Do People Pass TheirAAPC CPC Exam on the

First Try, and How Do TheyDo It?

If you are taking the AAPC CPCexam, then you will at some pointask yourself this question; do peoplepass their medical codingcertification exam on their first try?And how do they do it? Althoughofficial figures are hard to come by,rough estimates suggests that only40% to 50% of exam-takers pass ontheir first attempt.

The medical coding certification exam is nopushover

Make no mistake, the CPC or CertifiedProfessional Coder certification exam is agrueling marathon of an exam that takes nearly6 hours long. Medical coding careers and itsindustry are growing fast because of the federalpush for the implementation of electronic healthrecords such as ICD-10. This translates to bettersalaries and career options, but also mean it isgetting more competitive as more people likeyourself try to get certified.

But people do pass the CPC certification onthe first try or attempt

The good news is that 40% to 50% of people dopass on their first try, and there is no reason whyyou shouldn't be able to do the same. If you do asimple survey of those who passed on their first try,most will say the exam is tough. You will also findthat the common things they all share is that theyare well-prepared and have a good amount ofprevious coding experience. Some do pass withoutexperience but these cases are rare. Almost all oftheir advice points to the same pattern, which is to:

1. Review the official study guides

2. Get yourself some coaching oronline blitz review videos

3. Do plenty of AAPC practice or mockexams

4. Plan and practice your strategies foranswering questions and timemanagement

If you fail the exam, you can retake it until youpass

The other thing you might notice from theadvice of those who passed is to keep calmand not give up. Those who failed the exam thefirst time just continued to retake the exam untilthey passed. Sometimes it takes a fewattempts so as long as your scores improvewith each attempts then you're on the righttrack. If you fail you have one free retake within12 months, so use the time well to get fullyprepared.

Recover fast and learn from your mistakes

Before you retake the exam, it is worth examiningwhat you felt was the problem. The most commoncomplaint is the lack of time to finish answering allthe question. Those who passed on their firstattempt finished answering all their questions evenif they thought it was tough. Based on the manyadvice out there, it is safe to conclude thatperfecting your time management, questionanswering, and CPT lookup strategies is often thebest way to improve your chances other thanknowing your topics.

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