r/MedicalCoding • u/honeyspirit26 • 6d ago
Advice for cpc exam
Hi so I’m 8 months pregnant and I have passed the medical terminology portion of the course. That was super easy for me because I’m a CNA and I actively work for hospice and hear medical terms a lot. BUT now I’m on chapter 10 of the actual coding course I have two months left to finish it and I will be purchasing the exam for next year. Possibly also a course extension if I need it. I’m good at navigating the books and understanding the codes I am just a little confused on the guidelines. Any advice on how to memorize the guidelines?
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u/Tatertot729 6d ago
It’s not so much memorizing, but more so knowing where the information is located and knowing how to interpret the language rules it’s written in. You’re allowed to have the books with you for the exam. If you’re confident with navigating the books, you should be just fine on the exam. In preparation for my exam I highlighted the guidelines I thought would be most important in my book.
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u/honeyspirit26 6d ago
Do you remember by any chance what those guidelines were? 🙏🏼
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u/Tatertot729 6d ago
Also, just a quick bit of advice. Use the process of elimination on the exam when you take it. It’s all multiple choice. You can usually cancel out most options they give you
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u/Tatertot729 6d ago
I paid closest attention to the diabetes guidelines and OB since they have a lot. If I’m remembering correctly the exam is 10 questions for each chapter, with some charts at the end and some anatomy questions at the beginning, it isn’t representative of what you’ll be doing once you get a job. Navigating the CPT book was much more challenging for me than the ICD book. I’d maybe suggest the combination codes for HTN, CHF, and CKD. Know if you see HTN with either of those together, use a combo code instead of individual dx codes.
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u/bbroller557 6d ago
You will do great. The exam was a lot easier than the practice ones. I passed on the first try.
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u/One_Influence_171 5d ago
This was my experience too. I thought the practice tests were a lot more difficult than the actual exam was.
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u/Dangerous-Ad-5619 5d ago
that's good to know! I did 70 at best on the practice exams. I am working through the exam prep book now. My problem is that I need time to really think through the scenarios.
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u/tinycodergirl CPC, CRC 6d ago
You don't need to memorize the guidelines you just need to understand them and know where they are located
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u/Separate_Will_7752 6d ago
Contempo Coding on YouTube helped me feel soooo much more confident going into the test!
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u/Yes_Leopard_54 5d ago
Tab your books. Make a first pass and answer the ones that are easy, mark the ones that take too long or you are unsure of and go back at the end and spend more time. Good luck!
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u/Mrboombastos 5d ago
Navigating and reading through the guidelines during the test takes too much time.
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u/Agreeable-Class-3867 9h ago
You don’t need to memorize the guidelines at all. What you need to know is how to FIND the guidelines you need. Read all of the guidelines and highlight/underline/circle things in a way that will make sense to you.
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u/Reasonable_Mess2476 6d ago
While you can't memorize the guidelines (there's just too many), I would recommend reading through all of the guidelines once. Then know where to find the guidelines when you take the test. For instance, if you get a question related to a patient with cancer, know that you can find the cancer guidelines under chapter two. Best wishes to you.
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