Medical Coding Practice Test

V codes in ICD-9-CM provide information about factors influencing health status and contact with health services. These codes are used to indicate a variety of circumstances that may influence a patient's health status, such as the patient's history, current status, or services provided. Therefore, the correct answer is C: Primary reason for the patient's visit. This choice accurately reflects the purpose and significance of V codes in medical coding.

The incorrect options can be clarified as follows:

A. Main treatment outcomes - V codes do not provide information on the treatment outcomes but rather on factors influencing health status and healthcare encounters.

B. External causes of injury - External cause codes (E codes) in ICD-9-CM are used to record how an injury or health condition happened (e.g., accidents, poisonings), not V codes.

D. Anatomic terms - V codes are not related to anatomic terms but are specifically used to provide additional details about the patient's health status and health-related encounters.