Wiki Cpc Exam

zneal01

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I Have A Question If You Are Only Allowed To Miss So Many For Each Section Of The Cpc Exam Does That Not Mean You Can Only Miss 15 Questions On One Section Of The Exam And Fail? Or You Can Pass Two Sections And Miss 15-20 On One Section And Fail? Can Someone Tell Me How This Works? I Am Confused On How These Exams Are Graded! Someone Help! I Calculated 150 Questions And You Should Be Able To Miss 50 At The Most, But If Anyone Can Explain This Where I Have A Better Understanding Let Me Know.
 
I can't recall the percentage - but you have to pass EACH section individually by that percentage amount - and if you do not pass "one" section - you will automatically fail and have to re-take the whole complete test. (regardless if you passed the other two sections or not). I'll look up what the percentage for passing is when I get home :) unless someone else answers that part before then!
 
I just figured you are able to miss about 45 questions for the test. If it has to be equal in each section. That averages 15 questions per section. That's why on the test I didn't get all worried on some really hard questions. I kind of figured I could get by with missing them if I had too. I took my test on May 17th.
 
it is NOT equal to each section! they score each portion separately! In the example below, if I got 15 incorrect in the third section I'd fail the complete exam because I have to score 70% or better IN THAT SECTION which means I could only miss 12 or fewer questions IN THAT SECTION~even if I only had one wrong in the other two sections I'd fail the complete exam and need to retake it! It depends on how many questions are in each section. If there are 150 questions total on the CPC-H test:
50 first section - you need 70% of 50 to pass it
60 second section - you need 70% of 60 to pass it
40 third section - you need 70% of 40 to pass
that's ONLY IF it's 70% that you need in order to pass! Again, I'm not sure of the percentage needed, it states it right on the practice exams what is needed however (I don't have one in front of me right now) Frankly, I thought we needed at least 72% to pass) I'll have to double check tonight when I get home.
happy 4th!:)
 
yeah, I know it was for sure 50 questions the first section.That would equal 15 questions you could miss for a 70% in that section. I didn't remember for sure exactly how many questions were in the next sections. Give or take a few, and do the math from there. Good Luck, and don't stress!;)
 
According to my exam book the first section is 63% or 27 of the 43 questions.
The second section is 72% or 44 of the 60 questions and the last section is
60% or 28 of the 47 questions. Hopes this helps. Good Luck!!!!
kblevins
 
Exam Score Minimum

I thought the exam book was very misleading as far as the practice exam scores need to pass. From what I have been seeing on the website it seems you need 70% to pass, if this is the case then why would the exam prep book say you only need 63% in section 1, 72% in section 2, and 60% in section 3. If you have been practicing and mainting these scores but really tou need a minimum of 70% in each section you are being mislead. I would just say try to get 70% in each section to be safe.
 
BEST ADVICE I was given was go through and do at least 70% of each section...DOn't finish one then go to the next then finish that ETC..I watched people scramble as they did every question in the first few sections and then time was up ..THEY failed b/c they didn't get to the last section. JUst RElax skip over the harder ones ..DO at least 70% of each section..THEN go back.. I did this and was done 2 hours before everyone I was a mess wanted to change my info b/c no one else was done I kept quite...AND FEW WEEKS LATER I PASSSED... But has it not been for that advice i would have failed GOOD LUCK :D
 
I am taking my exam next Saturday and I'm sooo nervous and scared! I didn't buy the practice exam and now I wish I would have. If it wasn't so close to my date, I'd get it now but I don't think it would arrive in time. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!
 
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where do i sign up for retest for cpc h ?

i cant find out what sextions i did good or bad on, where do you go so i can sign up for test again ?
 
70% is the pass rate required. There is no grading of sections; 70% on entire test. Test is designed for about 2 minutes per question. Best advice, by far, I can give on taking the exam is to know how to quickly use the code books.
 
I believe they just recently changed the score requirements but are still using the exam practice with old rules in it.
 
what do you mean about exam practice

I am not sure what you mean about exam practice. And when you say they have changed the rules, do you mean that its 70% of the whole exam? Could you go into more specifics.:thank you.
 
Sure, I can only speak from my experience but I recently took the CPC on 6/19 and my final grade needed to be a 70% or higher to pass for the entire test. There are not three different scores or scores for each section. You will take the test and receive a final grade. Thank goodness I did pass with a 78%! Good luck to you!
 
Why stress on percentages

From what i can tell by reading here, seems everyone is concerned about failing rather than passing....re-route thy brain into thinking something more productive like what do i need to study to pass. Starting this year, I found out (through AAPC) you only need 70% on the whole test, so if you remember from school days that equals a "C" in most point systems. 150 questions leaves you to flunder quite a few questions and still pass!

As a suggestion, i would concentrate on knowing the ICD-9-CM guidelines forwards and backwards and possibly even take the time to x reference them into your tabular areas so when you see the diagnosis, you have a page number from the guidelines to refer to written somewhere next to the diagnosis so you can quickly look for any specific guidelines pertaining to the coding sequence or other guidelines to properly code that diagnosis. Be sure to know Late Effects, After care and Followup guidelines and how they are different and affect diagnosis selection. Brush up on Medical Terms prefixes and suffixes, know the modifiers and also in HCPCS Appendixes the acronyms probably.

For the CPT, the guidelines are at the beginning of each section. I would throughly understand Critical Care codes because that is an obvious ara that one would at least have one question from. Vaccinations on kids, well visits, etc. The AAPC has a list on their site that breaks down their exam by section. The AAPC also generously publishes a Study Guide and Online Practice Tests A, B, C to really help you pass the test. These resources are available to help reduce that anxiety we all have when we take the test. The resources acquain you wih their format and timing and give you the ammunition you need to develop a strategy to taking the test.

Now the real kick: You will be thankful that the AAPC was generous in preparing you for their test because employment tests, or yes there are those, are everywhere and I have taken a couple and have heard the horrors from others what they experienced taking those tests. The employment tests normally only let you miss the most of 2 questions or fail. Where I am employed we are tested every few months and must keep ourselves at 97% accuracy, especially after meetings. If we flunk, we are on probation. There has also been consideration that at our work us coders have to re-take the CPC or CCS every two years in order to keep our jobs. Now that is a scary! Especially when you are in specialty. Also, another thing I think the AAPC is doing now is this, you don't necessarily have to take the "umbrella" CPC test and then move on to a specialty certification any longer. The way I understand it, you just pay for the exam you want and take it. But check on this because I could very well be wrong.

I only hope that those who read this long post et some kind of help from it and it helps you discern the right direction to take and how to approach the CPC exam

Best Regards

P.S. I didn't give a hoot about what I got as long as it said "P-A-S-S" to the left of the page when I signed on! LOL But I was pleasantly surprised with my score and have no complaints. But "P-A-S-S" is all that matters!
 
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