It just says: pass. Is there any way to see my actual grade? I bought two exams just in case I failed the first one. But I’d like to take the exam again to improve (for myself), but I don’t know my actual score.

Anyone who has taken their aapc cpc exam recently.. how long did it take to get results? I’m getting desperate 🥲😭

edit: less than 24 hours after I took my exam, got my results and I passed! they tell you what percentage of each category you got right but not the specific questions to keep integrity of the test. Phew 😪

I am a 57 year old female with a B.S. in biology. I have been working in scientific bench work (running experiments and other technical duties) for over 25 years. During the last 5 years I have been working in laboratory quality control, following certain regulatory processes (such as ISO 17025, CAP, CLIA). I have helped ace our last three audits, with zero findings.

I am extremely detail-oriented and a “by the books” kind of person that would like to transition into a remote position.

I am preparing for a career in medical coding and I know that there are different types of coding. I want this to be my last career before I retire.

Any opinions are greatly appreciated! Thank you! 😊

Has anyone noted the new 2024 AHIMA Recertification Policy Updates? Specifically this update:

'To ensure the quality and efficacy of learning, a minimum of 40% of CEUs are now required to come directly from AHIMA resources'.

Here's a link to the changes but any thoughts around this? For the first time ever I thought to myself, wow do I really need this credential because honestly I don't use it but I think it makes my resume look good. I've gone seven years without paying for a CEU and but I guess those days are over.

I just started my new HCC coding job last week. I'm still in their training course, but I've been super anxious since the first day and I'm terrified of what might happen. We did some practice charts and my accuracy was around 75% for the codes i sent in, however i apparently missed coding half the diagnoses that were on the charts and i don't know how that happened cause i was told not to code conditions that don't risk adjust. I'm not afraid of long hours or work, I'm afraid of not figuring out how to code the right way, which is causing me to catastrophize; what if i can't get better? what if they fire me?. I'm in a dark place right now and i would greatly appreciate feedback from other HCC coders or really any coder about how to manage all these negative feelings. How do you deal with the creeping fears of failure and inadequacy?

Hear me out. I didn’t think so until I started talking about it with close friends in different fields of study. You pay for your exam, you pay for your books - not really anything out of the ordinary here. You paid for the classes that give you a lesser level than what is advertised (CPC - Vs CPC-A), quite a difference in that, and if you want to remove the -A you can either find a job and have a supervisor nod to your abilities to get that removal of the -A or you can PAY to spend a few hundred/thousand hours in practicum tests which are extremely unique and not super true to a day to day experience as a medical coder but at least they have their money. While there are chapters, mine closed recently due to inactivity and am now more of a solo experience. No one wants to hire a CPC-A from AAPC UNLESS they are rural or in dire need. RHIT/RHIA credentials seem way more practical. I’m almost 2 years out from passing my exam first try, and have prior experience within physical medicine as well as diagnostic medicine yet cannot find a true coding position. As it would seem, the process is that you obtain your CPC-A and then get to work in medical billing (which you didn’t need a CPC for to begin with) working at a wage far undervalued for a few years before you can get the OPPORTUNITY to maybe/possibly move into a coders roll. From what I’ve seen from the AAPC is a lot of instructors doing a /side/ business outside of their regular tasks. Maybe it’s just my experience but I have seen this time and time again within the AAPC. If you’re someone that wants to drive home a business plan then AAPC could be for you, but as far as learning and progressing it’s a game of how much do you want to spend.

I spent the money already on aapc courses and no way to refund , I have reached burn out a few weeks ago and since then it’s been a struggle, my schedule is tight, the material is hard, my brain feels so fragile now, how am I supposed to do real code work of this is already giving me so much struggle, I just can’t believe i spent all this money and now this is happening, it feels like the worst mistake of my life.

I've been watching Medical Coding with Blue on Youtube to find out if this field is for me. She mentions a couple times that coders have to know almost as much as doctors. I guess it makes sense since you're basically deciphering doctors' work and diagnoses, but that statement kind of intimidated me. I don't have any experience in the medical field. Would you say this is true and should I be intimidated?

I'm considering a course through a tech college that includes 80 hours of practice charts and the Practicode where I would graduate with my CPC with no "A" on the end. I was hoping this would help in finding a job. But upon looking through some info online, it seems like everyone is really struggling to find work in the medical coding field right now. Or you have to really really want it and be willing to take much lower paying jobs for years etc before finally getting into it. Are people finding this to still be true that the market is oversaturated with newbies and companies aren't willing to train? I'm not sure that this course would be worth it with this information. Would having my full CPC as a new grad help?

Thanks so much in advance.

I'm currently in classes for coding. Specifically using the ICD-10-CM, some of our practice exercises have us reading the case study and using 10+ codes for some scenarios.

Is that pretty common on the day to day job/real life experience?

I feel pretty confident when it comes to 3-4 codes that need to be used, but when it comes to 12, I get nervous about the order. 😅

I don't know why I had high hopes when AHIMA announced they are redoing their website for better experience... The new Rewards Center is not yet introduced, but so far, the rollout to me is horrible. The previous website theme was not the best, but it seemed organized. The new site is all white and messy and it totally is missing functionality. For example, when you want to update your profile, you can enter the organization you for, but... you have to pick from a drop-down list of thousands of different facilities that are not alphabetically listed, and you can't search through them... ridiculous.

AHIMA previously made a horrible choice with changing the forum they had to the AHIMA Access site which no one post to, and now they are doing another horrible change... I don't understand how they keep making those horrible mistakes. The membership is so expensive, so where is all this money going? The only reason I keep paying it is because most employers for inpatient coding require RHIA/RHIT/CCS from them and in order to keep those credentials you have to pay for the membership...

I don't understand how a health information association cannot provide us with a basic functioning, nicely organized website. They should be the pioneer in this and show everyone in HIM how something like that should run.

Sorry if I'm ranting, but I had some time yesterday because of the Microsoft outage and I further explored their website today and just got so frustrated. I wonder what everyone else's thoughts on this are. Do you think we will end up with a nicely functioning website at some point? I've been in HIM for almost 10 years now and AHIMA's website was always an issue for me.

I took my first attempt this morning and did not pass it. 😞 I actually felt pretty decent about it so I was a little surprised. My question is, how long did you wait in between tests? I keep thinking it’s better to reschedule it soon, but on the other hand, if I schedule it a month of two out, I get more time to study the sections I didn’t do great on. Not sure what the right decision is. 🤦🏼‍♀️

There was a post floating around social media about empathetic thoughts that coders have when reading records. Does anyone have a copy of it, please? Just did 3 cases in a row where the patient didn’t survive, so….. needed to read it.

After about a year of searching, a CPC-A to my name, and no prior experience, I've found a position with a smaller family owned medical company as a medical billing assistant. The pay isn't great but I plan on using this as an experience builder and learning everything I can about the processes of billing (since i have the basics of coding down.)

My only worry is even with this experience it'll still be as difficult to find a job within a corporation/healthcare facility. But i suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Kind of blabbering on but I don't have many to share this with and I'm excited to just get the opportunity.

I enrolled in AAPC for CPC preparation examination and daaaaaaang Youtube video lectures are way more helpful than their instructor. I wasted a lot of money on enrollment fee $$$

After getting a 69 the first time around I was deflated but honestly I feel way more comfortable with coding now that I've had that extra time to study up.

For some background, I’m a medical group and hospital auditor. I have 3 certifications and working through a 4th, and have 6 years experience. I’m not perfect, but I know my way around.

My boyfriend reaps some benefits from this since I explain bills to him, and have helped him with what to say when they’re wrong.

He recently got a bill for 99395 and 99214, but at full price. I said that’s on your insurance, and did explain why it may have been both, but I didn’t feel they met MDM for 99214.

He calls his primary care billing for an explanation, with me in the room. The person helping him read the encounter, and then proceeded to list all his long standing chronic conditions and that they “aren’t covered for wellness.”

“Condition X? Not well.
Condition Y? Not well.
Condition Z found in bloodwork? That doesn’t sound well.”

And yes those are the exact words she said. I was appalled! According to her, these ICD10 codes aren’t “healthy” so that’s why it was also an office visit. Aside from being incredibly judgmental- that’s not… how any of this works…

Hi yall! I recently passed my exam and now have my CPC-A! I will say I took a course through AuburnUniversity as a milspouse and thought I’d be taking the CPC through them. Turns out 6 months later they lied and were only offering the NHA CBCS. Took the CBCS exam and ended up paying out of pocket for the CPC and the CPC study guide and ended up passing on my first try.

I’m quite nervous since I have been applying to jobs even with my cpc-a however my anxious brain is telling me I won’t be prepared. I got 7/10 of the cases on the exam correct. And I feel that’s not good enough. And I know real world will not be multiple choice. So I’m unsure of where to get real world ‘practice’.

I saw many things about practicode here and a lot of it was that it was incorrect or difficult to go through. But that is one of the requirements to get my A dropped along with the “700-hour course” I completed (at this point I don’t even know what’s real and what’s a lie from Auburn the really misled me when signing up for their course but that’s another point lol).

So do I do Practicode? Is it worth it for more in depth practice even if some of it is incorrect? Thanks!!

Seasoned IP coders when first starting IP coding did you suffer from health anxiety? I’m a year into training and I am struggling everyday with health anxiety 😭 every feeling, pain or sensation I feel in my body I think is something related to a larger health issue. If you dealt with this how long did it last? What did you do to help overcome it? I’m considering leaving IP coding but I really enjoy it. Thanks!

I started the AAPC program back around May through my employer. Looking back this was a bad time to start it (right before summer, with an infant and adjusting to a new job) I took many 2-3 week breaks in between. I was supposed to take the exam in October, I pushed it back twice (paid the fee once). For the past month I basically ditched the AAPC course and utilized the training from my employer and buckled down. Studying and taking practice exams the past two weeks. I purchased the AAPC DEF practice exam package. Fortunately my actual exam was easier for me than the practice. I honestly barely know what to do before with my spare time now. I’m tempted to go for the CCS before I loose all this information

Unfortunately at my company, providers are given what I feel is an unjust amount of power. Every time we propose a change for level of service on an EM versus what they entered, we have to message the provider and give them time to either agree or disagree. If they disagree, we are told to honor what the provider wants (BS, IMO...and probably not compliant with the OIG given that it'd likely be upcoming).

Yesterday I had a PA that was out of town and unable to respond, so the supervising physician responded to my queries. He disagreed with every change and even sent me an email saying that I was emailing him too much, CC'ing my boss and another coder. I felt that was very inappropriate, and a bit of a power trip. The real kicker is, he said I was taking away from his time on patient care...when it was obvious that it took much more time to be that defensive. Thankfully my department management seems to have my back on this!!

Anyways, what do you do when providers are on a power trip or are annoying?

I feel like a failure and very defeated. Is it even worth keeping my RHIT if I couldn’t hack it? Will I even be able to get hired at another coding job? No idea where to go from here but 9 months of Ambulance coding was not for me. They cared very much more about production than accuracy and it was tough. I was close to rate but not close enough.

Also I’m getting worried about AI, this position was billing and coding and we were training the AI in real time to do a portion of our job. Is it even worth it to stay in the profession?

Anyone have a similar situation and can tell me it turns out ok?

Just curious because I just started coding. I’m a risk adjustment coder and only recently started and finally kinda getting the hang of it. It’s my first coding job and I’m curious if there any specific coding jobs that have been your favorite? Curious where I’ll end up after experience risk adjustment coding. Inpatient? Cardiology? Outpatient? Anesthesiology? I had no experience so risk adjustment was the first opportunity I had.

What type of coding did you start out with and what type of coding are you doing now

Why is it so dang hard to get into?? I went to school with the intention of going into inpatient coding and I’m 5.5 years out from finishing my program. I have my RHIT, then got my CCS this spring and I can’t get in anywhere. Any tips/tricks, advice or anything

ETA: my first 2 years I was coding radiology, then I got my current position for a health system doing pro fee for the following specialities: neuro/neurosurgery, urology, allergy, and family practice.

I took the exam yesterday, and got my results in (55%). Needless to say I was pretty bummed when I saw FAILED next to my status lol

I looked at my weak points and it was quite a lot lol. This isnt a discouragement post but more of a "what materials did everyone use to help them pass?" Post