Wiki new at cpc, i will take test october

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Keep taking the practice tests. When I tested, I had only had a week crash course. Don't know how I managed to pass, but I did. The practice tests helped me the most.
 
Buy The CPC Practice Exams

I failed the CPC exam TWICE before passing it the third time with a score of 80%. I purchased all three of the CPC practice tests, and finally nailed it!

Kathy:)
NRCMA, NRCCS, CPC-A
 
I just took the exam on Saturday and am waiting for the results. I feel that I passed so I hope my intuition in right. I purchased the study guide and practice exams but never had time to for the practive exams. I read the enitre study guide and did the chapter questions, reading the rationales for the ones I got wrong. Also it is ok to write notes in your CPT. And even though my CPT has indented tabs, I put my own tabs on it because it is faster to find and flip to. Tab things such as the vascular families or anything that may be helpful to you. The test is time sensitive with 5 hours and 40 minutes to complete, so anything you can do to eliminate page flipping and searching will only benefit you. I was told that no matter what, you will have 10 questions left when you run out of time. I didn't. I finished with a little time to spare. The advice I got and followed was: Eat something for breakfast. Do not drink coffee that morning or come with a starbucks. Not only will it make you have to use the restroom, you will also crash when you come off the caffeine. I never had to use the restroom. I had 3 sips of water all day. Do bring a few peppermint candies. I started to waver around 1:00 and popped a peppermint to perk me up, and also had gum with me. A lot of people also ate snacks. Unless you need it for your blood sugar level, etc. I wouldn't unless I was starving, and if you ate something for breakfast, you shouldn't be. Most of the people in the room were not finished when time was called. The gal next to me brought a starbucks and and food to eat, she was first one to get up for the bathroom and did not complete her test. Oh and also bring a yellow highlighter. While you read the questions abstract and highlight what you're really coding for easy reference when you look back at it. Oh and don't panic. If a question looks really long or intimidating, skip it and go back to it later. Each question has the same point value, whether it's long or short. I skipped 5 or 6 and had the last 1/2 hour to go back and figure them out and finished the test with 15 minutes remaining. I hope this helps. I know this advice helped me tremendously, and I hope I passed like I think I did..............take care, Karen
 
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CPC exam next month

:)Karen,

Thanks for the tips. I'll be taking the exam next month and I'm also practicing from the Official Study Guide and the "Step by Step Coding". This is my first try at the exam so I'm hoping to pass. I will make a note of these tips. Thanks a bunch !!!!!!!!!!!:)

Dean
 
I will be taking the exam for the first time on Saturday. I was one of the top students in my college class so I wasn't really worried about the exam until....I took a prep course last Saturday and found that the students who took the AAPC courses were so much better prepared. Their instructor had taught them subtlies about the codes that my professors, if they knew them didn't teach us. I've taken all of the practice exams and quite honestly, now I'm scared to death to show up on Saturday. I really don't want to have to take this test twice! Also, a friend of my who is a registered vet tech took the test several weeks ago and she said the CPC exam made her boards look like nothing! She passed I only hope that when results come in, I can say the same. Sue
 
Everybody is scared before they take it I think. I took the Billing & Coding Certificate program at my community college and did fine. I would guess to say the people who may have the hardest time is people who learn coding on the job without any formal instruction at all, but I could be wrong.
Another testing technique I forgot to mention is the process of elimination.
For example, out of the 4 answers to choose from, if you can quickly eliminate which E-codes are wrong, and cross off those answers, you can concentrate on or go straight to the right cpt code. Good luck!!
 
A few tips

1) Skip the index and go straight to the tabular to look up the four options that you are given

2) Skip long and difficult questions on the exam (and bubble sheet) and go back to them at the end if you have time.

3) When guessing make an educated one. Ex: If you are in the musculoskeletal section (20000 codes) your answer will likely have a 20000 code listed

4) Knowing some med term and anatomy can hepl you more than you think

5) A lot of the correct answers have codes that are repeated in at least two of the options with only a slight variation (Ex: Option A and B may be identical except A has a modifier and B does not)

6) 95% of the question have the answer some where in one of the manuals. Read your guidelines and know your modifiers!

7) Google "CPC practice exam", there are a lot of free and cheap practice out there and practice is the best way to study

Good luck to everyone preparing and congratulations to everyone who passed!
 
Yes, yes, yes to everything guru Kristy says. That is how you pass the first time. We can only study and remember so much. And as the proctor told us, it's not about how much we can remember, but that we know where to look for the information.
 
I agree with what Kristy said. Don't try to code it by searching the index. Go straight to the answers given and match them up that way. I finished my first time with 45 minutes to spare and passed with 86%, I think. Most of them seemed pretty straight forward. Once you looked at the choices you could see the differences between the possible choices and catch how they were trying to fool you :)

I read the question once, looked up the possible answers and then read the question a second time after reviewing the choices to confirm my understanding of it before moving on. I was so worried about time that I did this pretty quickly with each question and it worked out OK. Good luck.

And I did a lot of the practice exams to test myself on how quickly I could find the answer and move on to the next. It's not about KNOWING the answers. It ALL about FINDING the answers.
 
Great advice

I think another important thing to remember is that you are allowed to take the exam twice. No one wants to fail or have to take it a second time but don't work yourself up over the exam because you get that second chance. Try to have fun with it. I know that sounds nuts but keep a positive attitude. Tell yourself when you start that you are going to do the best you can and learn from taking the exam. Go over the A&P notes and terms so that they are fresh for you. These were easy for me so find find what is easy for you and do that first on the exam.

Remember that guidelines are important. That is really what you are being tested on. Not looking up codes. The answers are given to you. You need to look for parenthetical notes surrounding the codes you are given under the subject you are testing on.

Keep positive and lighten up on yourself!
 
To All of you so willing to help, Thanks for alll the tips, I do appreciate it, what a kind bunch here!!!
 
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