Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR) Practice Exam

What does ESRD refer to in healthcare?

1. End-of-life support resources

2. End-stage renal disease

3. Emergency surgical response department

4. Extended service recovery division

The correct answer is: End-stage renal disease

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a medical term that refers to the final stage of chronic kidney disease where the kidneys can no longer maintain the body's needs due to significant loss of function. At this stage, the kidneys are functioning at less than 15% of their normal capacity, and patients typically require dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. Understanding ESRD is crucial in healthcare, especially for billing and coding, patient management, and determining eligibility for certain health programs such as Medicare, which provides coverage for individuals with this condition. In contrast, the other options provided do not align with the widely accepted medical definition of ESRD. End-of-life support resources generally pertain to palliative care, emergency surgical response department focuses on surgical interventions during emergencies, and extended service recovery division might refer to customer service responses rather than a specific medical condition. This makes option B distinctly accurate in the context of healthcare terminology.