Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions with Full Rationale Answers

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Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions and answers with full rationale

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CPC Practice Exam and Study Guide Package

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What makes a good CPC Practice Exam? Questions and Answers with Full Rationale

CPC Exam Review Video

Laureen shows you her proprietary “Bubbling and Highlighting Technique”

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2018 CPC Practice Exam Answer Key 150 Questions With Full Rationale (HCPCS, ICD-9-CM, ICD-10, CPT Codes) Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions with Full Rationale Answers

Practice Exam

Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions and answers with full rationale

Hints To Compose A Successful Medical or Nursing CV

It’s fairly surprising that while many people are experts in their fields, they are awkward or afraid of writing a resume to advertise themselves. They don’t know how to compose a resume that can transfer their qualifications, skills or experiences in a manner that impress their recruiters. No matter how adept in your career, writing a CV is an essential skill that you need to master, or you’ll failed to get your dream job. Thus, candidates should invest their time and all of their endeavour to polish their CV. A persuasive and highly professional resume is the key to reach a job.

 

However, there are some key principles that are important to developing and improving a resume that has little, a lot or no experience to the job that you are applying for. Most recruiters will tell an applicant that what matters most to the employer is a positive attitude, willingness to learn, experience related to the job if you have any and a stable employment history. But attitude, willingness and personality need to be presented in person during the interview. A powerful resume will get you that interview.

 

Here are ten tips for someone who may be trying to write or improve their resume:


1. Include your personal contact information. You have to give the employer a way to reach you in the event that they want to hire you so as much contact information as you can provide will be useful. Such information should include name, address, email address, home telephone number, fax number, mobile number, and web address, if you have one. If you want to stand out from your competitors, a web address would be valuable.

 

2. Be very specific. Don’t beat around the bush. This means that you should detail your experience as an employee in whatever job capacity that you have worked, but make sure you emphasize how you carried out that job. Present a clear picture of what your daily tasks were. You don’t want the employer to be doing any guess work. Use specific terms. Instead of saying that you dealt with long term patient care, say that you cared for a specific age group of long term patients and state what their medical conditions were. The employer may see you in a different capacity where another job opening lies so you open up yourself to more than one positions.

 

3. Watch what you say. Never use the wrong medical terminology. If you are not sure, do your homework before you write that resume to get the right medical term. Your resume should show quality and you should be committed to quality. For example, don’t say Old Timer disease when it should be Alzheimer. You will never get that job.

 

4. Be sure to list any certification and awards. Even if you consider something minor, be sure to list that in your resume. Any special certifications or licenses should be included in your resume. Be sure to include any employee awards or anything that shows above average work, you should incorporate it in your resume.

 

5. Highlight additional skills. You should include information that may set you apart from other applicants, which includes being bilingual. In some cities such as Miami, Florida, the Hispanic population is large and so if you speak Spanish, for example, it would probably land you the job ahead of other English speaking competition.

 

6. Be sure to include educational goals. If you are (and you should) thinking of pursuing further education in the medical field, do mention that in your resume. This will let your future employer see that you are on a certain career path and it will show your commitment to the industry as well as to the job. It will also show that you want to grow with the company.


7. Include your goals and objectives. Your objective is a summary statement of what you want to accomplish and what career path you want to take. Avoid using vague and general statements. Be specific. An example of the correct way to write an objective would be, “Obtain a challenging position in Nursing, with a special interest in urgent care and Alzheimer’s patients.”

 

8. Be sure to list your current education achievements. Academic information such as degrees, honors, and high GPA’s are essential. Be sure to include the college name, your date of graduation and the degree that you have achieved with any major or minors.

 

9. Work and Professional experience. This is the part of your resume that will highlight your previous experience as an employee. It should be in either chronological or topical order. Include any participation in fraternities, organizations (as a student and in the community) and anything that will highlight your leadership skills, employment dates, awards and recognitions as well as any other accomplishments.

10. The Format and Resume Layout is important. To improve your resume, make sure the format and layout convey the most important points so you can land that job. You don’t want your resume to look unorganized. It should flow and tell a story of your employment life and skill set. Be consistent with your font, grammar and punctuation. Keep the white space balanced and maintain your margins. Make it a one page resume as best as you can, but don’t cram it on one page if you have a longer list of work experiences.

 

If you are still not fully confident that you can, or should, try to write or improve your own nursing resume, you can find a professional that can at NursingResumePros. We specialize in Nursing Resumes and can give you as much or as little help you think you need.

 

We are proud to be the only full-service resume writers dedicated to nurses and medical professionals. In addition to our resume writing services we offer expert advice and tips you can use right away. http://www.nursingresumepros.com For even more free advice, sign up for our newsletter – http://nursingresumepros.com/newsletter/

How coders can build a successful relationship with their physicians

How coders can build a successful relationship with their physicians

by Sue Egan, CPC, CCD

All coders know that working with physicians is not always a positive experience.

It can be tough providing them education or getting responses from queries. Conversely, providers are busy and typically do not like anything to do with coding. When they hear coding they often take that to mean more work on their part.I have been working with providers for many years and the one thing coders always ask me is, ‘What is your secret for getting along so well with doctors and engaging them to change behavior?’

Building a relationship with your providers can make both of your lives easier. Outlined are a number of ideas that can facilitate building a strong relationship with your physicians.

  • Documentation clarification inquiries for the hospital are likely to support physician billing. Communicate to the physicians that if the hospital is asking for documentation it will better support their billed services as well. Complete and accurate documentation will hold up to increased scrutiny by payers.
  • Demonstrate why. When you ask a physician to change the way he or she documents in the medical record, show them why it matters. Show how accurate and complete documentation enables appropriate risk adjustments for the patients a physician treats. Remind physicians that good documentation can prove that the patients he or she treats really are sicker than others. This approach is more effective than stating the hospital will get a higher paid DRG.
  • Knowing when to step away will help you keep a positive relationship with a provider.
    • Regardless of how important the material is you want to educate the provider on, if he or she has a patient that has just passed away, now is not the time to share?they won’t remember what you tell them. Let the provider know you recognize the situation and will reschedule.
    • If you know a physician is overwhelmed or is having a really bad day, then recognize that now may not be a good time and offer to reschedule.
  • Be available. When approaching a physician for one-on-one education, be flexible in your availability. This could mean coming in early to meet with a doctor before his or her first case. If the physician can meet at lunch, do it. Recognizing the physician’s workload demands and being flexible will yield many benefits to the relationship.
  • Be prepared. Physicians will ask you a question once, maybe twice, where you can say, ‘I don’t know,’ but chances are they won’t ask a third time. Be creative in your response. Instead, try saying, ‘You know, I just read something about that, let me go back and make sure I am giving you the most updated information,’ or ‘I just saw something on this, I am not sure if it was CMS or carrier directed. Let me find it and get back with you.’ Once you lose a physician’s trust, it is very difficult to regain it.
  • Don’t waste their time. One of the biggest complaints I have heard from doctors is related to queries they deem as a waste of time. Make sure the query or question you are asking is
    • Addressed to the right physician/provider
    • Relevant to the patient care being provided
    • The information you are basing your query on is accurate
  • Walk in their shoes for a day. Offer to round with them, where you can provide live audit and education to the provider. See how their days really are. In most cases, you will be amazed at how much they get done.
  • Be a better listener. Some coding and documentation guidelines are not clinical in nature and providers can get frustrated by being asked to document things that aren’t clinically significant (e.g., family history for the 85-year-old patient). Sometimes your provider may just need to vent this frustration and while you may not have a resolution to offer, listening and understanding can go a long way in building rapport.
  • Ask questions. Ask your provider how they translate a patient visit into medical record documentation. Questions that might solicit opportunities for improved documentation may include:
    • What questions are they asking when interviewing the patient?
    • What concerns do they have?
    • What is the patient experiencing? You can utilize this information to point out how the documented note can better demonstrate the patient’s current condition and treatment plan.
  • Share the good as well as the bad. When a physician is doing a really great job documenting timely, accurately, and completely, give them a shout out. Or, when they answer queries timely, let them know. A quick note with a smiley face or even a gold star will be very much appreciated. Positive recognition given to one physician and not another often results in the physician inquiring how he or she can get recognition.
  • Sports and (other interests). While engaging physicians in discussions such as sports is completely unrelated to coding and documentation, it can pay off significantly. Many providers are very loyal to their alma mater’s college football and basketball teams. Relationship building can be accelerated when you engage physicians in areas of personal interest. Gaining an understanding of a physician’s college coach, conference, and team standing, and discussing this information with a physician can go a long way to building a relationship. But sports isn’t the be-all, end-all. If you know a doctor has a particular interest (cooking, piano, horror movies, or painting) learning a little about that interest can go a long way. Expanding your knowledge is a good thing and building your relationship with that provider is a great thing.
  • Empathy. It is important to remember that physicians are busy with competing priorities. Providers often get interrupted while they are dictating and/or documenting their notes, and when they leave something out of their notes, it is not intentional.

 

Recognizing that one of our major responsibilities as coders and documentation specialists is to make the physician’s job easier and their data as accurate as it can be is essential.

Avoid approaches that make them feel like they have done something wrong. Let providers know your job is ‘to make you look as good as you are.’

 

 

Editor’s note

Egan is an associate director with Navigant Consulting and has been working with providers, of all specialties, for more than 25 years. She works with providers to improve documentation as well as provide education and training related to CPT coding. Sue has lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the last 23 years, enjoys traveling with friends, and relaxing at home with a good book and her cats. Opinions expressed are that of the author and do not represent HCPro or ACDIS.

HCPro.com – HIM Briefings

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AAPC Knowledge Center

Injections and Infusions: Keys to Successful Documentation and Coding (live webcast)

Join us January 29 at 1 p.m. (Eastern) for this annual 90-minute webcast for a comprehensive review of the revenue integrity concepts applicable to drug administration services, including tips on medication administration record documentation, and for capturing charges.

How to properly document, charge, and code drug administration services (injections and infusions) continues to generate questions for most hospitals because the services are frequent and performed in numerous departments on numerous types of patients. Revenue integrity relies on orders, nurse documentation, correctly applying coding concepts, and capturing charges based on documentation.

During this program, expert speakers Jugna Shah, MPH, and Valerie A. Rinkle, MPA, will cover frequently raised questions and discuss the impact of OPPS packaging on drug administration overall payments, the importance of reviewing your MAC’s local coverage determination guidance, and hot audit topics.

For more information or to order, call 800-650-6787 and mention Source Code EZINEAD or visit the HCPro Healthcare Marketplace.

HCPro.com – HIM-HIPAA Insider

A Program for Successful PQRS Participation for Radiology Practices – Step 7

At Healthcare Administrative Partners, our mission is to educate practices on CMS Quality Programs and provide a path to optimized performance even in the most challenging markets. This is the final installment of our series of articles, “A Program for Successful PQRS Participation for Radiology Practices,” which was specifically designed to help you maximize reimbursement and reduce compliance issues under the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS).  So far we’ve covered…


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AAPC Blog