How to Mentally Prepare for the CPC Exam

You’ve been diligent in your studies and armed yourself with all the information and experience that you need in your head in preparing for the CPC exam. So how about during the exam itself? Did you know that one of the most common reason why students fail the medical coding or billing certification exam is that they couldn’t finish on time? There can be a variety of reasons why this is so, but the truth is that it in the end it comes down to being mentally prepared. The studying is only one part with the mental game being the second part. In this article I will show you how to mentally prepare for the CPC exam.

Know what you learned

You have to make sure that you are relaxed and calm during the exam to avoid anxiety, and the only way to do that is by having the confidence that you know about what is going to happen and what questions you might face. Too often, people become nervous and panic during the CPC exam. Why? Because they are uncertain about what it is that they learned. This shows that they are unprepared and have questions running their head about what might surprise them. Make sure that before the CPC exam, you study and cover everything that you need to know. Only by being fully prepared will you develop the confidence to walk into the CPC exam hall with your head held high.

Be positive

Just like everything in life, you need to keep a positive outlook on things. Understand that life goes on whether you pass or fail the CPC exam. Failure happens, but you learn from it and move on. The chances of failure is very real, but should not deter you from feeling positive and confident when you walk into the CPC exam hall. Don’t focus on what will happen if you fail, otherwise you’ll be doubting yourself and create anxiety during the exam. Know that simply by being positive you increase your chances because your mind will feel less stressed or nervous. Ideas and solutions flow more easily when you’re focused on solving problems, not creating scenarios of what happens when you fail the CPC exam.

Avoid stimulants

If you want your mind to be in tip-top shape for the CPC exam, be sure to feed it well. Get adequate rest just before the exam so your mind have a chance to relax after all the cramming sessions. Develop a good and healthy diet so you nourish your mind and body to keep your energy levels up during the nearly six hours of CPC exam time. Coffee is a great way to wake you up, but for exam day you might want to cut down or skip it entirely. Drinks with caffeine or other stimulants might be a bad idea simply because you’re adding more stress to your body. Simply drink more water to keep yourself properly hydrated.

The medical coding certification exam is no pushover, it takes almost 6 hours to complete, consists of open-book questions that takes time to look up, and a high number of people who fail the exam. But keep in mind that many people also pass the CPC exam on their first try. The key is have the knowledge and experience in medical coding and the correct time management strategies for tackling the CPC exam. With the correct knowledge, experience, strategies, and most importantly, being mentally prepared, you can be sure of achieving success.