10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The CMC exam has 133 questions and runs 6 hours.
These 10 free CMC questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Medical Coder blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
An operative report describes an incision into the tube carrying urine from the left kidney to the bladder. An obstructing stone is removed, and the incision is closed. No kidney tissue is removed and no permanent opening is created. Which term identifies the incision described?
Correct answer: A - Ureterotomy.
An urgent-care physician evaluates right lower-quadrant abdominal pain and documents 'possible appendicitis; urgent emergency-department evaluation advised.' The patient is transferred, and the urgent-care encounter ends without a definitive diagnosis. The coder is preparing the urgent-care claim, not the hospital claim. How should the first-listed diagnosis be handled?
Correct answer: D - Assign R10.31 for the documented right lower-quadrant pain.
A dispensing error causes a penicillin bottle to be labeled with twice the prescribed dose. A patient follows the label and develops nausea and vomiting. In the emergency department, the physician attributes the symptoms to the unintended excess dose and provides active treatment. Which diagnosis sequence captures the event?
Correct answer: C - T36.0X1A, accidental penicillin poisoning, followed by R11.2, nausea with vomiting.
A 67-year-old patient's signed assessment states 'type 2 diabetes with hyperglycemia.' The physician increases the patient's long-term insulin dose. No other diabetic complication is documented, and insulin is the only glucose-lowering medication used. Which diagnosis-code combination preserves both the disease classification and treatment status?
Correct answer: A - E11.65 and Z79.4.
At an outpatient infusion center, a woman receives only a transfusion for anemia explicitly attributed to active right-breast cancer, not to its treatment. No breast subsite is specified. Chemotherapy was last administered two weeks earlier. For today's encounter, what are the first two diagnosis codes, in order?
Correct answer: C - C50.911, then D63.0.
The same-day wound-care record contains two signed entries: Physician: Sacral pressure ulcer; no stage recorded. Wound-care nurse: Stage 3; adipose tissue visible, with no exposed or palpable fascia, muscle, tendon, or bone and no material obscuring the wound bed. There is no conflicting documentation. What is the appropriate coding action?
Correct answer: D - Use the documented Stage 3 when selecting the pressure-ulcer code.
At a visit for worsening knee osteoarthritis, a physician evaluates declining function, adjusts oral medication, and develops a physical-therapy plan. The physician also aspirates a knee effusion. The note documents the disease-management work separately from the usual care associated with the aspiration. Both services are linked to the same osteoarthritis diagnosis. Which claim accurately reflects the documented work?
Correct answer: B - Report the aspiration and the office E/M service with modifier 25 on the E/M code.
An internist sees a patient for the first time, although another internist in the same group treated the patient 18 months earlier. Today's record shows 22 minutes of physician evaluation and counseling, 8 minutes of same-day chart review, and 7 minutes of same-day documentation. A separately billed procedure took 12 additional physician minutes; clinical staff spent another 9 minutes with the patient. Using total time to select only the office E/M service, which entry is supported?
Correct answer: B - 99214; established patient, 37 qualifying minutes.
Before excising an upper-arm lesion, a surgeon measures its greatest diameter as 1.6 cm and marks 0.4-cm margins on each side. The resulting defect receives a 3.6-cm simple, single-layer closure. Final pathology confirms a benign lesion. How should the excision and closure be reported?
Correct answer: C - 11403; the simple closure is included.
A hospital performs an abdominal CT using oral contrast only; no intravenous contrast is administered. A radiologist who has no ownership of the equipment supplies only the interpretation and signed report. For the radiologist's professional claim, select the correct contrast classification and component modifier.
Correct answer: D - Without contrast; modifier 26.
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