Wiki Failed CPC three times... what am I doing wrong???

[Jessnichole87]

Hello, I have taken the CPC three times now. I keep failing only by a few points. I just started my first coding job last June (Dx codes only) and I need this certification. I will take it again, but I am so embarrassed I keep failing.

Please give me any and all advice you have and how many times did it take you to pass it. I believe my problem is time management. I am so slow sometimes to find the answer. If the test was not timed, I have no doubts I would have already passed it. Is this normal for this to happen?? I feel so defeated. Please help.

 

[iowagirl77]

Are you running out of time and just selecting any answer at the end? I'd note the most difficult ones to come back to towards the end if they take a lot of time to research. They're all worth the same amount of points so focus on the ones you can answer quickly and correctly. If there are certain specialties you're having a hard time with, study up on those. If you're spending a lot of time researching the rules/guidelines at the beginning of the CPT book, become familiar with them so you're not spending time researching them. If you have access to practice tests, take those at home with a timer so you can see how long you're actually spending on each question- time goes by faster than we think. I passed the first time, but I know some people do take it multiple times before passing. If you're within just a few questions of passing, I'll bet you'll get it this time!

 

[kdlberg]

That is super frustrating!

I go through and any question I can answer immediately, I answer. If I think I can look it up quickly, I look it up and answer it.

If I can eliminate 2 (of 4) answer choices, I will choose one but note the question so I can come back later. If I look at it and go "huh?" I skip it.

If I still have time left, I first review the "guess" questions. If I've managed to narrow it down, then I might only have a couple of things to look up before I get to the answer. Then I address the "huh?" questions. That should be my smallest group, so even if I don't get through all of them, they were questions I should, in theory, still have enough correct/good guesses to pass.

Best of luck to you.

 

[sessy15]

Hello, I have taken the CPC three times now. I keep failing only by a few points. I just started my first coding job last June (Dx codes only) and I need this certification. I will take it again, but I am so embarrassed I keep failing.

Please give me any and all advice you have and how many times did it take you to pass it. I believe my problem is time management. I am so slow sometimes to find the answer. If the test was not timed, I have no doubts I would have already passed it. Is this normal for this to happen?? I feel so defeated. Please help.

Don't get discouraged. I took it 5 times. I found when I finally succeeded on it, I started from the back of the exam and went forward. I had taken, ran out of time on previous ones. I found the "easier" one's were in the back of the exam. Process of elimination and make alot of extra notes in your coding books in the topics you were struggling on. Utilize the book and even make a cheat sheet in the front of the book an use alot of tabs on the book so that you can just jump into that section quicker.