Certified Healthcare Access Manager: (CHAM)

What is CHAM?

   CHAM is a voluntary certification effort founded in 1977, the Certified Healthcare Access Manager program, formerly the Accredited Access Manager (AAM), is designed to elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate those who demonstrate knowledge essential to the practice of patient access services.

If you have made the commitment to make patient access services your career, you should consider obtaining your CHAM. You will gain:
 

• Expanded knowledge - Gain in-depth insights into every aspect of patient access management
• National professional recognition - Supervisors, peers, staff, and volunteer leaders all value the CHAM designation

The Exam

The examination is objective in nature and questions are multiple choice. The CHAM examination has 100 questions in three sections:
CATEGORY # QUESTIONS

1. Pre-Encounter: 32
2. Encounter: 28
3. Future Development: 40

One must correctly answer 75 percent of the examination questions correctly in order to pass.

Topics Covered in the Exam

Candidates may expect the examination to measure their knowledge and skills in areas such as:

• Management concepts, theories, and principles, including management development
• Patient access services departmental operations including admissions and registration, Departmental Organization and Operation, as well as related policies and procedures
• Basic healthcare accounting and budgeting concepts, theories, and principles
• Laws which directly affect the management of patient access services, patients rights and advanced directives
• Utilization review, quality assurance, medical records, patient accounting and collection responsibilities related to Patient Access Services
• Human Resources issues
• Information Systems basic tools and terminology
• NAHAM Access Model
• Governmental issues......Federal, State, and Local authority and regulations
• Healthcare Delivery System's Organization......Governance and management, medical staff regulations and composition, policies and procedures
• JCAHO
• Insurance, verification, pre-admission review, pre-authorization, contracts, HMO arrangements, third-party sources of coverage, etc
• CMS (HCFA) regulations
• Any topics relative to the successful and efficient management of access areas in Admissions and Registration Departments.

Subject to change, the following more specific examination topics are included for the candidate's attention:

Access Management

• Census and Related Statistics: e.g. Patient Days, Length of Stay, and Associated Computations
• Isolation Techniques
• Medicare Regulations, Policies & Procedures
• ADT Functions
• Scheduling
• HIPAA
• Patient Rights and Responsibilities
• Patient Relations
• Advance Directives
• Consents
• Compliance
• EMTALA

Management

• Total Quality Improvement/Continuous Improvement Process
• Computers ... Mainframe and Personal Computer Applications
• Communications
• Quality Improvement
• Risk Management
• Staff Development
• Staff Relations
• Employment Issues: hiring, Wage and Hours, Workers Comp.
• NLRB
• Management Trends and Techniques
• Civil Rights
• ADA
• FMLA
• OSHA

Finance

• Insurance Requirement
• UB92
• COB
• Patient Accounting
• Credit and Collections
• Financial Counseling
• Budgeting
• PPS
• Return on Investment
• Financial Statements

Health Information Management (AKA Medical Records)

• Medical Terminology
• CMS (HCFA)
• DRGs
• ICD9 Coding
• Medical Terminology
• JCAHO regs on Information Management
• Correct Coding Initiative
• Release of information