Free AAPC Certified Physician Practice Manager exam Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the AAPC Certified Physician Practice Manager exam practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1A practice is comparing the clinical training categories of an MD and a DO. Which statement accurately describes their treatment authority at the level presented in AAPC's CPPM guide?

   1. A.Both may use accepted treatments, including medications and surgery.Correct answer: A
   2. B.Only the MD category includes treatment with prescription medications.
   3. C.Only the DO category includes treatment involving the musculoskeletal system.
   4. D.Neither category includes surgical treatment without a separate physician degree.

   Explanation: AAPC states, "Both MDs and DOs may use all accepted methods of treatment, including drugs and surgery." A is correct. B wrongly reserves drugs to MDs; C turns a DO emphasis into an exclusive practice category; D denies the surgical treatment expressly included for both.

   Reference: AAPC — 2026 Official CPPM Study Guide sample — Printed page 1, Physician and Non-Physician Practitioners

2. 2A billing supervisor deliberately avoids reviewing evidence that submitted Medicare claims may be false. Which statement about the civil False Claims Act is correct?

   1. A.Liability always requires an admission of a specific intent to defraud.
   2. B.Only personally entering a false code can create liability.
   3. C.Deliberate ignorance can satisfy the knowing standard.Correct answer: C
   4. D.Civil liability applies only after a criminal conviction.

   Explanation: CMS states that knowing includes "deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard". C is correct; A demands intent the civil FCA does not require, B excludes causing false submissions, and D makes a criminal conviction a prerequisite that the civil standard does not impose.

   Reference: CMS — Medicare Fraud & Abuse: Prevent, Detect, Report — Printed page 7

3. 3A team has planned a new patient check-in procedure and is entering the Do phase of PDCA. Which action fits this phase?

   1. A.Apply the untested procedure to every site permanently.
   2. B.Run a small-scale test of the change.Correct answer: B
   3. C.Declare success based on the written plan.
   4. D.End measurement until a complaint occurs.

   Explanation: ASQ states, "Do: Test the change. Carry out a small-scale study." B tests the planned change. A skips testing, C confuses a plan with evidence, and D prevents learning from the trial.

   Reference: ASQ — Plan-do-check-act cycle — The Plan-do-check-act Procedure

4. 4A clinician adds several pages of repetitive text to a visit note without changing the medically necessary work. What should determine the reported E/M level?

   1. A.The number of pages in the note
   2. B.The highest level the payer's system will accept
   3. C.The number of copied historical diagnoses
   4. D.The supported service and applicable level-selection criteriaCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: CMS states, "You don’t use the volume of documentation to decide the specific level of service to bill". D is correct. A substitutes length for service; B substitutes system acceptance, and C substitutes copied diagnoses for supported work.

   Reference: CMS — Evaluation and Management Services — Printed page 22

5. 5When is an individual account's revenue cycle resolved?

   1. A.When appointments, demographic data and insurance information have been entered for the visit
   2. B.When all insurance payments, adjustments, write-offs and patient payments reconcile the balanceCorrect answer: B
   3. C.When documented services have been coded and the initial claim has been transmitted to the payer
   4. D.When care has been documented and the clinical encounter has been closed by the treating provider

   Explanation: AAPC states, “The cycle does not end until the account balance is resolved”. B includes complete financial reconciliation. A completes registration, C initial billing, and D clinical documentation; those are real earlier milestones, not final resolution of the account balance.

   Reference: AAPC — 2026 Official CPPM Study Guide sample — Printed page 27, Chapter 3

6. 6A practice identifies inadequate staff cross-training and a new competing clinic. In a SWOT analysis, how should these factors be classified, respectively?

   1. A.Weakness and threatCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Threat and weakness
   3. C.Weakness and opportunity
   4. D.Strength and threat

   Explanation: The Minnesota Department of Health organizes SWOT around “Internal” and “External” factors. It describes weaknesses as “Characteristics of the organization that might hinder successful outcome / reaching goals” and threats as “Environmental factors that might prevent successful outcome”. Inadequate cross-training is an internal limitation; the competitor is an external adverse factor. A is correct. B reverses the origins; C labels the adverse competitor as helpful; D labels the training deficit as helpful.

   Reference: Minnesota Department of Health — SWOT Analysis — How to conduct a SWOT analysis, Internal and External categories

7. 7A manager needs measured durations for registration, rooming, and checkout to identify where patient visits are delayed. Which method directly provides these data?

   1. A.Time and motion studyCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Patient satisfaction questionnaire
   3. C.SWOT analysis
   4. D.Financial ratio analysis

   Explanation: AHRQ defines a time and motion study as “an observation method used to determine the timing and duration of tasks or procedures.” A directly measures the steps. B captures reported experience, C strategic factors, and D financial relationships; none directly times the workflow.

   Reference: AHRQ — Time and Motion Study — Description

8. 8Before comparing EHR vendors, departments disagree about what information the system must support. Which selection task should the practice address first?

   1. A.Defining the practice’s clinical and administrative information needsCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Estimating the vendor’s installation and ongoing charges
   3. C.Appointing a visible champion for the implementation
   4. D.Assessing employees’ willingness to adopt a new system

   Explanation: ONC identifies “Incomplete understanding of your organization's information needs” as a roadblock. A resolves the stated disagreement about what the system must support. B addresses cost, C sponsorship, and D willingness; those are legitimate readiness concerns but do not themselves define the required information functions.

   Reference: ONC — Health IT Playbook: Electronic Health Records — 1.2 Select an EHR, implementation roadblocks

9. 9During an unplanned visit, a hospital needs to discover records held by outside providers. Which HIE function fits that need?

   1. A.Directed exchange to a selected recipient
   2. B.Query-based exchange to discover patient informationCorrect answer: B
   3. C.Internal archiving of local records
   4. D.Local scanning of paper forms

   Explanation: ONC describes query-based exchange as the “ability to find and/or request information on a patient from other providers, often used for unplanned care”. B fits discovery of outside records. A sends to a known recipient; C retrieves only local records; D digitizes paper without discovering external records.

   Reference: ONC — What Is HIE? — Types of Health Information Exchange

10. 10A business impact analysis identifies access to current patient results as time-sensitive and the promotional website as deferrable. Which principle should guide IT restoration priority?

    1. A.Restore resources supporting the time-sensitive business function first.Correct answer: A
    2. B.Restore whichever resource had the highest original purchase price first.
    3. C.Restore whichever resource received the most recent upgrade first.
    4. D.Restore whichever resource has the most users, regardless of criticality, first.

    Explanation: Ready.gov states IT recovery priorities should be consistent with business-function priorities from the business impact analysis. Its instruction is, “Priorities for IT recovery should be consistent with the priorities for recovery of business functions and processes that were developed during the business impact analysis.” A follows that analysis. B ranks cost, C equipment recency, and D headcount without criticality; none follows the established business recovery need.

    Reference: Ready.gov — IT Disaster Recovery Plan — IT Recovery