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Wiki CPC exam- TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

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Hey, i'm preparing for the CPC exam and just curious as to how some of you passed. Did you have certain techniques and flag your books a certain way? Also, if you had to retake the exam were you given the same exam or a completely new exam? Thanks in advance :)
 
Look through the questions and find the what I called the basic questions (not the scenario coding questions) and do them first. My first time I ran out of time because I started with question 1 so 3-4 weeks later retook and had no problems with time running out and passed it. Good Luck
 
Good luck on the CPC exam! The strategy I used for the exam was to go through the test and answer all of the easy questions first to build confidence. You are only allowed so much time to finish the test, and you do not want to leave potentially easy questions unanswered because you spent too much time on more difficult questions.

Marking off incorrect answers as you read each question helps as well - often it is the 5th digit of a diagnosis which is wrong and you can therefore eliminate that answer from the list of choices.

Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam and eat a good breakfast. I took some snacks with me that I could eat quietly during the exam - nobody wants their concentration broken by someone opening individually wrapped candy or crunching on pretzels or other "loud" food! Be careful about drinking too much fluid. You are allowed to take a bathroom break, but that leaves less time to finish the test.
 
1 Start from the back of the Test from #150 then to question #1, because the short questions are in the Back and you'll go faster beacause they are usually easier (IMO)

2 Look for the diagnosis 1st because you can eliminate the wrong answers faster when coding Op-Notes

3 The most stated tip "dont spend too much time on one question"
 
Get a good nights rest, eat breakfast, bring quiet snacks, water/drinks, take short breaks!! Its a long test.

Also, read the answers first then read the question. This way when you are reading the question you have an idea of the potential answers. It will save you some time! You will not be reading the questions, reading the answers and then going back and rereading the question.

Good Luck!
 
I flagged both my CPT and ICD-9 manual with the thicker tabs. I also had all my notes and highlights in each section written in print so I could clearly read my notes.

I used practice exams, and also practiced timing myself for the test.

On the testing day I brought ear plugs (you might not need them) but sometimes the A/C ect can be noisy. I had plenty of extra pencils, a pencil sharpener, and also a ruler to use as a place holder if I had to switch from book to book.

Bring in something to drink and snack on, just make it a quiet snack and remember if you drink too much you'll have excess bathroom trips.

Good Luck!
 
I marked all my answers on the answer sheet AND in the test booklet (you can write in your test booklet - it gets sealed up & turned in to the proctors when you are finished). That way if I got "off" on my answer sheet due to skipping questions, I could quickly look in my book for the correct answers to get my answer sheet back on track. It would be a major bummer to get "off" on the answer sheet and have to rethink all those questions.

In case you didn't know, you get a test booklet & a fill-in-the-bubble answer sheet.
 
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Studying for CPC exam June 14th

Studying for the CPC exam and getting really anxious. Does anyone have suggestions for tabbing books, purchasing practice exams, etc. Is anyone familiar with CCO.org and is this worth investing in? Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated. Have an awesome weekend!
 
Strictly follow these rules to avoid time waste on exam hall

Here my 17 suggestions to manage your time while giving exam

1) Skip the index and go straight to the tabular to look up the four options that you are given
2) When guessing make an educated one. Ex: If you are in the musculoskeletal section (20000 codes) your answer will likely have a 20000 code listed
3) A lot of the correct answers have codes that are repeated in at least two of the options with only a slight variation (Ex: Option A and B may be identical except A has a modifier and B does not)
4) Answer the easiest, shortest questions first ? this gives you the experience of succeeding and stimulates associations.
5) Read each question carefully. Note such words in the question as "not, except, most, least and greatest." These words are often crucial in determining the correct answer. However there are no "trick" questions on the exam, so don't worry about hidden words or meanings.
6) Answer every question. If you do not know the right answer, eliminate as many wrong answers as possible, then select among the remaining answers. If you don't have a clue ? guess. A guess is better than a blank response.
7) As far as looking at the answers first....what I did was read the question, then look up each answer that was already given. That helps to narrow down the search by being able to eliminate answers right away. Also, some questions have the multiple CPT's/ICD-9 codes. It is best if you mark out the ones that show in each answer (because obviously they are right) that way you can focus on what is left.
8) If there are ICD-9 that go along with the answers, you can eliminate answers that way as well. That will save you time because you don't even need to review the CPT's if you can eliminate 3 of 4 answers or even 2of 4.
9) Start in the back of the book. The questions are Shorter and gives you more Time to tackle the hard ones
10) do the easy questions first
if you don't know it skip it & come back to it. (mark it with a x or a circle ON THE BOOKLET not the bubble sheet)
you have 45 questions to get wrong-if your stuck on one, suck it up and count it as one of the 45
make sure you are always filling in the bubble for the question number you are answering (when jumping around it gets difficult to keep track, just make sure you are)
11) Go straight to the answer in your book don't look it up through index, will kill your time. your 4 answers are there, pick best one. (*THIS IS ONLY FOR THE TEST, WHEN CODING FOR A JOB LOOK UP INDEX AND CODES TO SEE)
12) answer the easy one first save the hard ones for last...Also go straight to the code and beside each one write the differences between the codes.
13) don't spend a lot of time on one question. Keep moving. If you can do that you'll be fine
14) It helps to divide your exam in to sections when taking it.

I did . . .
1. Medical terminology first (my strongest subject)
2. HCPCS second
3. ICD-9 CM third
4. CPT last & went in order (weakest subject)
15) I heard had circled their answers in their test booklet first & then filled in their bubble sheet. This is a good way, if you're confident that you can finish in time.
16) Do not panic. Do not waste time on difficult ones which means you need to finish the simple ones first and as quick as possible.
17) try to attend the sections in which your good and try to save as much as time in these sections, in case if your running short of time then mark any one option
 
I'm not a fan of the e-books, for this reason: the printed books have tons of information... illustrations, tables, appendixes, glossaries, etc. Familiarize yourself with all of that information and where to find it, because not all of the questions are about codes.

And remember that this is multiple choice, so the correct answer is right in front of you. Use your critical thinking skills to determine which answer is correct by using the process of elimination.
 
Pam Warren said:
I'm not a fan of the e-books, for this reason: the printed books have tons of information... illustrations, tables, appendixes, glossaries, etc. Familiarize yourself with all of that information and where to find it, because not all of the questions are about codes.

And remember that this is multiple choice, so the correct answer is right in front of you. Use your critical thinking skills to determine which answer is correct by using the process of elimination.
Click to expand...

Oh, I loved using the eBooks on my last few exams!

The eBooks contain the exact same pages and references as the print book. All the illustrations and appendices seemed identical to me.

(It’s kind of like the electronic version of AAPC the Magazine vs. the print or PDF version. The pages are the same and in the same order - there are just a few extra features with the electronic version.)

I find it helpful that you can click on things in the eBook too. For example, if you find something in the Alphabetic Index, you can click on the alphabetic index entry to jump directly to the page in the Tabular List. (Of course, someone could still flip through page by page if they preferred.)

Contempo Coding has a walkthrough video of the ICD-10 eBook. It was recorded in 2024, but the navigation is still essentially the same. Around the 6:20 mark, she shows the anatomical illustrations




That said, if someone relies heavily on handwritten notes in the print books, switching to eBooks might take some adjustment, since you’ll be working from a clean, unmarked version during the exam.

Personally, I’ve never been one to write much in my books, so I didn’t miss that at all. (I didn't even write in my books for my CPC exam. At the time, I didn't even know it was an option!)

For me, being able to zoom in and view everything clearly on screen was a great tradeoff. When I use print books now, I sometimes catch myself using my phone flashlight or camera to brighten or zoom in anyway… the joys of aging and having to wear bifocals 😊
 
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