Certifications
The CCS and CCS-P are not going through a content outline refresh this year, therefore the content outline isn't changing this year for those exams. There will be no beta period for the CCS and CCS-P exam. Immediate results will be available once the exam is completed at the testing site. The list of Allowable Code for the 2022 code books is now available.
Coding specialists are skilled in classifying medical data from patient records, often in a hospital setting but also in a variety of other healthcare settings. The CCS credential demonstrates a practitioner's tested skills in data quality and accuracy as well as mastery of coding proficiency.
The CCS certification is a natural progression for professionals experienced in coding inpatient and outpatient records. Coding specialists create coded data used by hospitals and medical providers to obtain reimbursement from insurance companies or government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Researchers and public health officials also use this data to monitor patterns and explore new interventions.
CCSs:
While not required, one of the following are recommended to sit for the CCS examination:
Apply to take the Certified Coding Specialist exam.
Certified Professionals and Pass Rates
As of 12/31/19, there were 31,355 certified CCS professionals.
Year |
Exam |
# First Time Testers |
Pass Rate First Time Testers |
2020* |
CCS |
2,374 |
83% |
2019* |
CCS |
1,990 |
80% |
2018* |
CCS |
2,101 |
81% |
*U.S. and Canada results only
Exam Specifications
The CCS is a timed exam. Candidates have four hours to complete the exam. The total number of questions on the exam range between 115 and 140 total items. The exam consists of two sections, a Multiple-Choice Section and a Medical Scenario Section (inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department). The exam is given in a computer-based format.
AHIMA exams contain a variety of questions or item types that require you to use your knowledge, skills, and/or experience to select the best answer. Each exam includes scored questions and pre-test questions randomly distributed throughout the exam. Pre-test questions are not counted in the final results.
The passing score for the CCS is 300.
Competencies for CCS fall into four domains. Each domain accounts for a specific percentage of the total questions on the certification exam. See the Exam Content Outline below for greater detail.
Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) Exam Content Outline (Effective 7/1/20)
Domain 1 – Coding Knowledge and Skills (51.9%)
Tasks:
Domain 2 – Coding Documentation (10.1%)
Tasks:
Domain 3 – Provider Queries (8.9%)
Tasks:
Domain 4 – Regulatory Compliance (29.1%)
Tasks:
2021 Code Books will be used through 04/30/2022
All exams delivered on or BEFORE 04/30/2022 will be required to have the 2021 code books from the 2021 code book list below.
2022 Code Books will go into effect on 05/01/2022
All exams delivered on or AFTER 05/01/2022 will be required to have the 2022 code books from the 2022 code book list below.
On test day, all candidates must bring the correct codebooks to the test center. Candidates who do not have the correct codebooks will not be allowed to test and will forfeit their exam fees.
The full list of allowable codebooks can be found in the PDF below.
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