The principal concern is the selective destruction of unanswered queries. A compliant query-retention policy should be consistent, defensible, and auditable rather than dependent on whether the physician provided a response or whether the query affected billing.

Organizations may structure query retention differently depending on legal requirements, health-record policy, technology, and organizational governance. Queries may be part of the permanent health record or retained as another retrievable business record, depending on policy. The key point is that disposition should not be manipulated to hide unanswered or inconvenient clarification activity.

Destroying unresolved queries can impair auditability, create an appearance that the organization is selectively preserving only favorable documentation activity, and undermine the integrity of the CDI process.

The 2026 ACDIS/AHIMA guidelines are the current foundational standard for query-practice design and supersede prior versions.

A query need not automatically remain in the permanent medical record forever; retention requirements depend on applicable organizational and legal policies. What is unacceptable is an inconsistent approach designed to remove evidence based on outcome.

CCDS Reference Topics: Query retention; compliance; auditability; organizational policy; documentation integrity.

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