AAPC or AHIMA Certification www.codingcertification.org Click here to get more cpc exam tips, coding certification training, and ceu credits. Question: "Hi, I have an associate’s degree for coding and billing but haven’t worked for the past two years and am looking to get certified. My question is this: What is the best certification to get, which one is preferred by companies, CPC or CTA?" Basically, what I jotted down here is hospitals tend to prefer the AHIMA credentials… Physician’s offices, tend to prefer the AAPC credential but mainly I find physician’s offices – they just want to know that you are certified. So if you have a CPC or the CPST which is the Credential compared to AAPC, they are normally satisfied with that. The other thing you want to consider as far as which one is preferred is look in your local classified. What are the want ads asking for? Do you see more of one than the other? Location: If you are in a big city like Philadelphia, New York City, there are a lot of hospitals, so there might be more jobs in the hospital setting versus in a rural area like me, there isn’t, there are only two main hospitals. So you are probably going to have a better chance landing job as a new coder in a physician’s office. And of course, what do you like? Can you picture yourself working in a large hospital type environment like a little more kinda rank and file almost like military grades and things like that. I also had on the slide AHIMA vs. AAPC comparison grid <b>…</b>