RHIA Exam Flashcards

Q: What is the RHIA exam format?

The current RHIA exam has 150 total items: 130 scored items and 20 pretest items. The total appointment is 3 hours 30 minutes.

Q: What score do I need to pass RHIA?

AHIMA lists 300 as the RHIA passing score. Treat it as a scaled score threshold rather than a raw percentage.

Q: Can I take RHIA with a non-HIM informatics degree?

Current AHIMA facts say RHIA eligibility is limited to listed HIM education routes and approved foreign HIM reciprocity, so non-HIM routes should be verified directly with AHIMA before applying.

Q: How long must I wait after failing RHIA?

RHIA candidates submit a new application and fee, then wait 30 days before retake approval and scheduling.

Question 1

What kind of credential is RHIA?

Accepted Answer

RHIA is AHIMA's administrator-level health information management credential. Think governance, compliance, analytics, revenue cycle, and leadership - not coding-only recall.

Question 2

Which education routes support RHIA eligibility?

Accepted Answer

Current routes are HIM-specific: CAHIIM-accredited baccalaureate or master's HIM academic requirements, a CAHIIM-approved post-baccalaureate HIM certificate, or approved foreign HIM reciprocity.

Question 3

What is the RHIA application sequence?

Accepted Answer

Confirm eligibility, apply through MyAHIMA with required documentation, receive eligibility, then schedule the computer-based exam through Pearson VUE.

Question 4

What does the 120-day RHIA window control?

Accepted Answer

After eligibility is granted, the candidate must schedule with Pearson VUE within 120 days. Study readiness should be mostly in place before that window starts.

Question 5

How many RHIA items count toward the score?

Accepted Answer

130 items are scored. The exam has 150 total items because 20 pretest items are mixed in and are not identified to candidates.

Question 6

How should you read RHIA timing?

Accepted Answer

The appointment is 3 hours 30 minutes total. AHIMA breaks it into 5 minutes of agreement time and 3 hours 25 minutes of exam time.

Question 7

What does a 300 passing score mean?

Accepted Answer

300 is the official scaled passing score. Do not turn it into a fixed raw-percent target because scoring is based on AHIMA's scale.

Question 8

What are current RHIA exam and retake fees?

Accepted Answer

$229 for AHIMA members and $299 for non-members. Retake fees are the same as the first-attempt exam fee.

Question 9

What happens after an unsuccessful RHIA attempt?

Accepted Answer

The candidate submits a new application and fee. RHIA retake approval requires a 30-day wait before scheduling.

Question 10

How is RHIA certification maintained?

Accepted Answer

RHIA uses a 2-year certification period. Credential holders must complete recertification requirements, including required CEUs and the recertification fee.

Question 11

Which RHIA domains are largest?

Accepted Answer

Data Analytics and Informatics and Management and Leadership are each weighted 23-26%, the largest ranges in the current outline.

Question 12

What is information governance trying to protect?

Accepted Answer

It protects health information across its lifecycle by assigning accountability for integrity, availability, confidentiality, usability, retention, and destruction.

Question 13

Why define the legal health record?

Accepted Answer

The definition tells the organization which records make up the official business record for legal, evidentiary, retention, and disclosure purposes.

Question 14

What makes a record correction defensible?

Accepted Answer

The original entry remains visible, the correction is dated and attributable, and the audit trail shows what changed, who changed it, and why.

Question 15

What does a data dictionary standardize?

Accepted Answer

It defines data element names, meanings, formats, allowed values, sources, owners, and business rules so users and systems interpret data consistently.

Question 16

Why does MPI integrity matter?

Accepted Answer

A reliable Master Patient Index links the right patient to the right records. Duplicates, overlays, and demographic errors can affect safety, reporting, billing, and privacy.

Question 17

What is the safest retention mindset?

Accepted Answer

Follow the governing retention schedule, apply the most stringent applicable rule, pause destruction for holds, and document authorized destruction.

Question 18

What makes healthcare data high quality?

Accepted Answer

High-quality data is accurate, complete, consistent, timely, valid, reliable, accessible for the right purpose, and traceable to trusted sources.

Question 19

How should RHIA candidates handle dashboard errors?

Accepted Answer

Validate definitions, source data, mappings, time period, denominator logic, and workflow inputs before redesigning the dashboard or reporting conclusions.

Question 20

What question starts every PHI disclosure decision?

Accepted Answer

Ask the purpose, authority, requester identity, requested scope, recipient, minimum necessary boundary, and whether policy requires escalation.

Question 21

What is the minimum necessary standard?

Accepted Answer

Use, request, or disclose only the PHI reasonably needed for the intended purpose, except where HIPAA or policy allows a broader treatment-related use.

Question 22

What belongs in a strong ROI workflow?

Accepted Answer

Request intake, identity and authority validation, scope review, sensitive-information checks, delivery controls, disposition notes, quality review, and escalation rules.

Question 23

How should patient access be governed?

Accepted Answer

Make access practical while controlling identity proofing, proxy authority, portal enrollment, delivery tracking, support, denial reasons, and complaint escalation.

Question 24

What does disclosure documentation prove later?

Accepted Answer

It shows what was requested, what authority was verified, what was released, to whom, when, by whom, and under which purpose or legal basis.

Question 25

What should happen after a suspected breach?

Accepted Answer

Escalate under policy, contain the issue, preserve evidence, investigate facts, assess risk, decide notifications, remediate, and document the full response.

Question 26

How is HIE both useful and risky?

Accepted Answer

Health information exchange can support continuity of care, but it requires governance for participation, consent or preference rules, matching, access controls, monitoring, and breach escalation.

Question 27

What do security safeguards protect?

Accepted Answer

They protect electronic PHI through administrative, physical, and technical controls such as policies, access management, facility controls, audit logs, and transmission protections.

Question 28

Why validate healthcare statistics?

Accepted Answer

Stakeholders act on those numbers. Validate definitions, denominators, source systems, missing values, outliers, population mix, time period, and limitations before decisions are made.

Question 29

What is the RHIA role in EHR optimization?

Accepted Answer

Define the workflow problem, involve stakeholders, validate requirements, test realistic records, train users, monitor adoption, and watch for new data quality defects.

Question 30

What should an analytics workflow start with?

Accepted Answer

Start with the business or clinical question. Then select data, prepare it, analyze, validate, interpret, act, and monitor results.

Question 31

What is data lineage?

Accepted Answer

Data lineage traces data from origin through movement, transformation, reporting, and use. It supports trust, troubleshooting, compliance, and governance decisions.

Question 32

What makes a focused documentation audit useful?

Accepted Answer

A useful audit has a clear objective, population, sample method, criteria, trained reviewers, escalation path, feedback loop, and corrective-action monitoring.

Question 33

What should CDI query governance control?

Accepted Answer

It controls clinical indicators, nonleading query format, tracking, provider response monitoring, escalation rules, education, and links to coding and quality reporting.

Question 34

Where does HIM fit in the SDLC?

Accepted Answer

HIM should participate in planning, requirements, design, testing, implementation, maintenance, change control, downtime planning, and retirement of systems affecting health information.

Question 35

What is an integration defect signal?

Accepted Answer

Missing documents, duplicate patients, broken report counts, incorrect statuses, interface errors, delayed claims, or privacy audit gaps can all signal integration problems.

Question 36

What is the RHIA revenue-cycle frame?

Accepted Answer

Protect compliant documentation and reliable coded data first. Revenue speed matters, but it cannot override documentation, official guidance, payer rules, or compliance risk.

Question 37

What creates a clean claim?

Accepted Answer

Clean claims start before billing through complete documentation, accurate coding, charge capture, authorization checks, edit resolution, and cross-functional handoffs.

Question 38

What should coding validation compare?

Accepted Answer

Compare coded data to documentation, official coding guidelines, facility policy, payer requirements, and audit criteria. Payment impact alone never proves correctness.

Question 39

What is CDI's revenue-cycle purpose?

Accepted Answer

CDI improves clarity and completeness so records accurately support severity, risk, quality reporting, coding, reimbursement, and defensible claims.

Question 40

What does DNFB analysis reveal?

Accepted Answer

Discharged not final billed analysis shows accounts delayed before billing. Sort by root cause and owner, such as coding, documentation, charge, edit, or authorization issues.

Question 41

What is chargemaster maintenance?

Accepted Answer

It is revenue integrity work that aligns services, supplies, codes, prices, units, departments, payer rules, and change control so charges are accurate and supportable.

Question 42

What should denial trends drive?

Accepted Answer

Denial trends should feed root-cause review, provider education, coding validation, CDI priorities, payer-policy updates, CDM review, and appeal strategy.

Question 43

How should possible billing fraud be handled?

Accepted Answer

Escalate through compliance channels, preserve evidence, stop unsupported practice, investigate facts, correct claims if needed, and monitor for recurrence.

Question 44

What is the RHIA leadership pattern?

Accepted Answer

Use evidence, policy, stakeholder input, risk assessment, communication, training, measurable action, and follow-up instead of isolated quick fixes.

Question 45

What belongs in change management?

Accepted Answer

Stakeholder mapping, current-state analysis, clear communication, training, support, go-live planning, resistance management, metrics, and sustained adoption monitoring.

Question 46

How should staffing decisions be justified?

Accepted Answer

Use workload volume, productivity, quality, turnaround time, risk, competency, service levels, budget impact, and regulatory or accreditation requirements.

Question 47

What makes training stronger than attendance?

Accepted Answer

Effective training has objectives, role-based content, practice, competency validation, coaching, and follow-up audit data showing whether behavior improved.

Question 48

What should vendor outsourcing include?

Accepted Answer

Define scope, privacy and security duties, service levels, quality measures, reporting, handoffs, escalation, audit rights, and corrective-action expectations.

Question 49

How should process improvement begin?

Accepted Answer

Begin with baseline data and root-cause analysis. Then redesign the workflow, assign owners, train staff, measure results, and monitor for unintended effects.

Question 50

What makes accreditation readiness defensible?

Accepted Answer

Evidence of policy ownership, current procedures, staff competency, audits, corrective actions, monitoring, and leadership follow-through.

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