AHIMA RHIT EXAM SCRIPT 2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTION RATED A+
✔✔For research purposes, an advantage of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
(HCUP) is that it:
a. Contains only Medicare data
b. Is used to determine pay for performance
c. Contains data on all payer types
d. Contains bibliographic listings from medical journals - ✔✔c. Contains data on all
payer types.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) consists of a set of databases that are
unique because they include data on inpatients whose care is paid for by all types of
payers, including Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, self-paying, and uninsured
patients. Data elements include demographic information, information on diagnoses and
procedures, admission and discharge status, payment sources, total charges, length of
stay, and information on the hospital or freestanding ambulatory surgery center (Sharp
2020, 214).
✔✔Suppose that five patients stayed in the hospital for a total of 27 days. Which term
would be used to describe the result of the calculation 27 divided by 5?
a. Average length of stay
b. Total length of stay
c. Patient length of stay
d. Average patient census - ✔✔a. Average length of stay
The average length of stay (ALOS) is calculated from the total length of stay (LOS). The
total LOS divided by the number of patients discharged is the ALOS (McNeill 2020,
441).
✔✔The term used to describe breaking data elements into the level of detail needed to
retrieve the data is:
a. Normalization
b. Data definitions
c. Primary key
d. Data management system - ✔✔a. Normalization.
Normalization is breaking the data elements into the level of detail desired by the
healthcare facility (Sayles and Kavanaugh-Burke 2021, 49).
✔✔Which of the following is the unique identifier in the relational database patient
table?
Patient TablePatient
#Patient Last NamePatient First NameDate of Birth
021234
SmithDonna03/21/1944022366JonesDonna04/09/1960034457SmithMary08/21/1977
a. Patient last name
,b. Patient last and first name
c. Patient date of birth
d. Patient number - ✔✔d. Patient number
✔✔Community Hospital has been collecting quarterly data on the average monthly
health record delinquency rate for the hospital. This graph depicts the trend in the
delinquency rate. The hospital has established a 35 percent benchmark. Given this
data, what should the hospital's Performance Improvement Council recommend?
a. Continue tracking the delinquency rate to see if the last two quarters' trend continues.
b. Establish a higher benchmark to accommodate an increase in delinquent records.
c. Further analyze the data to determine why the benchmark is not being met.
d. Take an average of all the data points to arrive at a new benchmark. - ✔✔c. Further
analyze the data to determine why the benchmark is not being met.
✔✔The HIM department at Community Hospital has three full time coding professionals.
One is considered the lead coding professional and his salary is $20.35 per hour. One
coding professional is a new graduate who makes $15.50 per hour and the third coding
professional is an experienced employee who earns $18.90 per hour. The lead coding
professional codes four records per hour; the new graduate coding professional codes
three records per hour and their experienced coding professional codes six records per
hour. Using a 7.5-hour productive day, what is the unit cost for the new graduate coding
professional?
a. $3.36 per record
b. $4.49 per record
c. $5.43 per record
d. $5.51 per record - ✔✔d. $5.51 per record.
The new graduate coding professional's salary is $15.50 × 2,080 (hours per year) =
$32,240. Productivity is 7.5 hours per day × 3 records per hour = 22.5 records per day.
22.5 records × 5 days per week × 52 weeks per year = 5,850 records per year. $32,240
/ 5,850 = $5.51 per record (White 2020, 148).
✔✔If an employee produces 2,080 hours of work in the course of one year, how many
employees will be required for the coding area if the coding time on average for one
record is 30 minutes and there are 12,500 records that must be coded each year?
a. 3
b. 6
c. 36
d. 69 - ✔✔a. 3
✔✔Based on this output table, what is the average coding test score for the beginner
coding professional?
Coding Test ScoreCoding Professional StatusMeanNStandard
DeviationAdvanced93.000035.00000Intermediate89.500020.70711Beginner73.333336.
42910Total84.7500810.51190
, a. 6.4
b. 73
c. 90
d. 93 - ✔✔b. 73
✔✔Community Hospital had 25 inpatient deaths, including newborns, for the month of
June. The hospital performed five autopsies for the same period. What was the gross
autopsy rate for the hospital for June?
a. 0.02%
b. 5%
c. 20%
d. 200% - ✔✔c. 20%
✔✔Which tool is used to display performance data over time?
a. Status process control chart
b. Run chart
c. Benchmark
d. Time ladder - ✔✔b. Run Chart.
A run chart displays data points over a period of time to provide information about
performance. The measured points of a process are plotted on a graph at regular time
intervals to help team members see whether there are substantial changes in the
numbers over time (Carter and Palmer 2020, 560).
✔✔The following table compares Community Hospital's pneumonia length of stay
(observed LOS) to the pneumonia LOS of similar hospitals (expected LOS). Given this
data, where might Community Hospital want to focus attention on its pneumonia LOS?
LOS Summary for Pneumonia by Clinical SpecialtyClinical SpecialtyCasesObserved
LOSExpected LOSSavings OpportunityCardiology166.360Family
Practice178.476.2638Internal Medicine343.824.89-36Endocrinology133.93-
1Pediatrics73.433.55-1
a. Cardiology
b. Endocrinology
c. Family practice
d. Internal medicine - ✔✔c. Family practice
✔✔You have been asked by the Chief Medical Officer of Carson Hospital to research
the COVID-19 pandemic in your community and its impact on the hospital. You begin
with determining the average age, median length of stay, gender and race admission
rates, and insurance coverage. Identify the type of data analytics performed in this
scenario.
a. Predictive analytics
b. Diagnostic analytics
c. Prescriptive analytics
SOLUTION RATED A+
✔✔For research purposes, an advantage of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
(HCUP) is that it:
a. Contains only Medicare data
b. Is used to determine pay for performance
c. Contains data on all payer types
d. Contains bibliographic listings from medical journals - ✔✔c. Contains data on all
payer types.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) consists of a set of databases that are
unique because they include data on inpatients whose care is paid for by all types of
payers, including Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, self-paying, and uninsured
patients. Data elements include demographic information, information on diagnoses and
procedures, admission and discharge status, payment sources, total charges, length of
stay, and information on the hospital or freestanding ambulatory surgery center (Sharp
2020, 214).
✔✔Suppose that five patients stayed in the hospital for a total of 27 days. Which term
would be used to describe the result of the calculation 27 divided by 5?
a. Average length of stay
b. Total length of stay
c. Patient length of stay
d. Average patient census - ✔✔a. Average length of stay
The average length of stay (ALOS) is calculated from the total length of stay (LOS). The
total LOS divided by the number of patients discharged is the ALOS (McNeill 2020,
441).
✔✔The term used to describe breaking data elements into the level of detail needed to
retrieve the data is:
a. Normalization
b. Data definitions
c. Primary key
d. Data management system - ✔✔a. Normalization.
Normalization is breaking the data elements into the level of detail desired by the
healthcare facility (Sayles and Kavanaugh-Burke 2021, 49).
✔✔Which of the following is the unique identifier in the relational database patient
table?
Patient TablePatient
#Patient Last NamePatient First NameDate of Birth
021234
SmithDonna03/21/1944022366JonesDonna04/09/1960034457SmithMary08/21/1977
a. Patient last name
,b. Patient last and first name
c. Patient date of birth
d. Patient number - ✔✔d. Patient number
✔✔Community Hospital has been collecting quarterly data on the average monthly
health record delinquency rate for the hospital. This graph depicts the trend in the
delinquency rate. The hospital has established a 35 percent benchmark. Given this
data, what should the hospital's Performance Improvement Council recommend?
a. Continue tracking the delinquency rate to see if the last two quarters' trend continues.
b. Establish a higher benchmark to accommodate an increase in delinquent records.
c. Further analyze the data to determine why the benchmark is not being met.
d. Take an average of all the data points to arrive at a new benchmark. - ✔✔c. Further
analyze the data to determine why the benchmark is not being met.
✔✔The HIM department at Community Hospital has three full time coding professionals.
One is considered the lead coding professional and his salary is $20.35 per hour. One
coding professional is a new graduate who makes $15.50 per hour and the third coding
professional is an experienced employee who earns $18.90 per hour. The lead coding
professional codes four records per hour; the new graduate coding professional codes
three records per hour and their experienced coding professional codes six records per
hour. Using a 7.5-hour productive day, what is the unit cost for the new graduate coding
professional?
a. $3.36 per record
b. $4.49 per record
c. $5.43 per record
d. $5.51 per record - ✔✔d. $5.51 per record.
The new graduate coding professional's salary is $15.50 × 2,080 (hours per year) =
$32,240. Productivity is 7.5 hours per day × 3 records per hour = 22.5 records per day.
22.5 records × 5 days per week × 52 weeks per year = 5,850 records per year. $32,240
/ 5,850 = $5.51 per record (White 2020, 148).
✔✔If an employee produces 2,080 hours of work in the course of one year, how many
employees will be required for the coding area if the coding time on average for one
record is 30 minutes and there are 12,500 records that must be coded each year?
a. 3
b. 6
c. 36
d. 69 - ✔✔a. 3
✔✔Based on this output table, what is the average coding test score for the beginner
coding professional?
Coding Test ScoreCoding Professional StatusMeanNStandard
DeviationAdvanced93.000035.00000Intermediate89.500020.70711Beginner73.333336.
42910Total84.7500810.51190
, a. 6.4
b. 73
c. 90
d. 93 - ✔✔b. 73
✔✔Community Hospital had 25 inpatient deaths, including newborns, for the month of
June. The hospital performed five autopsies for the same period. What was the gross
autopsy rate for the hospital for June?
a. 0.02%
b. 5%
c. 20%
d. 200% - ✔✔c. 20%
✔✔Which tool is used to display performance data over time?
a. Status process control chart
b. Run chart
c. Benchmark
d. Time ladder - ✔✔b. Run Chart.
A run chart displays data points over a period of time to provide information about
performance. The measured points of a process are plotted on a graph at regular time
intervals to help team members see whether there are substantial changes in the
numbers over time (Carter and Palmer 2020, 560).
✔✔The following table compares Community Hospital's pneumonia length of stay
(observed LOS) to the pneumonia LOS of similar hospitals (expected LOS). Given this
data, where might Community Hospital want to focus attention on its pneumonia LOS?
LOS Summary for Pneumonia by Clinical SpecialtyClinical SpecialtyCasesObserved
LOSExpected LOSSavings OpportunityCardiology166.360Family
Practice178.476.2638Internal Medicine343.824.89-36Endocrinology133.93-
1Pediatrics73.433.55-1
a. Cardiology
b. Endocrinology
c. Family practice
d. Internal medicine - ✔✔c. Family practice
✔✔You have been asked by the Chief Medical Officer of Carson Hospital to research
the COVID-19 pandemic in your community and its impact on the hospital. You begin
with determining the average age, median length of stay, gender and race admission
rates, and insurance coverage. Identify the type of data analytics performed in this
scenario.
a. Predictive analytics
b. Diagnostic analytics
c. Prescriptive analytics
