AHIMA CDIP Certified Documentation Integrity Practitioner Exam Practice Questions
US$39
Every question with the correct answer and why the other options are wrong.
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Three of the 140 questions in this pack
Question 1
An increase in claim denials has prompted a clinical documentation integrity (CDI) manager to engage the CDI physician advisor/champion in an effort to avoid future denials.
How does this strategy impact the goal?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Physicians will learn documentation integrity practices from peers.
A physician advisor/champion is a practicing physician who speaks the same clinical language as the medical staff, so providers tend to accept documentation feedback more readily from a peer than from nonphysician staff. Engaging the advisor to address denials turns lessons from denied claims into peer-to-peer education on documentation integrity practices, such as documenting the clinical support for each diagnosis. That peer learning is what moves the program toward its goal of preventing future denials, while the CDI team continues to run the program and provide its own education alongside the advisor.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Peer involvement adds to provider education; it does not remove the need for documentation integrity education.
- B. The physician advisor supports the CDI program, but physicians do not take over management of the documentation integrity process.
- D. Bringing in the physician advisor broadens who educates providers, so the CDI manager is no longer the only educator.
Question 2
A clinical documentation integrity practitioner (CDIP) generates a concurrent query and continues to follow retrospectively; however, the coder releases the bill before the query is answered. The CDIP wonders if it is appropriate to re-bill the account if the physician answers the query after the bill has dropped.
Which policy should the hospital follow to avoid a compliance risk?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. A rebilling is permissible when queries are answered after the initial bill.
A query answered after the claim has dropped can still change the coded data, and the AHIMA/ACDIS query practice guidelines expect organizations to have a policy covering post-bill queries and rebilling. When the provider's late response adds documentation that is clinically supported and changes code assignment, the account can be corrected and rebilled within the payer's rules. A written policy that permits rebilling in this situation, applied consistently, keeps the claim aligned with the final record and avoids the compliance risk of knowingly leaving an inaccurate claim in place or handling late responses case by case.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. How often post-bill queries arise from audits does not tell the hospital how to handle a late query response.
- C. Post-bill queries are an accepted way to correct documentation issues found during audits.
- D. A corrected claim is the proper way to fix an incomplete or inaccurate first bill, not something to avoid.
Question 3
A patient is admitted for pneumonia with a WBC of 20,000, respiratory rate 20, heart rate 85, and oral temperature 99.0°. On day 2, sputum cultures reveal positive results for pseudomonas bacteria. The most appropriate action is to:
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. query the provider to document the etiology of pneumonia
A coder cannot assign an organism-specific pneumonia code from a culture result alone, because abnormal laboratory findings are coded only when the provider documents their clinical significance. The positive sputum culture for Pseudomonas, together with the pneumonia diagnosis, is a clear clinical indicator that the documentation is incomplete, so the right step is a compliant query asking the provider to document the etiology of the pneumonia. The provider can then confirm, rule out or leave undetermined the causative organism, and the final code reflects the provider's own clinical judgment rather than an assumption drawn from the lab report.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Coding unspecified pneumonia ignores a clear clinical indicator that a more specific diagnosis may be supported.
- B. Apart from the elevated white count, the vital signs give little support for sepsis, so a sepsis query lacks clinical indicators.
- C. The organism cannot be coded from the culture report without the provider documenting the link to the pneumonia.
How much of the AHIMA CDIP Certified Documentation Integrity Practitioner bank is free?
140 questions in the bankEach step includes the one before, so buying only adds new questions.
- You are here10questionsFree sampleThree on this page, all ten as a PDF.Download the sample
- 1813% of the bankPractice pageFree on the site, every answer explained.Go to the practice page
- 70the first half of the packHalf PackFree by email, as one PDF, every answer explained.Get the Half Pack
- 140100%, the whole bankFull pack, US$39Plus the questions-only PDF, monthly updates, refund if you fail.Get the full pack
What’s in the AHIMA CDIP Certified Documentation Integrity Practitioner pack
- 140 questions mapped to the CDIP exam objectives
- Answers and explanations for every question, including the wrong options
- A questions-only PDF for timed practice runs
- Delivered by email shortly after checkout
- Free monthly updates
- Pass or your money back
A failed CDIP attempt costs another US$329 (US$259 for AHIMA members) plus weeks of restudying. This pack is US$39, paid once, and refunded if you fail.
What makes the CDIP hard
Record review and document clarification is the heart of the CDIP. At 27% to 33% it is the biggest domain: reading a record, spotting what is missing or conflicting, and writing a compliant, non leading query. Clinical coding practice adds 15% to 18%.
The other domains cover education and leadership, CDI metrics and statistics, and compliance. The exam has 140 questions in three hours, but only 106 are scored; the other 34 are pretest items you cannot identify. Query compliance and CDI program metrics are where clinically strong candidates lose marks.
About the exam
The Certified Documentation Integrity Practitioner (CDIP) is AHIMA's credential for clinical documentation integrity professionals. It covers clinical coding practice, education and leadership development, record review and document clarification, CDI metrics and statistics, and compliance. AHIMA sets eligibility requirements based on education and CDI work experience.
Exam domains
- Domain 1: Clinical Coding Practice: 15% to 18%
- Domain 2: Education and Leadership Development
- Domain 3: Record Review and Document Clarification: 27% to 33%
- Domain 4: CDI Metrics and Statistics
- Domain 5: Compliance
140 questions (106 scored, 34 pretest), 3 hours, passing score 300. US$259 for AHIMA members, US$329 for non-members.
Questions before you buy
How quickly do I receive it?
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Are updates included?
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What if I fail the exam?
We refund the pack, or swap it for any other pack if you would rather keep studying. Sit the exam 7 to 30 days after buying, then send your official score report within 7 days of the exam date, as set out in the refund policy.
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