I have noticed posts on various Facebook coding groups about how they tab their books. In some, it looks like they tab pretty much every section. I have been researching it online and some sites say it's fine to do for sitting for certification exams, but you should remove them when going into an actual job because it sends a message of inexperience. Feedback please? I'm almost done with Module I and I am trying to figure all of this out. Thank you for any input.
Great question! I'll start by saying I wouldn't 'Tab' anything in a permanent way that you can't correct later when you don't need all those tabs.
I'll be watching this conversation. It's a good topic.
I found the CPT book from 2005 at my workplace and it used to have clearly labeled tabs on the side of the book, which I think makes finding the sections easier and quicker. Linda, are we allowed to write on temporary sticky tabs to label the CPT book like this for the certification exams?
I am curious about tabbing too. I saw pictures of someones book on a facebook page and it looked like she tabbed almost every section in all of her books. I am curious to see if this is helpful and if it is allowed when taking the CPC/CCS.
I have the 2015 CPT code book and the stickers for tabbing that book are located right in the front after the cover. You can remove any or all that you need and place them at the beginning of the section. When I was in Module II, I placed a tab at the section I was working on. By the end, my CPT book had tabs in all the major areas. I was considering not doing that, but now that I'm in Module III, I'm glad I did. It makes it easier to find the section I need when taking coding exams.
AHIMA does not allow any kind of handmade tabs, sticky notes, or loose materials. The PREPRINTED tabs in the front of your CPT book that can be stuck on the pages are not handmade, but are intended to be used with your CPT book, so they should be fine. You would not be able to use the blank ones if you wrote on them. Handwritten notes are acceptable as long as they are not copied guidelines or reference material.
The AAPC does allow handmade tabs that are inserted, stapled, pasted, mood, or tap ed as long as the intent of the tab is to mark a page with words or numbers, not to provide supplementary information. No materials other than tab dividers maybe inserted, stapled, pasted, or anything else in the books. Handwritten notes are acceptable, as long as they pertain to "daily coding activities."
As you can see, the organizations have slightly different requirements. If you use the preprinted tabs from the front of your CPT manual, you should be able to use them for both exams.
You can find the exam requirements on the organizations' websites. You definitely want to examine all that material closely well in advance of your exam.