Among concerns were: not having enough time to complete the test; the length of questions; and overall question comprehension. Here are some tips to keep in mind when preparing to take the CPC® exam:

1. Plan ahead. Make sure you know where you are going and where the exam is being held a few days ahead of time. Know when the start time is.  Do not cause yourself any unnecessary stress at the last minute. Arrive at least 15 minutes early and allow for traffic. Get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast.
2. Confirm materials. Find out what items are allowed into the exam and gather them a few days ahead of time.
3. Familiarize yourself with materials. Make sure that you are familiar with where to find certain sections within your medical coding books. Become familiar with all parts of your CPT, ICD-9-CM and HCPCS code books so you can quickly locate the codes, guidelines, tables and instructions. This will save time and, again, unnecessary stress.
4.  Scan the test. When you are instructed to begin, scan the whole test first. The AAPC suggests that you answer the easiest, shortest questions first – this gives you the experience of succeeding and stimulates associations.
5. Pace yourself. The AAPC reports that test takers have an average of 2 minutes and 15 seconds to answer each question. Stay relaxed and you’ll finish.
6. Read questions carefully. Pay particular attention to words in the questions such as “not, except, most, least and greatest.” The AAPC advises that these words are often crucial in determining the correct answer. However there are no “trick” questions.
7. Answer all of the questions. If you don’t know the right answer, eliminate as many wrong ones as possible and then choose from the remaining ones. An educated guess is better than a blank response.
8. Use time leftover. If you find that you actually finish with time leftover, don’t hand in your test right away. Use that time to review any questions you were unsure of by using code books again.

For specific time-management tips, visit:  .http://www.codingcertification.org/coding-certification-articles-and-posts/aapc-cpc/medical-coding-certification-exam-time-management .

Hello LAUREEN,

THANK you very much for your time on the phone yesterday.

Right now i need to make up time due to the wrong direction of the correspondence school.

I am cutting my ties with them.I want to get on track with the correct materials right away.

I would like your choice of textbooks, ICD9, HCPCS, CPT, ANATOMY, MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY that i can purchase from you to coincide with your blitz videos purchase for the CPC® exam. Is it a good idea to purchase ANATOMY AND MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY used from AMAZON.COM since anatomy of the body doesnt change every year?

Anyway, i will get all the materials from you so i know everything is correct for the CPC® certification exam.

Please email me all the information as soon as you are able.

Thanks,
DC

For your CPT manual I HIGHLY recommend the professional version (vs. the standard version) because it has more bells and whistles that you will actually use on the board exam. Here is a link to the one on Amazon.

For ICD you mentioned you were going to possibly be doing some inpatient coding training after getting your CPC®, since that is the case I’d recommend you get the Version that has volumes 1,2 & 3. Volume 3 is used by inpatient hospital coders to code procedures instead of CPT. Having the extra volume won’t hurt you if you’re just doing physician based – you just won’t use it. Here is the link for the version I use currently:

For HCPCS you don’t need anything too fancy

BEST VALUE
For a combo package of the above three manuals here is the link (currently selling for $279.11)

Now as far as a good medical terminology and anatomy book you can go used but I’ve just reviewed a new book titled “Medical Terminology & Anatomy for ICD-10 Coding”. It is the only book I know of that is geared towards coders. We like it so much we are going to be offering a course using it as the main text starting March 1st, 2012. Here is the link on Amazon:

80000 70%,
90000 70%,
Anatomy 50%,
Anesthesia 63%,
Coding Guidelines 67%,
ICD-9-CM 60%,
Medical Terminology 63%,
Practice Management 50%.

Any advice on what I should concentrate on first, or should I just go down the line and review each section?

Sure! Watch the video….

Here’s a video explaining my coaching for people who just might be in “overwhelm” mode when it comes to taking their own exam.

PS: There’s a great tip at the end of the video regarding surgery questions on the board exam.

Evaluation and management is the second most important topic as the CPC® test contains 12 MCQs based on it. Students often find this part challenging as the questions based on the topic are often very twisted and often trick students into making mistakes. Thus several teachers training students for the CPC® test often give special emphasis on this topic. After this topic come the 11 MCQs on ICD-9-CM. ICD stands for International Classification of Diseases and you will be allowed to use your subject manual during the test. This part is usually very easy to score in provided you have sufficient training and work experience in medical coding.

Next in the CPC® test come the questions on the different series present in medical coding. There are a total of 9 MCQs from the 10,000 series and 10 MCQs each from the 20,000, 30,000 and 40,000 series. The 50,000 series is relatively more important as 11 questions come from it which is more than any other series. The 60,000 series also contains 10 MCQs. After these topics comes the Radiology 70,000 series which contains 9 questions. This is followed by the Pathology 80,000 series and Medicine 90,000 series which contain 10 MCQs each. Thus until now we have accounted for 125 out of the 150 questions.
Out of the remaining questions, Anatomy has 9 questions in the paper which are also usually quite tricky. After that come the 6 questions on Anesthesia which are not exactly tricky but do command you to have enough information about the procedure in order to code for specific problems. Coding concepts is the next topic and it has 5 MCQs in the paper. These MCQs do require you to have deep knowledge about the underlying requirements and importance of medical coding. Lastly come the 5 MCQs on Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) and these are also considered to be scoring by the candidates as HCPCS is commonly used by candidates during their practical experiences. Thus we have accounted for all of the 150 MCQs which appear in the CPC® test.

However you can still sit in the CPC® exam if you have not gained the work experience. You can sit in the exam and if you clear it, you will be given an apprentice certification that can be upgraded to a full certification when you fulfill your work experience requirement. This method ensures that fast learners do not have to wait until the work requirement is met before they can appear in the exam. Also, this method allows people to appear for retakes until they meet the work requirement. This saves them from the time that would be lost if they would have taken the CPC® exam after meeting the work requirement and failed in it on the first try. As the CPC® exam contains one free retake, it is more worthwhile to offer the retake while gaining experience than after the requirement is fulfilled as you wouldn’t be wasting additional time.

The CPC® exam takes place at a number of venues at a number of dates. You have to find the venue that is most suitable for you along with the date that is ideal from the website of the AAPC. After you have found a date and venue, you need to register for the exam and pay the full fees. You will not be allowed to appear if you have paid a partial sum. Also, you may need accommodation services if you cannot find any exam that is located near a place where you can stay. These tasks do require you to plan the CPC® exam in advance and you cannot decide to take part in it at the last moment. It is best if you register for the exam at least three months in advance as it would give you ample time in planning your trip. Even if the exam is very near to you, this additional time ensures that you can complete your preparation for the exam thoroughly so that you have a much higher chance of clearing it.