CPC^® Exam

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC^®) Certified Professional Coder^® (CPC^®) exam is a credential used to demonstrate expertise in coding medical services and procedures performed by physicians, including coding patient symptoms, diagnoses, and diagnostic tests.

Click “Start Test” above to take a free CPC practice test, and check out our premium-quality CPC test prep resources by clicking the links below!

Is the CPC Exam Right for Me?

Successful completion of the CPC requires you to have high-level medical terminology, anatomy, and pathophysiology knowledge and an understanding of CPT procedure codes, HCPCS Level II supply codes, and ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes.

If you have this understanding, the CPC exam is an excellent way to showcase your knowledge and expertise, increase your employment opportunities, and potentially increase your salary with CPC certification!

Medical Coding Exam Outline

The Certified Professional Coder exam contains 100 multiple-choice questions, and you will be given 4 hours to complete it.

The questions are split into 17 knowledge areas and one set of 10 cases:

CPC Online Prep Course

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Here’s what you’ll find in the CPC course:

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Registration

To register for the exam, you must be an AAPC member, which costs $229 ($164 for students). Once you have joined AAPC, you can use your account to register for the exam.

The exam itself costs $425 for one attempt or $499 for two. If you paid to take the test twice but you pass the exam on the first take, you do not get a refund of the money spent on the second attempt.

Test Day

When you register, you will have the option to choose in-person testing or remote testing (LPR).

There are similarities between these two methods when it comes to the day of the exam. Both formats require a current, valid, government-issued form of identification. Both formats allow a basic manual calculator and approved coding books. Handwritten notes are permitted in print coding books only if they relate to daily coding activities; notes from study guides, practice exams, or exam questions are not permitted.

Additionally, you are allowed three reference books:

• The AMA Professional edition of the CPT
• Your choice of the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines with highlighting, underlining, and brief notations needed for day-to-day coding
• Your choice of HCPCS Level II

Keep in mind that the exam questions are based on the current calendar year’s code sets, and you might be disadvantaged in using prior publications.

There are similarities in the disallowed items as well. You are not allowed to bring electronic devices with an on/off switch, devices capable of capturing and storing images, study guides, Procedural Coding Expert, CPT Plus! – PMIC, CPT Insider’s View – AMA, or the ICD-10-CM Easy Coder.

In-person Testing

On the day of your exam, you should arrive 15–30 minutes early at your exam location. You must also bring your photo ID, two No. 2 pencils, an eraser, a manual calculator, and your coding books and references. Keep your belongings in your car or at home; you are not allowed to bring anything not approved into the testing center.

After you show your ID to the testing center administrator, you will be directed to your testing station. You will complete a familiarization tutorial there, and your exam begins when you are finished with the tutorial.

You can take breaks during the exam period, but you will not regain the time you lose on your break.

Live Remote Proctoring

You will need to log on to the testing environment 5–10 minutes before your appointment time. By logging on early, you can troubleshoot issues like connecting to the testing platform, microphone issues, lagging internet, etc.

When your proctor signs on, present your government-issued photo ID. Then, rotate your camera around your space for the proctor’s approval. When your area is approved, re-place your webcam, ensuring your face, fingers, keyboard, and keyboard area are always in the frame. Once the webcam is back in place, you cannot move out of its view.

A bottle of water, two No. 2 pencils, an eraser, a sheet of blank paper, approved reference materials, and a manual calculator are all allowed to be on your desk.

Exam Scoring

You need to answer 70 questions correctly to pass the exam. The correct answers are worth 1 point each, and they are combined to calculate your final score. Your results are released to your AAPC account 7–10 days after you take the exam. If you do not receive your test results after ten days, contact AAPC for guidance.

If you did not pass the exam, you can register to retake the exam. If you paid for the two-test bundle, there is no additional fee. If you did not pay for the two-test bundle, you would pay the $425 test registration fee.

You can take the exam as often as needed, but you will pay the full registration fee each time.

How to Practice for the CPC

Start with a CPC Practice Test

Before creating your study schedule, take a timed CPC practice test to establish a starting point. Use the same printed books or electronic reference format you plan to use on exam day. Taking the diagnostic without code books will not accurately show whether you can find and apply coding information under realistic conditions.

Review your results in the following major areas:

• Medical Terminology and Anatomy: Can you interpret the diagnoses, procedures, anatomical locations, approaches, and body systems described in the documentation?
• ICD-10-CM: Can you locate and verify diagnosis codes, determine the required specificity, and apply sequencing instructions?
• CPT Coding: Do you need more work with evaluation and management, anesthesia, surgery by body system, radiology, pathology and laboratory services, or medicine?
• HCPCS Level II and Modifiers: Can you correctly code supplies, drugs, equipment, and services not represented by CPT codes and determine when modifiers are required?
• Coding Guidelines and Compliance: Do you understand official coding rules, bundling, medical necessity, Medicare requirements, fraud and abuse, and other regulatory concepts?
• Case Analysis: Can you extract relevant information from a medical record and assign the appropriate diagnosis, procedure, and supply codes?

Identify both what you coded incorrectly and where your coding process broke down. That will show you what needs more attention during your study time.

Review Difficult Questions

After each practice session, review every question you answered incorrectly AND every question you guessed on or answered with low confidence. A correct guess does not demonstrate that you followed the correct coding process.

For each difficult question, determine which of the following caused the problem:

• You misunderstood the medical terminology, anatomy, or procedure.
• You selected the wrong main term when beginning the code search.
• You found a possible code but did not verify the complete descriptor.
• You missed an instructional note, exclusion, parenthetical instruction, or required additional code.
• You selected a code that was not fully supported by the documentation.
• You assigned the correct codes in the wrong sequence.
• You overlooked a modifier or applied one incorrectly.
• You reported services separately that should have been bundled.
• You confused two similar procedures or anatomical locations.
• You knew the coding rule but could not find it quickly enough.
• You allowed one difficult case to consume too much time.

Then, create a specific improvement plan based on what you discovered. Don’t just write, “I need to study ICD-10-CM.” Record that you need to practice identifying combination codes, applying laterality, or following “code first” and “use additional code” instructions.

When a question exposes both a knowledge problem and a navigation problem, address them separately. You may need to review the coding rule and then practice locating it quickly in your manual.

Utilize Answer Explanations

Answer explanations are an underutilized studying resource. To take full advantage of them, read the explanation for every question you found difficult, including questions you answered correctly.

For each one, make sure you can confidently explain:

1. Which documentation supports the diagnosis or procedure
2. How the correct code was located
3. Which guideline, convention, note, or instruction applies
4. Why any modifier or sequencing decision is necessary
5. Why each incorrect answer is unsupported or less appropriate

Don’t stop after reading the code listed in the explanation. Open the appropriate manual and reproduce the complete process yourself.

For case questions, return to the original documentation and mark the exact words supporting each code. Separate relevant details from information that does not affect code assignment.

Study Coding Processes, Not Individual Questions

Memorizing the answer to one CPC practice question will not prepare you to code a different medical record. The diagnosis, procedure, anatomical site, approach, documentation, and applicable rules may all change.

For example, don’t memorize that a particular modifier was correct in one scenario. Learn what the modifier communicates, which documentation supports its use, and when another modifier (or no modifier!) would be more appropriate.

You do not need to memorize every code. You do need to understand the organization of your manuals well enough to know where to begin. Learn common code ranges, section layouts, symbols, appendices, tables, and guideline locations.

Practice CPC Pacing and Code-Book Navigation

During timed practice, establish checkpoints. A reasonable target is to complete approximately 25 questions every 55 minutes, leaving about 20 minutes for unanswered or flagged questions. Your exact pace may vary because some terminology questions can be answered quickly while cases require substantially more reading and code verification. AAPC specifically recommends saving more difficult questions for later and answering every question rather than leaving one blank.

When you take a practice test, use the approved references: the AMA CPT Professional Edition, an ICD-10-CM manual, and a HCPCS Level II manual. These sessions will show whether you can maintain concentration, manage the physical or electronic manuals, and prevent longer cases from destroying your pace.

FAQs

CPC, Certified Professional Coder, and AAPC are registered trademarks of American Academy Holdings, LLC, which is not affiliated with Mometrix Test Preparation and does not endorse this page.