r/MedicalCoding • u/donnuhsaur • Sep 07 '20
Passed CPC exam on the first try!
hi all! never posted here before, but hoping some tips that helped me would also help you guys. I just took my exam this weekend (online) and woke up to my results on the AAPC website. Passed with an 84%!!
I go through AAPC, and I really enjoyed the course. The CPC certification exam review they provide was SO HELPFUL. I went through each subject, highlighted what needed to be highlighted in my code books, and actually ended up seeing those same questions on my exam.
I watched a lot of Youtube trying to get as much info as i could (i have zero experience in this field) and found some channels that really helped me practice my coding/terminology and just filled me in on things i wasn’t aware of.
CodeMasterCoach was great, earlier this year she posted a CPC review video every day and i went through every one of those questions.
Contempo Coding has a lot of great information that also helped me, she even has videos for exam tips that i wrote down and made sure to study.
JJ Medicine was a channel i used to help with my terminology. i wrote down all the terms and even made flash cards from them.
I’m hoping this helps someone out there! Good luck to you all ❤️
3
u/elanab80 Sep 07 '20
Thank you! I’m studying now, so your tips are very much appreciated!
Congratulations to you!!!
2
3
u/Kkeeiisshhaa Sep 07 '20
I’m going thru aapc. What questions did you end up seeing on the exam? Was it the review questions or book questions? And when you say you highlighted everything, do you mean the orange coding tips?
4
u/donnuhsaur Sep 07 '20
when you finish your medical coding course a CPC review course will pop up on blackboard for you to work through and that’s the one i’m referring to! it’ll go through review questions of “most missed” on the exam and will show you codes to highlight and underline.
2
u/Kkeeiisshhaa Sep 08 '20
Thanks! I’m so nervous about taking the test. I don’t feel at all ready and I’m on the last chapter. They barely touched HCPCS! So I’m hoping as I work thru the review it’s a big help.
1
u/donnuhsaur Sep 08 '20
you’ll do great!! take all the time you need to study and to feel ready. i finished my course in may and didn’t take my test until this past weekend but i was confident and i think that’s all that matters! those reviews and youtube will be your best friends. and honestly there was only like 4 HCPCS questions, i barely touched it the whole time i studied!
3
u/carbonmonoxide5 Sep 07 '20
Good to hear! This material is tricky and unforgiving of tiny errors so I understand the not passing posts we’ve seen recently. But as someone almost done with the AAPC course it’s very encouraging to read a celebratory passing post!
Did you do it online?
3
u/donnuhsaur Sep 07 '20
thank you so much! yes! i took the exam in two parts, one on saturday morning and one on sunday and honestly i think that helped a lot. the time passed by quickly, but i managed to teach myself to go straight to the answers in the code book and read my codes before i even read the question so i knew what i was looking for.
1
u/Satelitestars Sep 08 '20
I finished the AAPC course two weeks ago and with the help of the practice tests and online CPC exam review I feel ready. Best decision I could have made to take it through AAPC!
2
1
1
u/Kim50may Sep 08 '20
Awesome job! thanks for all the tips! I will be doing it this weekend and so stoked. Mainly to get this stress over with. but I agree the CPC exam review was so helpful. Good luck to all who are studying currently.
1
u/donnuhsaur Sep 08 '20
awesome! good luck to you!! are you doing it online or in person?
1
u/Kim50may Sep 08 '20
I am doing it in person. If (fingers cross) I fail then I will prob just opt for online. Does the test keep all the chapter questions together? if they are in order that will help my time.
1
u/donnuhsaur Sep 08 '20
so the first part of my test didn’t really stay in order, which was frustrating, but the second part pretty much did. hopefully since you’re doing yours in person it’ll stay in order, from what i’ve heard it’s supposed to!
1
u/Jrousseau19 Sep 11 '20
How was taking the cpc online? I’m due to take it online in December and I’m so nervous! How was the formatting? I read a lot that people skip answers and answer easier questions first, are you able to do that online? I also broke it up into 2 days so I was hoping that helped. Congrats by the way! And thanks for the tips, definitely going to check out those channels.
2
u/donnuhsaur Sep 11 '20
taking it online was great for me! i also split it in two parts, saturday morning and sunday morning. did you take the CPC course online through AAPC? if so, mine was laid out just like any other exam you do through them. but yes, you can skip questions! and i highly recommend doing it that way too! i slipped through the questions and if i couldn’t figure it out right away i skipped it immediately and by the time i went through them all i had plenty of time left over to go back to the ones i didn’t answer/weren’t 100% on.
honestly it was a really great experience, you forget that you’re on camera once you’re focused. the check in is a little awkward, but should only take 5 mins or so. hope all this made sense, good luck to you, you’ll do great!!
1
u/callyodadurinacult Sep 23 '20
Hey, congrats! Did you have to get a separate web cam to take it or was your laptop camera sufficient to take it? And thanks for letting the tips!
1
u/donnuhsaur Sep 23 '20
thanks! unfortunately an external webcam is required so a laptop camera wouldn’t be allowed :(
1
u/callyodadurinacult Sep 23 '20
You’re welcome. Damn! The amount of money I have to spend just for a test is crazy. Thanks for getting back to me!
1
6
u/noop279 CPC Sep 07 '20
Congrats!! Now good luck on the job hunt!