Certified Physician Practice Manager (CPPM®)
Managing a physician’s office requires a wide range of skills. The responsibilities are broad and require detailed management of multiple processes, including the revenue cycle, compliance regulations, human resources, health information, and general business processes. Practice management can be a challenging yet rewarding profession. The Certified Physician Practice Manager (CPPM®) credential is a logical next step for those with strong experience in other areas of healthcare and are ready to advance their careers in physician practice management. Experienced practice managers will benefit from the broadened skillset and validation of their knowledge and experience in this skilled profession.
Certified CPPM's have demonstrated expertise in:
- Understanding of the various types of insurance plans
- Healthcare business process, workflow, and reform
- Fraud, abuse, and corporate compliance
- Quality in health care
- Medical office accounting, physician reimbursement, and revenue cycle management
- Human resource management
- Marketing and business relationships
- HIPAA and data security
- Health IT, EMRs, and health information exchange
The CPPM® Certification Exam
- 200 multiple choice questions (proctored)
- 5 hours and 40 minutes to finish the exam
- 1 free retake
- $350
- No References Allowed
The CPPM® exam thoroughly covers
- Types of Health Care Providers
- Medical Practice Staff
- Patient Visit Process
- Leadership
- Management
- Effective Communication
- Efficiencies
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
- Provision of Health Care Reform
- HITECH Act
- Accountable Care Organizations
- Fraud and Abuse
- Federal False Claims Act
- Corporate Integrity Agreements
- Compliance Plans
- Malpractice
- Stark Law
- Anti-kickback
- CLIA
- EMTALA
- OSHA
- Risk Management
- Quality Improvement
- Benchmarking
- Physician Quality Reporting System
- Plan, Do, Check, Act
- Analysis of Financial Reports Accounting Methods
- Budgeting
- Purchasing
- Chart of Accounts
- Accounts Payable
- General Principles of E/M Coding and Documentation (Will not be required to code on the exam)
- General Principles of Billing
- Types of Reimbursement
- Payment Polices
- Denials
- Code set principals
- Revenue Cycle Management
- Analysis of Revenue Cycle Management Reports
- Accounts Receivable
- Collections
- Denials Management
- Bad Debt Management
- Hiring and Termination Process
- Compensation and Benefits
- Labor Laws
- Employee Performance Evaluation
- Provider Credentialing
- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis
- Brand Development
- Patient Surveys
- Marketing Materials
- Relationships with Hospitals
- Purchasing and Negotiation Skills
- Workflow
- Scheduling
- Office triage
- Medical office design
- Covered Entities
- HIPAA Privacy
- Business Associates
- EMR Selection
- EMR Implementation
- Meaningful Use
- HITECH Act
- Electronic Data Interoperability
- Health Information Organization
- E-Prescribing
- Telemedicine
- Patient Monitoring Devices
- Clinical Decision Support
- Disaster Recovery Planning
- Precautionary Measures
- Policy and Procedures for Disaster Recovery
No manuals or references are allowed for the examination.
You may bring a stand-alone calculator. All other electronic devices with an on/off switch (cell phones, smart phones, tablets, etc.) are not allowed into the examination room. Failure to comply with this policy may result in disqualification of your exam.
- We recommend having an associate’s degree.
- Pay examination fee at the time of application submission.
- Maintain current membership with the AAPC.
- New members must submit membership payment with examination application.
- Renewing members must have a current membership at the time of submission and when exam results are released.
- All exams will be reported with exact scores and areas of study (65% or less).
Note:
Each examination is separate and distinct. To obtain all certifications, each examination must be taken separately and passed.
Continuing Education Unit (CEU) submissions are required for all certifications. For CEU requirements please see our CEU Information page.