CEU Information - Members

CEUs Required to Maintain Credential(s)

Core Educational Content
CEUs must be comprised primarily of core educational content (Curriculum A) to show competency. Curriculum A is something that AAPC credentialed members do at the core of their day-to-day practice. As such, APPROVED Curriculum A CEUs must comprise no less than 66% (2/3) of the total CEUs earned per CEU period.

Related educational content (Curriculum B), includes professional self improvement and topics not core to a member’s certification. As a result, APPROVED Curriculum B can comprise no more than 33% (1/3) of the total CEUs earned per year. For example, if one core credential is held, 12 of the 36 total CEUs due every two years may be from Curriculum B.

Noted Exception: As the topics under Curriculum B are core responsibilities of a practice management, these limitations are not enforced for the CPPM® certification.

Healthcare Business Monthly
AAPC offers 1.0 CEU for completing the test in each Healthcare Business Monthly, for a total of 12 CEUs per year.

Note: CEUs earned from the Healthcare Business Monthly issues are counted based on the issue date, not the date of completion.

CEU policies apply to the year in which the CEUs are earned, not submitted. Because CEUs can be earned over the course of two years, it is likely that multiple CEU policies may need to be followed. Please follow the guidelines, as specified in the year the CEU is earned, to ensure that your CEUs will be accepted.

CEUs must be earned and submitted within your two-year renewal period. Excess CEUs do not carry over to the next renewal period. AAPC awards all CEUs based on completion date except for Healthcare Business Monthly Test Yourself quizzes, which are awarded based on publication date.

Effective April 30, 2012, AAPC will charge a $50 CEU extension fee. All CEUs must still be earned within your two-year renewal period; the CEU extension will only allow more time to submit them. If a CEU extension is needed at the end of your renewal period, please contact AAPC to purchase your extension. To avoid this extension fee, stay current on your CEUs and submit them on time.

If the CEU tracker does not recognize an approved index number, submit the information using the option indicating no index number.

Twenty-five percent of all CEU submissions will continue to be randomly selected for verification. Members should maintain their CEU certificates on file for at least six months beyond their renewal date so the evidence is on hand should he or she be selected for CEU verification.

Effective October 1, 2012, pre-approved Specialty CEUs can be applied toward one Specialty and one Core credential concurrently. Click here for more details.

For more details about current CEU guidelines for member requests please click here.

For commonly asked questions about member requested CEU applications and the approval process please click here.

For members to apply for Curriculum B CEUs only click here.

Methods approved by AAPC for maintaining credentials:
AAPC accepts unaltered copies of the original PDF certificate. You will need to submit supporting documents ONLY if you are asked to. Keep your supporting documents for six months as AAPC may randomly select you for CEU verification.

If you are selected to submit your supporting CEU documentation please note that all certificates of approval must contain the index number (pre-approved by AAPC), name of sponsoring organization, title of program attended, number of CEUs approved, and date of program.

• Live Events including Seminars, Workshops, Audios, Teleconferences, Live Web-based Trainings, Courses
  • Submit an unaltered copy of the original PDF certificate of completion with required index number
• Recorded Products
• Successfully complete the required post-test. Submit an unaltered copy of the original PDF certificate of completion with required index number
• Local Chapter Meetings
  • Submit one certificate of attendance for each pre-approved meeting (certificates are available and assigned catalog numbers at chapter meetings). When submitting certificates to AAPC’s national office, include catalog number and synopsis of information learned
• Self Study Online Education/Distance Learning Courses
  • Successfully complete the required post-test. Submit an unaltered copy of the original PDF certificate of completion with required index number
• Educational Publications/Self Study Guides
  Please view the AAPC CEU Policy for the year the publication was written. The guidelines for each year are explained and will be honored for CEUs earned in that year. CEU policies apply to the year in which the CEUs are earned, not submitted
  • Educational Publications
    • Submit an unaltered copy of the original PDF certificate of completion with required index number
• Newsletters/Magazines
  
  • Successfully complete the publishers required post-test. Submit an unaltered copy of the original PDF certificate of completion with required index number

Healthcare Business Monthly

AAPC offers 1.0 CEU for completing the test in each Healthcare Business Monthly for a total of 12 CEUs per year.

Note: CEUs earned from the Healthcare Business Monthly issues are counted based on the issue date, not the date of completion.

Authorship CEUs

• CEUs are offered to people who are not employed/contracted with the publication (Healthcare Business Monthly) and who are not being paid for the work performed
• CEUs are awarded to authors of articles published in the Healthcare Business Monthly, regardless of general/specialty orientation

Our membership relies on authors of the Healthcare Business Monthly to be the most knowledgeable professionals in the industry.

• To be considered as an author for Healthcare Business Monthly, submit the entire article, proofed and ready for publication, to AAPC
• Authors will be notified via email whether or not their articles are selected for publication
• Authors will be notified in which Healthcare Business Monthly issues their articles will be published
• Authors will receive a CEU certificate after the article is published

CEUs will be awarded according to a word count of the final polished article. Word count increments are as follows:

• 500 - 999 words = 0.5 CEU
• 1000 - 1999 words = 1 CEU
• 2000 words plus = 1.5 CEUs

No more than 1.5 CEUs can be awarded for a single article. Word count considers only your own curriculum, not links to source documents that can be accessed from the article.

• CEUs are awarded in 0.5 increments
• An article awarded 1.5 CEUs can be split equally between 3 authors
• An article earning 1 CEU can be split equally between 2 authors

Guidelines for submitting Authorship CEUs on the CEU Tracker:

• No more than a total of 4 authorship CEUs may be applied to a member during a single year
• No more than a total of 6 authorship CEUs may be applied to a member over the two-year renewal period

What will make your article stand out from the rest?

• Pick a topic in which you have expertise.
• Narrow the topic so that you can cover it well in the space allowed. For example, instead of writing about “Coding Obstetrics” consider narrowing down the topic to “Ultrasound and Medical Necessity in Pregnancy.” That way, you can cover it thoroughly.
• Remember our readers live across the country. Refrain from focusing on local coverage issues or concerns.
• Read your Healthcare Business Monthly regularly so you know what’s already been covered and can get a feel for what sort of topics are selected.
• Keep your sentences short and use your spellcheck. Have a coworker review your work for clinical accuracy.
• Cite your sources and quote experts in the field in your article to give it a professional edge.

Clock hours/Credit hours for post secondary education
If a student has an AAPC certification, AAPC will accept as CEUs time spent in post-secondary education programs, including diploma and degree-granting programs that relate to health care, health care business, health care finance and health care management. Each CEU is earned based on transcripts showing the “clock hours” or “credit hours.” Clock hour CEUs are earned at the rate of 1 CEU per clock hour. Credit hours are earned at a rate of 10 CEUs per credit hour. In either case, the maximum number of CEUs that can be earned in this manner is 40 hours per year.

AAPC accepts CMEs for CEUs and CEUs from AHIMA and CMS

AHIMA CEUs
We offer CEU-for-CEU credit for all AHIMA audio conferences and workshops. We also honor CEUs from AHIMA for online self assessments. A certificate of attendance or completion is necessary to show participation. One hour of instruction is worth one CEU. AHIMA CEUs are accepted from programs sponsored by AHIMA national offices and the state AHIMA branches.

The AAPC does not accept CEUs from other entities that offer “AHIMA approved” CEUs. These organizations must apply separately for AAPC CEUs and receive an AAPC index number and CEU value.

CMS CEUs
CEUs for CMS-sponsored webinars and workshops are accepted by AAPC at a rate of one CEU per hour. These CEUs may come from CMS national or MAC offices. A certificate of attendance or completion with the CMS logo is necessary to show participation.

*CMS National Provider Conference Calls
If you have attended or are planning to attend one of CMS’ National Provider Conference Calls, you should be aware that CMS does not provide certificates of attendance for these calls. Instead, the AAPC will accept your emailed confirmation and call description as proof of participation.

CMEs and AMA PRA Category 1 credits for CEUs
AAPC will honor 1-for-1 CEUs for any live event offering CME credit or AMA PRA Category 1 credit. A certificate of attendance or completion is necessary to show participation. The certificate will give the total CMEs possible for the offering. Physicians are advised to claim only the actual hours that they were present during the education. We ask that AAPC-certified members abide by this request also. One hour of instruction is worth one CEU.

AAPC Approved CEU Vendor List

Pay membership every year and submit your CEUs online via the CEU Tracker every other year.

CEUs are reported every two years on or before your membership due date. You must pay your dues every year, even on a year when you are not required to report CEUs. The year that your CEUs are due is based on the month of your membership:

Submit your completed CEU Tracker. Send supporting documents ONLY if you are asked to send them.

To report your CEUs, access your CEU Tracker and submit it online to AAPC. If the CEU tracker does not recognize an approved index number, submit the information using the option indicating no index number. You will need to submit supporting documents ONLY if you are asked to. Keep your supporting documents for six months as AAPC may randomly select you for CEU verification.

If you are selected to submit your supporting CEU documentation please note that all certificates of approval must contain the index number (pre-approved by AAPC), name of sponsoring organization, title of program attended, name of speaker, number of CEUs approved and date of program.

Maintain a copy of the CEU certificate for your records. Be sure to use the CEU Tracker to easily keep track of your CEUs.

Certificates
AAPC accepts unaltered copies of the original PDFs. Exceptions include the name of the participant, the date of the event and the index or catalog number if these items are not printed on the certificate in advance. Please do not alter these certificates in any other way.