Search
Member Login

Questions about Specialization

The Academy does not administer the exam. This information is being provided as a service. The academy cannot resolve problems related to specialty certification. If you have questions about your application, please contact ABPTS (American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties) at [email protected] or 800/999-APTA (2782), ext. 8520.  

Why is the cost of specialization so high?

  • The current cost of sitting for the specialist examination is $1300 (Application Review fee $500, Examination fee $800) for APTA members and $2370 (Application Review fee $845, Examination fee $1525) for non-members.
  • These fees cover the costs of reviewing applications, developing the examination, and the process of reviewing the examination to determine the passing score. This process is supported by ABPTS staff at the APTA, employees of a test development company, and volunteers who are cardiovascular and pulmonary clinical specialists.
  • Yes, it is a large amount of money upfront to sit for the specialist examination. Once you pass the exam, your specialty certification is good for 10 years. If you are a member of the APTA that’s only $130 per year to have this recognition.

How is the examination developed? 

  • Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Clinical Specialists (also known as the Specialization Academy of Content Experts) undergo specialized training in item writing. Items they propose are reviewed by the Committee of Content Experts, who have extensive experience in writing and revising items. Finally, items are reviewed by the Specialty Council for final approval. The review process ensures that good, fair questions are added to the item bank in alignment with the exam content outline. All members of this process are volunteers.
  • After the exam is administered, the exam administration team (including a psychometrician) carefully reviews the statistics of all items, appropriately addressing any items with problematic statistics with the Specialty Council. Then, a group of Cardiovascular & Pulmonary specialists is recruited to attend a “Standard Setting” meeting in which a standardized process, taking approximately 8 hours, is completed to review all exam items and recommend a passing score for the exam. The recommended passing score is shared with the ABPTS board. At the Spring ABPTS Meeting, the board sets the passing score, and exam takers are notified.

 What does specialization do for me?

  • In general, the benefits of specialization go towards demonstrating to your patients, your peers and the medical community that you have done the due diligence of going that next step in your education and treatment skills to care for a special population of patients.
  • Specialization shows that you have a drive to advance and succeed in an area you have shown a great deal of interest in.
  • In some cases employers will pay to have an employee go through the process. In other cases those that have passed the specialist exam have been given bonuses and/or promoted by their employer.
  • Specialization can also open other opportunities for employment such as teaching or consultation.
  • In the future there may come a time when reimbursement payment may be similar to that of physician specialists. It may be that a specialist would be reimbursed more than the a non-specialist who may be paid less, or not at all.

 Isn’t the CCS more geared towards, and focuses on, outpatient rehab? 

  • No. While many CCS’s work in an outpatient environment, there are also an equal amount that work in the inpatient setting.
  • As the length-of-stay continues to decrease and more patients are discharged earlier than in the recent past, CCS’s are regularly in the ICU and step-down settings seeing patients. The importance of early intervention with such a limited time-frame speaks to the importance of having a specialist seeing these patients.
  • The home health setting is also becoming an area where CCS’s are also being seen more frequently.
  • Specialization can demonstrate a commitment to cardiovascular and pulmonary care beyond the basic levels in all of these settings.

What are the additional requirements to apply to sit for the CCS Exam? 

  • Many specialty certifications require additional requirements beyond clinical hours to be eligible to sit for the exam. For this exam specifically, all applicants must complete the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) certification. They must also submit a Data Analysis Project or a Case Study. Information about those requirements can be found in the candidate guide, which is published annually.