Taking the CPMS® exam

Who should take the CPMS exam?

If you have a high-level knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, and pathophysiology, take advantage of the opportunity to showcase your expertise with the CPMS certification. Earning this credential can boost your earning potential and set you apart from uncertified candidates.

To ensure you're prepared to pass the exam the first time, we recommend taking the CPMS Training Course beforehand.

What to expect on exam day

The exam has a total of 40 questions and 3 case studies to work through in four hours. People often wonder if the CPMS exam is hard. We'll say this: If you have taken the training course, studied, and are familiar with the areas of knowledge you'll be tested on, the test will be demanding, but not difficult.

Here's a quick overview of what you can expect:

Before you begin the test, take a moment and breathe. You have prepared for this. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your expertise.

You'll have four hours to finish the exam, giving you approximately 5.6 minutes to answer each of the 40 multiple-choice questions and 3 case questions. You can save time by reading the answer choices before reading each question and by saving the more difficult questions for last. It’s important to answer every question, even if you aren’t sure. Your best guess is better than no answer at all.

The questions assess 7 areas of knowledge to test your understanding of medical terminology, anatomy, components of the medical record, and requirements of documentation to support services. The end of the exam has 3 cases that test your ability to scribe medical visits.

Passing grades

An overall score of 70% or higher is required to pass the certification exam. If you don’t pass, you will be notified of the categories/areas of study with sub-scores of 65% or less to help you prepare for retesting.

All AAPC certification exams exclusively measure proficiencies relating to the one credential named in the exam. To earn additional medical coding credentials, you will be required to pass additional certification exams.

Your results will be shared with you online in your My AAPC Account Dashboard under My Exams. You can expect the results within 7-10 business days after taking the exam. Once you have passed, your certificate will be sent to you in the mail.

Breakdown of the 40-question CPMS exam

The CPMS exam will test your ability to correctly identify the following domains:

Communication and compliance  (7 questions)

• Identify strategies for communicating crucial messages

• Demonstrate the ability to query providers

• Obtain a general understanding regarding fraud and abuse

• Apply HIPAA regulations, including patient privacy, administrative simplification, and security

Documentation (3 questions)

• Identify ancillary service clinical indicators

• Apply medical record and documentation requirements and regulations

• Identify and create the required elements of a medical record

• Apply documentation requirements in an electronic medical record

• Apply documentation requirements utilizing templates

• Identify the needs and goals of a medical record

• Explain the holistic, integrated, aggregate use of the medical record

• Identify improved patient outcomes based on documentation

• Demonstrate an understanding of the responsibilities of medical and clinical staff as it relates to documentation

• Identify timely completion requirements

• List common pitfalls of scribing

• List abbreviations on “Do not use” list

• Type at a given speed

• Accurately spell verbiage used in documentation

Medical terminology (7 questions)

• Recognize key terminology, abbreviations, and terms associated with selected conditions

Anatomy (9 questions)

• Understand and identify general anatomy

Quality measures (3 questions)

• Demonstrate an understanding of meaningful use

• Demonstrate an understanding of the Quality Payment Program

Revenue cycle (6 questions)

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of CPT^®, HCPCS Level II, and ICD-10-CM coding

• Explain the revenue cycle

Safety (5 questions)

• Demonstrate an understanding of scribe safety: infectious disease, sterile fields, blood borne pathogens

Cases (3 medical visits to scribe, 1 question each)