#rhit

🏥 How does the practice of undercoding affect a hospital's MS-DRG case mix?

Options: a) Makes it lower than warranted by the actual service and resource intensity of the facility b) Makes it higher than warranted by the actual service and resource intensity of the facility c) Hospital's MS-DRG case mix is never monitored so there is no impact d) Coding has nothing to do with a hospital's MS-DRG case mix

Answer: a) Makes it lower than warranted by the actual service and resource intensity of the facility

💡 Why? Undercoding results in assigning less severe or fewer diagnosis codes than appropriate. This causes the hospital’s MS-DRG (Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Group) case mix index to appear artificially lower, misrepresenting the actual patient care complexity and resource use.

Overcoding would make it higher.

The case mix is carefully monitored and affects reimbursement.

📊 Healthcare organizations must identify and prioritize key processes and outcomes to monitor. This data collection should be based on the scope of services they provide and what else?

Options: a) The number of employees they employ b) Their mission c) The QI methodology used d) Their accreditation status

Answer: b) Their mission

💡 Why? An organization’s mission guides its priorities and goals, influencing which processes and outcomes are most important to track. Aligning data collection with the mission ensures meaningful quality improvement and organizational focus.

Employee count doesn’t determine data priorities.

QI methodology is the “how,” not the basis for selecting data.

🗂️ Given these data dictionary details for ADMISSION_DATE: definition, data type = date, field length = 15, required = yes, default = none, template = none—how can data integrity be improved?

Options: a) The template was defined b) The data type was numeric c) The field was not required d) The field length was longer

Answer: a) The template was defined

💡 Why? Defining a template (or data entry format) helps ensure consistent and accurate input by guiding users on how to enter the date correctly (e.g., MM/DD/YYYY). This reduces errors and supports data integrity.

Changing the data type to numeric wouldn't suit dates.

Making the field not required could lead to missing data.