Certified Documentation Improvement Practitioner (CDIP®)

A strong clinical documentation integrity (CDI) program makes a difference in achieving the goals of RAC audits, ARRA/HITECH, and other important initiatives to improve the quality of healthcare. In response to industry demand, the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM) developed the CDIP credential.

AHIMA supports quality documentation and the integrity of the patient’s health record through gold-standard CDI education, training, and testing. Professionals who hold AHIMA’s CDIP credential show that they are:

Knowledgeable and competent in high-quality clinical documentation within patient health records
Leaders and role models in the health informatics and information management community
Competent in capturing documentation necessary to fully communicate patients’ health status and conditions
Experts in the industry

CDIP certification supports:

Earning potential
Opportunity for career advancement
Opportunity for professional connections

Eligibility

To sit for the CDIP exam, candidates must meet one of these eligibility requirements:

Hold an RHIA®, RHIT®, CCS®, CCS-P®, RN, MD, or DO and have two years of experience in CDI
Hold an associate’s degree or higher, have three (3) years of experience in CDI, and have completed coursework in Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology

Eligibility Request for Reconsideration

Applicants who are notified that they do not meet the eligibility requirements may request reconsideration of this decision by sending a written notice to the Director, Certifications within 30 days of communication of the adverse eligibility decision. The Director, Certifications will review the request for reconsideration and will make a decision regarding eligibility. No new or additional information may be submitted with the request. The request for reconsideration will be reviewed within 45 days of receipt. Written notice of the decision will be sent to the applicant within 30 days of the review.

Submitting an Application

Earlier this year AHIMA began taking steps to better protect your data and improve the security and privacy of customer information. As part of this effort, effective November 1st we will no longer accept paper exam applications. In addition, after December 1 we will no longer accept paper checks.

We will be transitioning to an ACH system at the beginning of 2020, which will allow you to pay via electronic fund transfer. Until we make this transition, we will only accept credit cards.

You can complete an online application at https://my.ahima.org/certification/getcertified

If you have questions please contact info@ahima.org

Submitting an Application

Before submitting an application, carefully review the information contained in this guide. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure eligibility before submitting the application. Applicants who are determined to be ineligible and submit an ineligible application or request withdrawal of their application, will receive a refund of the application fee minus a $75 processing fee.

Applicants may register online.

Exam Fees

Premier Member Price: $246.05
Member Price: $259
Non-member price: $329

Exam Application Checklist

Read Candidate Guide
Apply for exam
Upon receipt of authorization to test (ATT), read it completely
Schedule exam with Pearson Vue?
Verify what form(s) of Identification are needed at the testing center
Verify time and date of exam

Eligibility Period

A candidate’s eligibility period is defined in the Authorization to Test letter (ATT) as a four-month window in which candidates are required to schedule their exam appointment. Candidates who fail to schedule an examination appointment within their eligibility period indicated in their ATT will forfeit their application fee. A complete application and examination fee are required to reapply for the examination.

Candidates arriving at the test center 15 minutes after the scheduled appointment will not be allowed to test and will forfeit the testing fee. A complete application and examination fee are required to reapply for the examination.

Preparing for the CDIP Exam

To fully prepare for the CDIP exam, candidates may find it helpful to become familiar with the following information.

Exam Specifications

The exam is timed for 3 hours. It consists of 140 multiple-choice questions.

Exam Content

AHIMA certification examinations are based on an explicit set of competencies. Competencies for the CDIP exam were determined through a job analysis conducted with practitioners.

Competencies for CDIPs fall into six domains. Each domain accounts for a specific percentage of the questions on the certification exam, as shown below. Download the CDIP Exam Content Outline for information about the competencies within each domain. The exam tests candidates only on content pertaining to the competencies shown.

Domain 1 – Clinical Coding Practice (22-26%)

Domain 2 – Leadership (17-22%)

Domain 3 – Record Review and Document Clarification (24-28%)

Domain 4 – CDI Metrics and Statistics (14-18%)

Domain 5 – Research and Education (11-15%)

Domain 6 – Compliance (4-8%)

Additional Information

Recommended Resources for Study

Candidate Guide (see pp. 7 and 36-37 for information on the CCS-P credential and exam)

CDIP Exam Content Outline

Cognitive Levels

Certification Exam Pass Rates

Exam Bulk Orders

Instructions for Bulk Ordering

Organizations who purchase exams or order exams in bulk, complete the following steps:

Complete an order form and email it to arinfo@ahima.org.
Once your form is sent, you will receive an invoice from AHIMA within 72 business hours. This invoice will require payment within 7 business days from the date of the invoice. Payment will be processed within 10 business days.
Once AHIMA receives your payment and it is processed successfully, you will receive an e-mail with a campaign code for each exam purchased via email within 10 business days. (Example: If you purchase 15 exams, you will receive 15 campaign codes).
Each campaign code is good for one time use only and customers will have up to a year to use.
The campaign codes should be distributed to the individuals taking the exam. Please note: It is important to make the customer aware that the code becomes active once they submit their exam order. Once the exam order is placed, the customer will have 4 months from the order date to take the exam.
If an Early testing form is needed, please download the form via the website, and upload the completed form to the early testing section of the application. This form should be uploaded at the time of the application.
If the customer already has an AHIMA account, a second account does not have to be created. To create a new account please go to https://my.ahima.org/login?return=%2faccount.
Once the account is created, the customer should click on certification and select their country. Once the country is selected, the customer should select the exam they are interested in.
The customer will be prompted to complete the application.
Once the application is complete, it will direct the customer to the payment page.
The customer should enter their campaign code in the promotional code box and press submit.
After they submit their order, the customer will receive a confirmation email explaining the next steps.
If you have applied for the RHIT or RHIA exam and it is not an early test; your exam will be approved upon receival and acceptance of your official transcripts.
An Authorization to Test letter will come directly from Pearson VUE within 5 business days via email.

BULK ORDER FORM

Organizations who DO NOT purchase Exams
If you do not purchase exams for your students or staff the above instructions do not apply. Students now have the capability to upload their completed Early Testing Form (if applicable) to the early testing section of the application. This form should be uploaded at the time of the application.

**PLEASE NOTE** Submission of official transcripts and certification of completion attestation are not affected by this change, and the normal process should continue.

International Exam

The CDIP exam is only offered outside the U.S. at specific times during the year. Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. The exam dates for 2019 are:

Event Testing Dates for 2020:

February 1, 2020 – February 28, 2020
April 1, 2020 – April 30, 2020
July 1, 2020 – July 31, 2020
October 15, 2020 – November 30, 2020

Find a Test Center
Exam Preparation Recommended Resources
AHIMA International Certification FAQs

Directions for Applying for your CDIP exam:

You can complete an online application at https://my.ahima.org/certification/getcertified.
Candidates may only test in their country of residence. For example: If you reside in India you will only be allowed to test at a Pearson VUE test center in India. Candidates will not be permitted to sit for their exam if they schedule their exam outside of their country of residence and will forfeit their exam fees.
Candidates will be given a one year eligibility period due to the limited time given for each exam administration. If a candidate does not use the eligibility the exam fees will be forfeited.
Candidates will need to ensure they have the correct codebooks by reviewing the list of allowable codebooks.
Candidates must present the correct Primary and Secondary Identification at the time of testing. If the identification is not correct, all exam fees will be forfeited.
Please allow 5 -7 business days for processing of all applications.
Please thoroughly read through the International Candidate Guide.

After you submit your exam application and your application fee is processed, you will receive an Authorization to Test letter with instruction on how to select your exam appointment.

Retest Policy (For testing outside the US only):
Candidates who have taken and failed the examination must wait a minimum of 165 days before your application will be processed. To retake the examination, candidates must resubmit a new application with appropriate exam application fee.