
when clarification is needed
D. Automatically code the most specific related condition
Correct answer: C
When documentation is ambiguous, incomplete, conflicting, or
clinically insufficient for accurate code assignment, a compliant
provider query may be appropriate. The query should be non-
leading, supported by the record, and designed to obtain
clarification rather than influence the provider toward a
particular answer.
Question 4
Which coding system is primarily used in the United States to
report physician and other professional services?
A. ICD-10-PCS
B. SNOMED CT
C. CPT
D. LOINC
, Correct answer: C
CPT is used primarily to report medical, surgical, and diagnostic
services and procedures performed by physicians and other
qualified professionals. ICD-10-CM is primarily used for
diagnoses, while ICD-10-PCS is used for inpatient hospital
procedures.
Question 5
Which code set is specifically designed for reporting procedures
performed on patients in U.S. inpatient hospital settings?
A. CPT
B. HCPCS Level II
C. ICD-10-CM
D. ICD-10-PCS
Correct answer: D
ICD-10-PCS is the procedure classification used for reporting
procedures performed in hospital inpatient settings in the
United States. ICD-10-CM is used for diagnoses, while CPT and
HCPCS Level II serve different reporting purposes.
Question 6
