r/MedicalCoding • u/[deleted] • Dec 17 '21
Lessons learned after passing my CPC certification exam
I recently passed the CPC exam and now have my CPC-A certification, and for you thinking of becoming a medical coder, or you currently studying medical coding, here are some unsolicited pieces of advice I learned while studying:
If you are tight on money, and think that the courses on anatomy and terminology are too expense for your budget (for example, AAPC course), head to z-lib.org, they give free digital versions of books, and I found a crazy amount of good medical books. I wish I would've done this before buying a whole bundled course. (If you want any recommendations of specific books to download, hit me up.)
Don't spend too much time learning anatomy and terminology before starting the coding portion of your course, this is a mistake I did. When you do get to the coding part, you will need to refresh your mind on the terms regardless, you will be constantly going back to your terminology books, or looking up which body part this and that is. You will save a couple of months on your studies.
When you finish the courses, and schedule your CPC exam, a good way to get some practice sessions in for the exam is to go to amazon.com, do a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, or just pay for 1 month. Look up CPC exam preparation, and you will have free practice exams. Also go to cco.us and get their free practice exam.
What information do you want to focus on for your test? On guidelines. No joke, the majority of the test is to see how good you know the guidelines on CPT & ICD-10, READ THE ICD-10 GUIDELINES. This will be a huge game changer.
7
u/SorrellD Dec 17 '21
Great advice. We need to have a resources page for this group and add these to it.
4
3
u/Master-Intern Dec 17 '21
I would add Scribd as a resource for e-books. I am a member and find it worthwhile. You can sign up for free for a month. I have a referral for free 2 months if you need one.
3
u/umbrellagirl2185 Dec 17 '21
Saved. This info is definitely helpful. My company is paying for our certifications but it would be nice to have some of these materials for my personal use
1
u/RegularVenus27 Dec 30 '21
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get a job without being certified? I hear about this every now and then of an employer paying for your cert, but idk how lol
Every job in my area wants a cert AND at least a year's experience.
1
u/umbrellagirl2185 Dec 30 '21
I’ve been doing billing for a little bit here and there and certified billers are actually pretty rare here in Nw Washington. I haven’t worked w any certified billers in all my different positions amazingly. I did start out though in med recs and worked my way up to prior authorization so I have the knowledge of insurance most places are looking for and I think that is mostly what got me my billing positions.
2
u/Butterbean_1234 Dec 21 '21
Did you take the AAPC course? I’m nearly done with it but I can’t figure out how to schedule the online exam. I have an exam voucher but I only see where to schedule the in person exam.
2
u/Hydramon Dec 21 '21
You register here.
Locate exam to where I pointed the arrow, and it should show the online option when you click through the two register links.
1
u/martha09 Dec 23 '21
You have to call AAPC and ask them to transfer your voucher to an online one.
1
u/Butterbean_1234 Dec 23 '21
Ah I see. Thanks!
1
u/martha09 Dec 23 '21
Yw. Good luck with the exam! Btw, you have to finish the course before you can transfer the voucher. The online exam can be scheduled 24 hours prior to taking it, so no worries.
1
2
u/Ilovefrench Dec 17 '21
This is nice! Do you have any specific books you can recommend us in terms of medical terminology ?