Coding Certification Exam Tips

Exams for the several coding certifications differ greatly. Two of the certification exams are the CPC coding certification exam, from the American Association of Professional Coders (AAPC) and the CCA-P coding certification exam, from the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Exam Differences

• The CPC exam seems to be more difficult. This exam is 150 multiple choice questions and you have 5 hours and 40 minutes to complete the exam. With the CPC exam, you must get at least 70 percent correct in each section to pass.

  The CCA-P exam consists of 100 multiple choice questions andyou must do it in two hours. You must receive at least a 75 percent on both sections of the CCA-P exam to pass.

Practice Exams

• Take advantage of practice examinations found in coding curriculum resources or online. Completing several practice examinations can ease some of the pressure by letting you know what to expect on the exam. When taking these practice exams, time yourself to be sure you can complete the questions within the allowed amount of time on the exam day.

Coding Resource Books

• Purchase a coding resource book. Many are available with shortcuts and more thorough explanations and examples of case studies from different types of medical facilities. Working through several case studies will help you decide what information in the patient notes is relevant to the code that should be chosen.

Read Carefully

• When taking the test, be sure to read all test questions and instructions carefully. Also pay close attention to coding guidelines and exclusion notes. These certification tests tend to have many tricky questions thrown in to make sure you are paying attention to guidelines and code restrictions and reading thoroughly.

Watch Time

• Pay attention to the time. If your testing instructor says that you have 15 minutes left with the exam and you are not finished, speed up to answer as many questions as possible. Blank questions are worth no points.

Coding Classes

• Research coding certification classes in your area. Taking a coding certification class

  can be beneficial. Instructors will explain all sections of each of the code books in great detail. An instructor who is a certified professional coder and therefore capable of answering difficult coding questions that may arise teaches the classes.