CPC-H Exam - Tips From a Coder Who’s Passed

To be successful in your medical coding career, you have to have medical coding carrier training. If you intend to pass your CPC-H exam, here are a few tips you can take from someone who has crossed the tough CPC-H exam barrier and how!

The examinee had mostly worked in physician coding before deciding to take up the CPC exam challenge. When he took the exam, his knowledge on ICD-9 coding was tested more than he had expected it to, although the HCPCS and CPT coding questions were pretty much what he expected.

According to him, if you are to ace the diagnosis coding questions, you should make use of the ‘open book’ and pay attention to notations like ‘includes’, ‘excludes’, ‘use additional code’ and ‘code first conditions’, he advices. Moreover, you should also pay close attention to the 4th and 5th digit-required notations. In fact, minding your fourth and fifth digits is tougher in some of this year’s ICD-9 books, which use color highlighting instead of marginal notations.

That apart, you should never code from the alphabetic index. This is because some exam questions are written to catch you trying to take this shortcut, which can lead to incorrect coding.

During your study hours, you should review diagnosis coding rules and practice coding conditions like burns, septicemia, diabetes, and some cardiovascular disorders which may make appearances in the exam.

Lastly, the CPC-H coder advices aspiring CPC-Hs to be well-versed with Medicare terms, acronyms, and rules like ABN, the Stark law, OPPS, CLIA, COBRA, the birthday rule, MSP and the like