Wiki CPC certification now or later

[Determined1]

I have been working as a medical coder for a little over a year now. I want to get my CPC certification but with ICD 10 coming out in a couple weeks should I just wait and take the exam after the first of the year. I would only have to pay for one test that way (I wouldn't have to take the ICD 10 Proficiency test) but I feel like I know a lot of ICD 9 codes without looking them up. My job does not require certification and they are not pushing me but I would get a raise.....
Please... Any Advice would be much appreciated!!

 

[apoland]

In my personal opinion I would try to test now with ICD 9 and then take the ICD 10 proficiency class. I took my CPC exam on Saturday, hopefully I passed and then I will complete the ICD-10 proficiency at my own pace.

Good luck either way!!

 

[CodingKing]

Everyone I've talked to, even those with nothing to gain financially by pushing it, say do not wait until 2016 to test as it will be much tougher to pass. I was going to take my time and test in 2016 since my online course gives one year to complete. I was told its a bad idea so now i'm scrambling to pass by November or December even though i'm way behind (just started the CPT chapters).

The I10 proficiency exam is much less stressful than a real exam .as its unproctored and people pass with a ton of extra time since they can test at home and can use the resources they are comfortable with. Not the case if you wait until next year. I think its really the best time to get in to I10 as there are nowhere near as many I10 experts as there are in ICD-9. Its kind of like getting in on the ground floor opportunity of an emerging market.