AAPC Fact Sheet

Memberships
AAPC is the nation’s largest education and credentialing organization for medical coders, billers, auditors, practice managers, compliance specialists, revenue cycle managers, and other top health care medical business professionals. With more than 121,000 members, AAPC provides the following nationally recognized credentials to medical coders in physician offices, outpatient facilities, and payer environments: Certified Professional Coder (CPC®), Certified Professional Coder—Hospital (CPC-H®), Certified Professional Coder—Payer (CPC-P®), Certified Professional Medical Auditor (CPMA®), Certified Interventional Radiology Cardiovascular Coder® (CIRCC®), and the Certified Professional Compliance Officer (CPCO™), Certified Physician Practice Manager® (CPPM®), as well as numerous specialty-specific credentials. AAPC credentials represent the industry-standard certifications for the business side of medicine.

Medical Coding Industry Profile
All U.S. physicians and hospitals are required by law to use codes to report supplies, diagnoses, procedures and other services associated with patient care. The responsibility of coders is to accurately assign these codes. All payments for medical services in the United States are linked to these codes.

Professional coders have expertise and knowledge that is critical to the effective working of the health care delivery system. Standardized codes expedite information gathering, billing, and data collection. Standardized systems allow payers to better compare charges for services and set payment rates that not only  reward the providers for their work fairly but also reduce insurers’ risks. Further, the data can be collected over time and analyzed for trends such as: which treatment methods work best over time for which conditions, or what is the incidence of certain diseases or certain treatments in specific localities are. All of this contributes to an overall reduction in the cost of health care delivery.

Organization Profile

• Founded: 1988
• Headquarters: 2480 S. 3850 West, Suite B, Salt Lake City, Utah 84120
• Industry: Healthcare, Insurance, Billing and Coding
• Members: More than 121,000 members
• Web site: www.aapc.com
• AAPC News: http://news.aapc.com/
• PR/Media Contact:
• David Blackmer
• public.relations@aapc.com

Purpose
AAPC provides medical coding education, training, and credentials to medical coders in physician offices, hospitals, outpatient centers, ambulatory surgery centers and payer organizations. All members of AAPC agree to abide by the AAPC Code of Ethics, which ensures high levels of professionalism, integrity, and ethical behavior.

Certifications
AAPC offers the gold standard in outpatient medical coding industry credentials:

• Certified Professional Coder® (CPC®)
• Certified Professional Coder-Hospital® (CPC-H®)
• Certified Professional Coder-Payer® (CPC-P®)
• Certified Professional Medical Auditor® (CPMA®)
• Certified Professional Compliance Officer® (CPCO®)
• Certified Interventional Radiology Cardiovascular Coder™ (CIRCC™)
• Certified Physician Practice Manager® (CPPM®)
• 20+ Specialty Credentials

AAPC's CPC® certification credentials is the most recognized credential in the industry. Currently 86000 medical coders are certified through AAPC — more than any other organization in the country. Part of ongoing certification through AAPC is adhering to the most rigorous CEU requirements in the country. We support 500+ local chapters nationally. These local chapters provide a forum for members to meet to discuss coding issues, network, and earn low-cost CEUs. No other professional coding organization provides this level of networking opportunities to its members.

State law in Hawaii requires that auditors hold an AHIMA or AAPC credential. In most government documents, however, “certified coder” is the requirement, without further explanation. For example, according to CMS, RACs are expected to hire “certified coders.”

National Advisory Board (NAB)
The role of the AAPC’s National Advisory Board (NAB) is to advise AAPC leadership and is comprised of 20 AAPC-appointed members who serve a two-year term. Cyndi Stewart, is the 2011-13 president. The NAB works with the national office for the betterment of the entire membership and the medical coding community through active participation in nationally sponsored conferences, events, publications, educational programs, and activities.

AAPC Chapter Association (AAPCCA)
The AAPC Chapter Association is a non-profit organization within AAPC that leads the 500+ local chapters througout the nation. Every AAPC member is automatically part of a local chapter, which provides leadership and education opportunities for members.

The AAPCCA has a voting board consisting of 16 coders from across the country and one AAPC liaison. The AAPCCA Board of Directors was organized in 2007 with the advent of the AAPCCA and board members serve for 3 year terms. Independent of the AAPC national office, the AAPCCA Board of Directors works in tandem with AAPC local chapter leaders to support their strategic initiatives and programs.

Code of Ethics
As part of the membership agreement, every professional coder must agree to uphold the highest standard of professional coding and billing services to employers, clients and patients. Professional and personal behavior of AAPC members must be exemplary. Adherence to AAPC’s standards and its Code of Ethics assures public confidence in the integrity and service of professional coders who are members of AAPC.

AAPC takes its Code of Ethics very seriously. Code violators may lose their credentials and membership with AAPC.