Certified Coding Specialist (CCS)

Exam Preparation Information

• Exam Specifications
• Exam Content Outline
• Cognitive Levels
• Sample Questions (PDF)
• Exam Scoring/Passing Scores
• Recommended Resources

Exam Notice

Beginning June 2, 2009 candidates must bring the 2009 versions of ICD-9-CM Volumes 1 through 3 and CPT coding books to the testing center. Only the American Medical Association CPT code book is permitted. A medical dictionary is optional.

Candidates without the required codebooks will not be permitted to test and will forfeit their application fee.

• List of Allowable Codebooks
• CCS Recommended Resources

Effective October 15, 2009 the CCS exam will have immediate scoring.

 

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Exam Specifications

Multiple Choice - Part I consists of 60 four option multiple-choice items (50 "scored" items, and 10 "pre-test" items). Pre-test items are unscored items that are included in the examination to assess the item's performance prior to using it for operational use in a future examination. The pre-test items are scrambled randomly throughout the examination and do not count toward the candidate's score.

Medical Record Coding-Part II requires you to code thirteen medical records, which contains seven outpatient records (four ambulatory surgery, one emergency room, and two records from Cardiac Cath/Interventional Radiology/Pain Management) and six inpatient records.

Inpatient diagnoses and procedures are to be coded with ICD-9-CM volumes 1-3; ambulatory care diagnoses are to be coded with ICD-9-CM volumes 1 and 2; and ambulatory care procedures with CPT.

The total testing time for the exams is 4 hours. You cannot return to Part I after beginning Part II of the exam.

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Exam Content Outline

A certification examination is based on an explicit set of competencies. These competencies were determined by job analysis surveys of hospital-based coders (for the CCS exam) . The competencies are divided into domains and tasks as shown in the PDF below. Examinations test only content pertaining to the following competencies.

• CCS Exam Content Outline (PDF)

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CCS Resources

• CCS Recommended Resources (PDF)

Every test question on AHIMA's certification examinations must be referenced to a valid, credible, and current resource. AHIMA's construction committee members and item writers most commonly use the following:

• Garvin, Jennifer. CCS Review Guide. AHIMA Press (Link)
• Brown, Faye. ICD-9-CM Coding Handbook with Answers. AHA Press (Link)
• Odem-Wesley, Barbara; Brown, Diann. Documentation for Medical Records. AHIMA Press. (Link)
• Clinical Coding Workout: Practice Exercises for Skill Development. AHIMA Press. (Link)
• Coders' Desk Reference. Ingenix. (Link)
• Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM. AHA Press
• CPT Assistant. American Medical Association (AMA). (Link)
• Johns, Merida L. Health Information Management Technology: An Applied Approach. AHIMA Press,2006. (Link)
• Principles of CPT Coding. American Medical Association (AMA).
• Principles of ICD-9-CM Coding. American Medical Association (AMA). (Link)
• Schraffenberger, Lou Ann. Basic ICD-9-CM Coding, 2009 edition. AHIMA Press. (Link)
• Smith, Gail. Basic Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and HCPCS Coding, 2009 edition. AHIMA Press. (Link)

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