AHIMA RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician)

A facility's master patient index (MPI) shows that one patient has been assigned two different medical record numbers within the same hospital. This error is best described as:

1. AAn overlay
2. BAn overlap
3. CA duplicateCorrect
4. DA merge

Why: A duplicate exists when one patient is assigned two or more medical record numbers within the same facility, so the patient has two separate records. An overlay is the opposite and more dangerous error: two different patients share one medical record number, mixing their data. An overlap is one patient having different numbers across facilities in an enterprise MPI. A merge is the corrective action, not the error. MPI integrity is central to patient safety and data governance.

A hospital discharged 500 patients during the month, and 15 of those patients died before discharge. The gross death (mortality) rate for the month is:

1. A1.5%
2. B3%Correct
3. C5%
4. D30%

Why: Gross death rate = (number of inpatient deaths ÷ number of discharges, including deaths) × 100. Here 15 ÷ 500 = 0.03, or 3%. The gross death rate counts all inpatient deaths, whereas the net death rate excludes deaths occurring within 48 hours of admission. Accurate rate computation is a core HIM statistics skill.