How and why you

might fail the CPC

exam because of a lack

of time Written by Jim H May

(http://howtostudyforcpcexam.com/)

The top two organizations in the professional medical coding community that offers

certification is the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and the American Health

Information Management Association (AHIMA). Students who want to become a certified

medical coder have a choice between the two exams offered by these organizations. A high

number of people want to get into medical coding because of the better salaries and career

options, which makes the certification exams difficult and quite challenging, especially if the

student is not fully prepared for the exams properly. Not only do they need the knowledge and

experience in medical coding, but they also need to time and question-answering strategies for

the actual exam. One of the main reasons cited for failing the certification exams by past

students is because of a lack of time. Here are some reasons why time is an issue for you.

Spending too much time on one question

Although you may be able to answer all the questions on the certification exam, it is important

that you actually have enough time to go through it all. The nearly 6 hours might seem long but

because there are so many questions to go through in reality you only get about 2 and a half

minutes to answer each one on average. The kicker here is that each question is worth the

same whether you spent more time on it or not. To avoid this costly mistake, always allot a

certain amount of time for each question. You have to move on when the time is up. This is

often an effective tactic because it forces you to come up with strategies to maximize time.

Scan through the questions at the start and then do all the easy ones first. This way you free up

more time for the harder questions later.

Not timing yourself in practice tests

This is something that is obvious but not everyone have the discipline to fully carry out. After

all, the real CPC exam takes nearly 6 hours to complete. It can be physically and mentally

exhausting, so you need to practice for that as well. A lot of people are unable to fully commit

the 6 hours needed of them in this mock exam as they get distracted by chores, phone calls,

etc. The CPC exam is like a marathon, so you’ll need to develop time management strategies

that suit you. Without doing at least one timed practice exam, you’ll be walking into the CPC

exam hall without being fully prepared. If you’re unable to commit the full hours at least break

it up into chunks that are timed so you know how fast you’re able to answer questions.

Inefficient coding

Because the CPC exam is an open-book test, you’ll be looking up codes on your CPT book a lot.

It can be surprising how much time can be wasted just by flipping through the book to look for

certain chapters, pages, or codes. If you’re not familiar with your CPT book, then this can be a

fatal mistake. Practice flipping through the book rapidly to look for certain codes and remember

where everything is. Developing a good technique for marking up your CPT book for easy

referral is vital here. The use of colors, highlighting, tabs, etc. can mean the difference between

passing and failing the CPC exam. One final word here is to make sure to check and find out

what is allowed and not allowed in respect to this.

If you want a proven strategy to answering questions, managing your time, and marking up

your CPT book using a proprietary technique, click here now to find out more!

Jim regularly updates his website HowToStudyForCPCExam, about how to prepare and study for

medical coding certification, medical coding in general, the certification exam, and related news about

the industry. You'll find more great tips and useful resources to help you get certified.

Click on this link to visit Jim’s website now!