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bhamfred

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Hi, I saw an old post, from 2011 I think, that said the exam was 150 multiple choice. I'm wondering if that is still true. The website says the MAJORITY of the questions are multiple choice, and that the test taker will also need to audit apporximately 20 health care cases.
I'm wondering how that last part is accomplished on the exam.

Thank you for your help,

Michelle Brown, CPC
 
I took the CPMA exam in 2012 and the 20 health care cases to audit gives you 4 multiple choice answers. It was all multiple choice when I took the exam in June 2012.
 
If you click on "Certification" in the blue bar at the top, then click on CPMA, that page will give you the "Exam Breakdown". Under "Medical Record Auditing Abstraction" it currently says:

Audit Cases including:
•52 questions (24 audit cases)

You may have to score them on the auditing tool to find the answer from the choices given. If you know E/M well, you may be able to get the level on some without scoring the complete note. I took a bunch of audit sheets and had to turn them in with the exam.

Hope that helps.

Jen
 
Thanks, Jen. So it was multiple choice AND you had to turn in audit forms? Did they use the forms for grading your exam? I saw that we had to bring an audit tool with us for the exam but someone at AAPC said I could use a laminated one (for dry erase). She didn't say that I needed to turn in anything. So now I'm confused.

Michelle
 
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The whole test is multiple choice. If you use your audit sheets, AAPC wants you to hand them in at the end of the test. I've no idea why but it has nothing to do with grades. You are graded on your score for the 150 questions, as with all AAPC certifications.
 
Thank you so much for clarifying. That is kinda what I figured but I didn't want to assume anything. The NAMAS Audit tool that came with the study guide was a little wordy so I found another one online, printed it out and will laminate to use with dry erase markers instead of going through loads of paper. My employer uses different "tools" for our coding and auditing so it is quite a challenge to learn a new one. I've got until September so I think I've got time to retrain my brain. :)
 
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They want you to turn any used audit sheets in so that you cannot take test answers out with you. If your exam allows scratch paper, they want that turned in as well. They don't use any of it for grading - that's just from the answer sheet, which gets scanned into a computer.

If you use a dry erase laminated audit tool, you can just wipe it clean at the end and keep it.

(I didn't like the NAMAS tool, either - I took the one I use at work and put it in a plastic sheet protector.)
 
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I should have bought plastic sheet protectors! I was wrestling with the laminated pages last night and messed up badly. The directions don't seem to match the product! I think I'm going to take them back to Office Max and see if I can get one of the employees to do it for me or give me my money back...and get plastic sheet protectors! Great Idea! :)
 
I just sat for the CPMA last weekend and it was all multiple choice questions, the majority were questions about compliance and the other topics but the cases also had multi-choice coding like the CPC exam. I was given audit sheets to use and I brought my own; I did not need to hand in the audit sheets. Good Luck.
 
Does anyone know what we are allowed to take in for the exam other than audit sheets?

Thanks,
Mary Wells, CPC, RCC
 
You can take current icd-9, cpt, and hcpcs books. Also you can take the 1995 and 1997 guidelines and your own audit tool.

I just took my exam 2 weeks ago and passed. Yeah!!!!
 
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