What is the CDIP exam?
The CDIP is AHIMA's clinical documentation integrity credential. The exam runs 140 questions in three hours - 106 scored and 34 unscored pretest items - across five domains led by clinical coding practice and record review. You need a 300 on AHIMA's scaled system to pass, and the exam costs $259 for AHIMA members or $329 for non-members. US-located candidates can sit it online from home through Pearson OnVUE or at a Pearson test center.
How is the CDIP exam structured?
AHIMA's official CDIP page publishes the format plainly. The exam has 140 questions in total: 106 scored items and 34 pretest items. Pretest items are unscored questions randomly distributed through the exam for data collection - they look identical to scored questions, so you cannot tell which ones count. The sitting lasts three hours, and the passing score is 300 on AHIMA's scaled system.
The exam software lets you move back and forth between items as long as an answer has been selected, flag items for review, and return to flagged items before submitting as time allows. No books or resources are required - or permitted - on exam day. With 34 pretest items in the mix, the largest unscored share among the three online AHIMA exams, pacing matters: do not let one unfamiliar item eat the minutes that scored questions need.
What are the five CDIP domains?
AHIMA publishes five CDIP domains: Clinical Coding Practice, Education and Leadership Development, Record Review and Document Clarification, CDI Metrics and Statistics, and Compliance. The exam page does not publish a percentage weight per domain, so nobody can honestly tell you one domain is safe to skip.
Read as a job description, the domains map the CDI role end to end: reviewing records for documentation gaps, querying providers for clarification, understanding the coding rules that make documentation billable, tracking CDI program metrics, and keeping the whole function compliant. AHIMA's CDIP preparation course is built as five modules against these five domains with a practice exam included.
Who is eligible for the CDIP?
AHIMA lists three eligibility routes. You can sit the CDIP if you hold an associate's degree or higher; if you have completed the academic requirements of an HIM post-baccalaureate certificate program approved by CAHIIM; or if you already hold a CCS, RHIT, or RHIA credential.
On top of eligibility, AHIMA recommends - but does not require - a minimum of two years of clinical documentation integrity experience and coursework in topics like ICD coding, healthcare regulations, and anatomy and physiology. Candidates who are denied on eligibility have 30 days to request reconsideration by email.
Can you take the CDIP online from home?
Yes, if you are located in the United States. Pearson VUE's AHIMA program page states that the CHDA, CHPS, and CDIP exams are available in person at a Pearson test center or online with OnVUE in the comfort of your home for candidates located in the United States. AHIMA's CDIP page carries the same banner: online proctored exam now available, with the choice between a Pearson VUE authorized test center and OnVUE at home.
The restriction that matters: Pearson VUE says that, due to in-country regulations, the online proctoring option is not offered to test takers located in Japan, China, South Korea, Slovenia, and OFAC countries (Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria). Everyone else outside the United States takes the exam at a Pearson test center.
The at-home route runs on Pearson's published OnVUE minimums for AHIMA: Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher, a working webcam, microphone, and speaker with no headphones, one display only, at least 6 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up, and every other application closed. Check-in opens 30 minutes early with technology checks, ID and selfie photos, and a 360-degree room scan. A digital whiteboard is provided in the exam; physical notes and writing materials are prohibited.
How much does the CDIP exam cost?
The CDIP costs $259 for AHIMA members and $329 for non-members, and AHIMA's page states test retake fees are the same as the cost of the exam. The fee buys one attempt; the delivery route - OnVUE at home or a Pearson test center - does not change the published price.
The retake rules are where the budget bites. After a failed attempt you submit a new application with the full fee again, and CDIP candidates must wait 90 days before the application is approved and a retake can be scheduled - AHIMA states it cannot waive retest periods. Two other fees to know: the $75 processing fee on refund requests, and the forfeit rule - Pearson VUE's program page warns that candidates who do not schedule and sit the exam before the four-month eligibility end date lose the exam fee.
How hard is the CDIP exam?
AHIMA publishes the numbers, and they are middling. First-time tester pass rates ran 68% in 2025 (591 testers), 68% in 2024 (433), and 65% in 2023 (412) - roughly one in three first attempts fails. As of the end of 2025 there were 2,913 certified CDIP professionals, the largest holder base among the three online AHIMA exams (CHDA had 356, CHPS 715).
Three structural factors drive the difficulty: the five-domain breadth with no published weights, the 34 unscored pretest items mixed invisibly into the exam, and the three-hour clock for 140 items - about 77 seconds per question. Preparation that mirrors the real mix - coding practice, record review, metrics, compliance - beats re-reading a single domain.
How do you schedule the CDIP exam?
The process runs in four steps on AHIMA's page. First, confirm you meet one of the three eligibility routes. Second, create a MyAHIMA account and submit the application online with all fees; AHIMA reviews eligibility and issues an Authorization to Test letter, which Pearson VUE requires before scheduling. Third, schedule with Pearson VUE within 120 days of eligibility - the ATT letter carries your eligibility number. Fourth, sit the exam, at home via OnVUE or at a Pearson test center.
The scheduling rules have teeth. Free cancellation or rescheduling is allowed up to 15 business days before the appointment; inside that window a fee applies, and rescheduling is not permitted inside 24 hours. Miss the four-month eligibility end date without sitting, and the exam fee is forfeited.
The Short Version
The CDIP is 140 questions in three hours - 106 scored, 34 pretest - across five domains, with 300 to pass, a $259 member or $329 non-member fee, and a 90-day retake wait at full fee. US-located candidates can sit it online from home through Pearson OnVUE; everyone else uses a Pearson test center. First-time pass rates sit at 65-68%, so preparation against the real domain mix is the difference.
If you want the sitting handled by someone who runs these every week, Exam Assist handles the exam sitting end to end, and the service fee is due only after the agreed result posts. Start with the take my CDIP exam page.