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Exam Overview
About the CCS Exam
The CCS exam measures mastery-level coding in the hospital setting: assigning ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes for inpatient stays and ICD-10-CM and CPT/HCPCS codes for hospital outpatient services, together with the documentation, query, compliance, and technology knowledge that accurate facility coding requires.
Exam at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Administered by | AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) |
| Delivery | Computer-based, at Pearson VUE test centers |
| Total items | 107: 97 scored and 10 unscored pretest items |
| Item types | 86 multiple-choice items and 21 case-scenario items |
| Time | 4 hours |
| Passing score | Scaled score of 300 |
| Fee | $299 for AHIMA members; $399 for non-members |
| Codebooks | Bring the approved current-year ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and CPT Professional books from AHIMA's codebook list |
| Retake | New application and fee; at least 30 days between attempts |
Content Outline
AHIMA's content outline divides the exam into five domains. The weights below show the share of scored items from each domain.
Codebook Rules
The CCS is an open-codebook exam. AHIMA publishes a list of approved ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and CPT books for each testing period, and test-center staff check the books against that list. A candidate who arrives with the wrong books cannot test and forfeits the fee, so check the list on ahima.org when you register.
Recommended Eligibility
AHIMA recommends, but does not require, one of the following before testing:
- Coding coursework plus one year of coding experience
- Two years of related coding experience
- The CCA credential plus one year of coding experience
- Another coding credential plus one year of coding experience
- The CCS-P, RHIT, or RHIA credential
Keeping the Credential
The CCS is maintained over a two-year recertification cycle by earning 20 continuing education units (CEUs) and paying the recertification fee.
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