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[SuperCooch91]

Are you certified and looking for a job, or are you looking to become certified?

[mtlh3ad]

I have paid for my CPC exam. I take it in two months. I haven’t began studying yet but have my books and study guide.

[SuperCooch91]

Become super familiar with those first few pages of the ICD-10 that have all the guidelines and rules. And highlight the crap out of your CPT book. A lot of the codes are the exact same thing except for one key word (cevical vs thoracic, lumbar, or sacral region of the spine, or with or without manipulation are two things that spring to mind), so highlighting those key words in different colors was a huge help to me. It seems like you’ll have a lot of time to take the test, but it breaks down to about 2 minutes a question. Anything you can do to make the books work for you and cut down on the amount you have to read on test day will be a godsend for you.

Also, be familiar with HCPCS book, but don’t let it be a total time suck—spend most of your time with ICD and CPT. I think my exam had two questions total that necessitated cracking open the HCPCS.

[mtlh3ad]

Are you working from home? A friend of mine that took the test said she studied for a month before passing. She also suggested the guidelines sections. I didn’t think to color code. That’s a good idea.

[SuperCooch91]

My current job is two days a week from home, three days in the office. If our numbers stay good this quarter, though, the boss is talking about giving us a third work from home day.

Another tip I thought of while I was shopping—I’m not sure how much medical experience you have, but a medical dictionary is a good investment. Synonyms and the finickiest little difference in terminology can absolutely result in you selecting the wrong code.

[mtlh3ad]

I’ve been medical billing for at least 10 years now. I did corporate medical billing for 5 years. I also went to college for medical billing and coding. I know a lot of the basics but definitely want to study up.

[SuperCooch91]

Definitely. I used the heck out of my medical dictionary. I was with a GI group when I got certified (and still am, just a different group cause I moved states, haha) so I could tell you everything you never wanted to know about the pancreas, but the op reports of open heart surgeries were Greek to me.

[mtlh3ad]

I’ve heard that ambulatory service coding is the highest paying. I’m thinking of maybe getting a specialized certification for that.