RHIT Exam Flashcards

Q: What is on the RHIT exam?

The RHIT exam covers six AHIMA domains: Data Content, Structure, and Information Governance; Access, Disclosure, Privacy, and Security; Data Analytics and Use; Revenue Cycle Management; Compliance; and Leadership. The largest local blueprint range is Data Content, Structure, and Information Governance at 24-28%.

Q: How many questions are on the RHIT exam?

The RHIT exam has 150 total items: 130 scored items and 20 pretest items. Candidates receive a 3 hour 30 minute total appointment, including the exam time and agreement period.

Q: What score do I need to pass RHIT?

AHIMA reports RHIT results on a scaled score. The passing standard is 300 on the AHIMA 100-400 scale.

Q: Who is eligible for RHIT?

RHIT eligibility is tied to graduation from a CAHIIM-accredited HIM associate degree program or an approved reciprocity pathway. Candidates should verify current eligibility requirements directly with AHIMA before applying.

Q: How should I use RHIT flashcards?

Use flashcards for recall of domain terms, privacy rules, coding distinctions, reimbursement vocabulary, healthcare statistics formulas, and HIM workflows. Pair them with mixed practice questions because RHIT tests applied judgment, not just definitions.

Question 1

RHIT Exam Domains

Accepted Answer

AHIMA's RHIT blueprint covers data governance, privacy/security, analytics, revenue cycle, compliance, and leadership. Use the domain weights to decide study time, then adjust for your missed-question patterns.

Question 2

Pretest Items

Accepted Answer

Unscored questions placed on an exam to evaluate future use. RHIT candidates are not told which items are pretest, so answer every item as if it counts.

Question 3

Legal Health Record

Accepted Answer

The organization-defined business record used for care, disclosure, and legal purposes. It is not every data element in every system; it is the official record set the organization can produce and defend.

Question 4

Designated Record Set

Accepted Answer

Records used to make decisions about an individual, such as medical and billing records. HIPAA access and amendment rights focus on this set, not every internal note or quality file.

Question 5

Data Governance

Accepted Answer

The policies, roles, standards, and controls that keep health data accurate, usable, secure, and accountable across its life cycle.

Question 6

Data Steward

Accepted Answer

A person responsible for the meaning, quality, and appropriate use of a data set. Stewards help define data standards, resolve quality issues, and support consistent reporting.

Question 7

Master Patient Index (MPI)

Accepted Answer

The patient identity index that links each patient to the correct record across encounters. Strong MPI processes prevent duplicate records, overlays, and mismatched patient information.

Question 8

Duplicate vs. Overlay

Accepted Answer

A duplicate means one patient has more than one record. An overlay means information for two different patients is combined under one record, creating a higher patient-safety risk.

Question 9

Record Correction: Paper Chart

Accepted Answer

Preserve the original entry, mark the correction clearly, add the corrected information, and include date, time, and authentication. Never erase, obscure, or remove the original documentation.

Question 10

Authentication

Accepted Answer

The process of confirming who created or approved a record entry. Signatures, electronic signatures, dates, and times support accountability and record integrity.

Question 11

Document Control

Accepted Answer

The review, approval, versioning, and retirement of forms and templates. It keeps documentation tools standardized, compliant, and aligned with clinical workflow.

Question 12

Primary Data Source

Accepted Answer

The original source of patient information, such as the health record or registration record. Secondary databases, registries, and reports are derived from primary sources.

Question 13

Interoperability

Accepted Answer

The ability of systems to exchange health data and use the data meaningfully. True interoperability requires both transport and shared understanding of data meaning.

Question 14

HL7 FHIR

Accepted Answer

A modern health data exchange standard built around resources and APIs. It supports structured exchange of data such as patients, observations, medications, and encounters.

Question 15

LOINC

Accepted Answer

A standard terminology commonly used for laboratory and clinical observations. It helps different systems identify the same test or measurement consistently.

Question 16

SNOMED CT

Accepted Answer

A clinical terminology used to represent problems, findings, procedures, and other clinical concepts with high detail for EHR documentation and analytics.

Question 17

RxNorm

Accepted Answer

A normalized drug terminology that supports consistent medication names and identifiers across prescribing, pharmacy, and exchange systems.

Question 18

HIPAA Privacy Rule

Accepted Answer

The federal rule that governs uses and disclosures of protected health information and gives patients rights over their health information.

Question 19

HIPAA Security Rule

Accepted Answer

The rule focused on protecting electronic PHI through administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.

Question 20

Minimum Necessary

Accepted Answer

Use, request, or disclose only the PHI needed for the intended purpose. A key exception is treatment, where providers may access what is needed to care for the patient.

Question 21

Treatment, Payment, Operations (TPO)

Accepted Answer

Core healthcare activities for which HIPAA generally permits PHI use and disclosure without a patient authorization.

Question 22

Valid Authorization

Accepted Answer

A patient permission document for uses or disclosures not otherwise permitted by HIPAA. It should identify the information, recipient, purpose, expiration, signature, and revocation rights.

Question 23

Accounting of Disclosures

Accepted Answer

A patient's right to receive a list of certain PHI disclosures. Routine treatment, payment, operations, and disclosures made with authorization are generally excluded.

Question 24

Patient Right of Access

Accepted Answer

HIPAA gives individuals the right to inspect or obtain copies of PHI in the designated record set, with limited exceptions and required response timeframes.

Question 25

Right to Amend

Accepted Answer

A patient may request correction of PHI they believe is inaccurate or incomplete. The organization reviews the request and must follow the required approval or denial process.

Question 26

Breach Notification

Accepted Answer

When unsecured PHI is breached, covered entities must follow HIPAA notification rules for affected individuals, HHS, and sometimes media depending on size and circumstances.

Question 27

Business Associate Agreement (BAA)

Accepted Answer

A required contract when a vendor or partner creates, receives, maintains, or transmits PHI for a covered entity. It defines permitted uses and safeguard duties.

Question 28

Administrative Safeguards

Accepted Answer

Security management actions such as risk analysis, workforce training, policies, contingency planning, and sanction procedures.

Question 29

Technical Safeguards

Accepted Answer

Technology controls for ePHI, such as unique user IDs, access controls, audit logs, encryption, integrity controls, and transmission security.

Question 30

Physical Safeguards

Accepted Answer

Protections for buildings, workstations, devices, and media that store or access ePHI. Examples include facility access controls and device disposal procedures.

Question 31

ICD-10-CM

Accepted Answer

The diagnosis classification system used in U.S. healthcare reporting. RHIT candidates should know conventions such as laterality, placeholders, extensions, and sequencing notes.

Question 32

ICD-10-PCS

Accepted Answer

The inpatient procedure coding system used for hospital facility reporting. Its seven characters describe section, body system, root operation, body part, approach, device, and qualifier.

Question 33

CPT

Accepted Answer

The procedure and service code set used heavily for physician and outpatient reporting. It includes evaluation and management, surgery, radiology, pathology, and medicine services.

Question 34

HCPCS Level II

Accepted Answer

Codes for supplies, drugs, equipment, and selected services not fully represented in CPT. Common examples include durable medical equipment and injectable drug codes.

Question 35

Principal Diagnosis

Accepted Answer

The condition established after study to be chiefly responsible for the inpatient admission. It drives sequencing and can strongly affect MS-DRG assignment.

Question 36

Present on Admission (POA)

Accepted Answer

An indicator showing whether a diagnosis was present at the time inpatient admission began. POA data supports quality reporting, payment rules, and complication analysis.

Question 37

Compliant Physician Query

Accepted Answer

A request for clarification when documentation is incomplete, conflicting, vague, or clinically unclear. It must be nonleading and supported by information already in the record.

Question 38

MS-DRG

Accepted Answer

A Medicare inpatient payment grouping based on principal diagnosis, procedures, complications or comorbidities, discharge status, age, sex, and other factors.

Question 39

Case Mix Index (CMI)

Accepted Answer

The average relative weight of a hospital's cases. A higher CMI suggests more resource-intensive patients, but it must be supported by accurate documentation and coding.

Question 40

Chargemaster

Accepted Answer

The facility's master list of billable items, services, supplies, and charges. Accurate maintenance supports clean claims, compliance, and revenue integrity.

Question 41

Denial Management

Accepted Answer

The process of analyzing denied claims, correcting root causes, appealing when appropriate, and preventing repeat denials through documentation, coding, and workflow fixes.

Question 42

DNFB

Accepted Answer

Discharged Not Final Billed: accounts discharged but not yet ready for final billing. High DNFB can signal coding backlogs, missing documentation, or claim-edit problems.

Question 43

Average Daily Census (ADC)

Accepted Answer

A healthcare statistic calculated as total inpatient service days divided by the number of days in the period.

Question 44

Average Length of Stay (ALOS)

Accepted Answer

A utilization measure calculated as total discharge days divided by total discharges. It helps track resource use and care efficiency.

Question 45

Occupancy Rate

Accepted Answer

A bed-use measure: inpatient service days divided by bed count times days in the period, then multiplied by 100.

Question 46

Registry

Accepted Answer

An organized database for a defined condition, procedure, population, or event. Registries support reporting, research, quality monitoring, and outcomes analysis.

Question 47

Data Abstraction

Accepted Answer

The process of pulling defined data elements from source records into a registry, report, or database using standardized definitions.

Question 48

False Claims Act

Accepted Answer

A federal law addressing knowingly false or fraudulent claims submitted for government payment. HIM risk areas include unsupported coding, upcoding, and billing for services not documented.

Question 49

Stark Law vs. Anti-Kickback Statute

Accepted Answer

Stark focuses on physician self-referrals for designated health services and is generally strict liability. Anti-Kickback targets remuneration intended to induce federal healthcare program referrals.

Question 50

PDCA Cycle

Accepted Answer

Plan, Do, Check, Act: a process-improvement cycle used to test changes, measure results, standardize what works, and repeat improvement.

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