The Certified Professional Coder (CPC) exam by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) is the most sought after medical coding certification in the professional coding community. The majority of people who pass the exam and got certified move on to better career and salary opportunities. Certified medical coders are in high demand as employers look for certification with 2 years experience.

1. How to manage your
time answering
questions during the
CPC exam
Written by Jim H May
(http://howtostudyforcpcexam.com/)

2. The Certified Professional Coder (CPC) exam by the American Academy of Professional Coders
(AAPC) is the most sought after medical coding certification in the professional coding
community. The majority of people who pass the exam and got certified move on to better
career and salary opportunities. Certified medical coders are in high demand as employers look
for certification with 2 years experience.
Importance of time management
Which is why the CPC exam is no pushover. You're required to answer 150 multiple choice
questions in a marathon 5 hours and 40 minutes. Without extra break time in between, you're
left with only a little over 2 minutes to answer each question. There are plenty of horror stories
of people not being able to answer all the questions in time. You're allowed to refer to your
books and notes for answers so the issue is really about time. If you walk into the exam hall
without a time management plan in place then you're only handicapping yourself.
Multiple passes strategy
The good news is that you can follow a tried and tested strategy to help you focus and pass the
exam. Remember that each question are not equal. Some will be easier to answer than the rest.
You can leverage on this little tip using a multiple passes strategy. Your goal would be to go
through the exam 3 times. First pass you answer all the easy questions, then second pass the
medium difficulty questions, then the last pass the truly difficult ones.
Because they're all multiple choice answers, they actually carry the same weight even though
the effort to answer them varies. A common mistake that students or exam takers make is to
waste too much time on a difficult question at the beginning, thus depriving themselves of
easier questions at the end.
Rate the questions according to difficulty

3. While you're going through the questions in the CPC exam booklet on your first pass, keep track
of the question's difficulty with a simple mark. You can put for example, a dot next to questions
that are of medium difficulty, and two dots next to really difficult questions. So on your second
pass just focuses on the single dot questions and on your third pass the double dot questions.
This will save you a lot of time on your second pass and third pass. There is no need to over
think it, just go by your gut feeling so you don't end up spending too much time rating the
questions.
Track your time and progress and keep moving
There are 150 questions you need to answer in 5 hours and 40 minutes. Your CPC exam answer
grid have 5 columns containing 30 questions each. Allow yourself one hour for each column,
which leaves some time at the end for review. You can request the proctor to announce as each
hour elapses to remind yourself of progress. Don't be afraid to skip questions that may take a
lot of time so that you can keep moving forward.
Don't leave any CPC exam questions unanswered
When the CPC exam time is almost up, use the last few minutes to guess at an answer for the
unanswered questions. There are only 4 choices, which gives you a 25% chance of getting it
right. Make an educated guess and you can bump up your chances to 50/50. Usually there will
be one obvious wrong answer, so make sure you use all the remaining time to make educated
guesses.
Practice and prepare
The best way to do well with these strategies is to practice. The experience of taking the CPC
exam is very different from doing it in your home or participating in online sample exams. The
atmosphere is different and there could be distractions and discomfort. Make sure you have
suitable clothing to stay comfortable, eat to get your energy levels up, and get plenty of rest the
day before. You'll want your mind to perform at its optimum throughout the whole duration of

4. the CPC exam. With a proven strategy and prepared mind, there is nothing to stop you from
passing the exam and get certified.
The advice and proven strategies you've just read are just a sampling from Laureen Jandroep's
Medical Coding Certification Review Blitz Videos. She has been teaching and coaching students
on how to pass the CPC exam since 1999. Click here now to find out how she can help you to
pass the CPC exam on your first or very next try!
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!