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CEU policies

CEU policies

Overview

  • CEUs must come from the AAPC Approved CEU Vendor List.

  • CEUs may only be earned once per course, class, workshop, or other learning experience, regardless of how many times each one is completed.

  • CEUs must be earned and submitted within your two-year renewal period. Excess CEUs do not carry over to the next renewal period.

  • CEUs earned within your renewal month can apply to either the current submission or the next

  • CEUs are counted based on the date of completion.

  • Please note that AAPC will charge a $50 fee for CEU extensions. To avoid this fee, please stay current on your CEUs and submit them on time. If a CEU extension is needed at the end of your renewal period, please purchase directly from your CEU Tracker.

  • Twenty-five percent of all CEU submissions will continue to be randomly selected for verification. Members should upload their CEU certificates into their tracker.

    • 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.

  • CEUs earned prior to certification will not be accepted.

CEU Ethics Policy

It is required that all certified members complete their own education to stay up to date on industry changes.

The below list contains examples of CEUs that should not be shared:

  • Index numbers should not be shared, under any circumstances – contact AAPC or the vendor directly for issues with index numbers

  • Certificates of completion of any kind

  • Answers to quizzes, including but not limited to:

    • AAPC the Magazine

    • Webinar post-tests

  • Links to outdated AAPC the Magazine quizzes (formerly Coding Edge or Cutting Edge

    • Quizzes are only available for 12 months from publish date, afterwards they are considered too old

  • Local chapter officer quizzes – Exclusive to chapter officers only

  • Links to any AAPC education that is limited to the purchaser, including but not limited to:

    • Webinars

    • Workshops

    • HEALTHCON sessions

  • Outdated free quarterly webinars

    • Once they’ve been removed from the website, they are no longer eligible for CEUs

  • Non-AAPC education that is limited to the purchaser

As outlined in the Code of Ethics, Integrity is a key element of what every profession considers appropriate ethical behavior. AAPC reserves the right to submit member accounts to the Ethics Committee if we feel false CEUs are being submitted. The end result may include revocation of credentials and membership.

CEU Specialty Policy

CEU requirements for those that hold AAPC specialty credentials:

Members who hold both a Core credential (CPC, COC, CPC-P, CPB, CIC, CRC, CDEO, CPMA, or CPCO credential) and one or more Specialty credentials can apply earned, pre-approved Specialty CEUs to their Core credential CEU requirements. AAPC is approving this because Specialty approved CEUs are also approved for Core credentials. This should save members time and money in the future. Details include:

  • Specialty CEUs can be applied to Core credentials; Core CEUs cannot be applied to Specialty credentials unless they are specialty approved.

    • Specialty CEUs applied to the CPMA, CPCO or CDEO must be pre-approved for both the Specialty and CPMA, CPCO or CDEO credentials, respectively.

    • The member is still required to meet the 16 required CEUs relative to and pre-approved for the CPMA, CPCO and CDEO credentials.

  • Core CEUs cannot be applied to multiple Core credentials.

  • Specialty CEUs cannot be used simultaneously toward another Specialty credential CEU requirement.

  • There is a minimum requirement of 36 education hours required for any combination of credentials held.

  • Total CEUs due (every 2 years) remain the same as in the current policy.