Q&A CPC or CPC - H which 1 should I take

[Chavonrainer]

I just graduated what my associates in medical billing and coding. I studied medical billing and coding for a hospital. I really want to do medical billing and coding in the hospital . Which one do I take is it the CPC or CPCH. Do I go ahead and take the CPC and then later take the CPCH I'm really confused.

 

[louise]

Congrats on your graduation! It sounds like you are solely interested in working at a hospital. The CPC-H certification is for out patient hospital coders. CPC is for out patient office coders.

I'm just ready to take my CPC exam, and I plan to go on to CPC-H next. I don't know if it's accepted practice to do the CPC first, but that was the message I got when I started.

Many of the CPC-H courses are full courses that don't require the CPC certification to attend. AAPC does offer a CPC-H course for those who already hold their CPC certification.

 

[Ruth Sheets]

Tammy Lucus, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-I, CPMA, discussed this during the September 2014 Q&A webinar. Let me paraphrase her answer here. Basically, either one could be obtained first. There is no need to get your CPC first, especially if you want to do work in an outpatient facility and not a physician's office. This is because the exams cover much the same material. The "extra" you need for the CPC-H is not difficult to learn, especially if that is what you have decided would be best for you. Getting the CPC first, also works, and then if you want the CPC-H, there is not that much more to learn.