I used the
CCO practice exam that CCO now sells and it is was very helpful. The CCO practice exam definitely caused my score on the actual exam to be much higher than if I had not taken it. When you take it try to simulate the test environment. I did it one morning when I could be home alone, and I ignored the phone. I timed myself, and only allowed one break for bathroom, and snack (water and energy bar). I had to keep reminding myself to eliminate the wrong choices and decide among the remaining choices quickly without double checking more than necessary. Carefully read, decide the answer, and move on! This is what you need to do during the Board Exam, too.
Take the
CCO exam when you have 5:40 that you can be sure you won't be interrupted. See how you do. Based on that, you can decide whether to get the AAPC exams. Those are available online immediately, so it is not like you have to wait days for the mailman to bring them.
Whatever exam or exams you use be sure to schedule time to review the answers and rationale. You can take your sweet time for this, but it is crucial to do. I kept lists of where I went wrong, and would look for patterns.
The AAPC exams are 50 questions each. I did learn a couple things from these tests that I did not learn previously, either because it wasn't it emphasized in my course, or it just escaped my 'radar' somehow. When I saw very similar questions on the exam, it was a great feeling, "yes, I know this!", and I got an immediate moral boost. I think that is best if you decide you still need more practice to get the AAPC exams (however many you can afford). Of course, the best deal is to get all 3 at one time.
For the AAPC practice exam, allow yourself about 110 minutes to do one set of 50 questions. I found it impossible to sit at my computer, juggle the 3 manuals I needed to look up the answers, and still keep my place on the computer screen, deal with the mouse, and the keyboard. Too many brain cycles and time wasted, trying to deal with all the tools I was trying to use!
It became clear to me that to simulate the real test it would be best to print off all 50 questions, sit a table with my 3 manuals, a pre-numbered sheet to write my answers, and time to myself accordingly. When the time was up I entered all 50 answers in one fell swoop on the computer, and submitted the exam. This is more like the real exam because you don't need to go back and forth from exam questions to manuals to computer screen, which eats up more time than just going from printed exam, manuals, to answer sheet, because you are working in the same medium... i.e. , paper at a table.
I did not really get proficient enough at taking the exam, that is, scoring about 85%, until I had taken both the CCO and the AAPC exams, and spent hours and hours reviewing the rationales. I took one of the AAPC exams more than once. I had no experience doing medical coding except in my PBC course. I imagine if you have coding experience you may not need quite so much practice taking the exam, as I did.
I hope you are able to practice well, so the board exam will also go well!
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