I am preparing for my CPC exam next month and have purchased new books (2025). My question is this: how do I go about transferring notes from my old books to my new books? I know I can't have sticky notes or anything stuck in the pages, which is fine, but I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to move all my highlights and helpful notes to the new books. Any advice on how to do this effectively is welcome!
-
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ & read the forum rules. To view all forums, post or create a new thread, you must be an AAPC Member. If you are a member and have already registered for member area and forum access, you can log in by clicking here. If you've forgotten your username or password use our password reminder tool. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below..
Wiki updating books
- Thread starter heathergdavies@yahoo.com
- Start date
In my opinion, this is a great opportunity to review which notes are actually worth transferring to your new code books.
It’s really common for people to over-highlight and over-notate their books, especially early on. But too many notes can slow you down during the exam - it takes longer to scan through a cluttered page when you're under pressure.
Think back to when you first added notes to your old set. You were likely still learning the material, and some of those notes may have helped cement the knowledge just by writing it down. You might not need to carry all of them over now that you're more familiar with the material.
Take this time to be selective and transfer only the notes that still feel genuinely helpful. Less can be more when it comes to exam-day efficiency.
Thanks, that will help me weed out and pare down some of my notes. It's still overwhelming going through my books page by page though. Do experienced coders still transfer notes to new books year after year? How do you manage to do it when your books are more than 1200 pages?
amyjph
True Blue
I think at this point most of us probably don't use hard copy books anymore. It is so antiquated. We use coding programs like Encoder, Codify, 3M, etc. I haven't opened an ICD-10, HCPCS, or CPT book in years except maybe once or twice. The only time was to take an exam 6 years ago when they were still on paper.
Many folks that are experienced and working in the same specialty or subspecialty for years also have a lot memorized.
I still receive physical books for work - we’re provided both the books and access to an encoder. That said, I don’t mark them up.
When I took the CPC in 2018, I didn’t add any notes to my books at all. It honestly didn’t even occur to me at the time, since I wasn’t involved in any coding forums or Facebook groups back then. After I passed, I joined a few online communities and saw everyone stressing about what notes to write in their books. I started to wonder if I had made a mistake by not marking mine. (Though since I passed on the first try, not marking my books didn't seem to be a problem.)
For my second credential (CRC in 2019), I followed the advice I saw in those forums and added tons of notes to my ICD-10-CM book. I filled up every blank surface just like people online recommended. I spent a lot of time carefully crafting what I thought were the “right” notes based on everyone’s suggestions… and then didn’t refer to them at all during the exam.
That was the one and only time I ever added extensive notes to my books.
When I took the CPC in 2018, I didn’t add any notes to my books at all. It honestly didn’t even occur to me at the time, since I wasn’t involved in any coding forums or Facebook groups back then. After I passed, I joined a few online communities and saw everyone stressing about what notes to write in their books. I started to wonder if I had made a mistake by not marking mine. (Though since I passed on the first try, not marking my books didn't seem to be a problem.)
For my second credential (CRC in 2019), I followed the advice I saw in those forums and added tons of notes to my ICD-10-CM book. I filled up every blank surface just like people online recommended. I spent a lot of time carefully crafting what I thought were the “right” notes based on everyone’s suggestions… and then didn’t refer to them at all during the exam.
That was the one and only time I ever added extensive notes to my books.
Pam Warren
True Blue
I still use books (and so does my team), because I'm not always 100% sure that what's in the encoders/software is precisely what the AMA has published and that's the tool that the AAPC expects you to use for the exam.
That having been said, notes in your book are fine, but the point of the exam is to ensure that you know how to find the correct answer. The best way to ensure that, without marking up your books with a lot of notes that may not help later (and waste your time in the process), is to ensure that you know the book's layouts. Knowing where to find information to validate the correct answers is the key to passing this exam. Did you know that Optum's version of HCPCS II has a glossary? That the AMA Professional version has a chart related to needle EMGs and how many studies to report for each body area? You do not need to memorize the codes. You need to know the rules for code assignment and where that information is written.
And think about how to find the 'right' answer. For example, one question on my COC exam asked me to identify where the axilla was located. I drew a blank, even though I absolutely knew this. I went to the back of the CPT book, looked it up, and went to one of the related CPT codes in the book, which identified it as not being any of the other three answers.
That having been said, notes in your book are fine, but the point of the exam is to ensure that you know how to find the correct answer. The best way to ensure that, without marking up your books with a lot of notes that may not help later (and waste your time in the process), is to ensure that you know the book's layouts. Knowing where to find information to validate the correct answers is the key to passing this exam. Did you know that Optum's version of HCPCS II has a glossary? That the AMA Professional version has a chart related to needle EMGs and how many studies to report for each body area? You do not need to memorize the codes. You need to know the rules for code assignment and where that information is written.
And think about how to find the 'right' answer. For example, one question on my COC exam asked me to identify where the axilla was located. I drew a blank, even though I absolutely knew this. I went to the back of the CPT book, looked it up, and went to one of the related CPT codes in the book, which identified it as not being any of the other three answers.