C e r t i f i c a t i o n C e n t r a

l

Maintaining Your CHAM & CHAA Credential:

A Step-by-Step GuidePresented by Elizabeth Reason, CHAM

NAHAM’s Certification Maintenance Philosophy:

Fulfilling certification maintenance requirements demonstrates one's efforts to maintain continued competence in the field of patient access services and the desire to keep a certification credential like the CHAM and the CHAA.

NAHAM requires those holding the CHAM and CHAA credentials to participate in the Certification Maintenance Program in order to retain their certification. Honorary members of NAHAM are exempt from the certification maintenance requirement.

As a credentialing body, NAHAM requires certification maintenance in part because the knowledge and skills required for competent occupational and professional performance change over time. Additionally, because the certification maintenance process encourages certificants to remain current in their field, it increases confidence among the public, employers, and other stakeholders.

Keeping Up With Your Credential…

CHAM Credential Earned . . . CE HoursRequired Earn CE Between . . . Submit By

An odd numbered year 2011 or earlier 60 Hours June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2013 June 30, 2013

An even numbered year 2012 or earlier 60 Hours June 1, 2012 - May 31, 2014 June 30, 2014

An odd numbered year 2013 or earlier 60 Hours June 1, 2013 - May 31, 2015 June 30, 2015

When to Submit… The chart below illustrates the timelines associated with certification maintenance. Please note that no CHAM’s will recertify in 2012 as we implement our new maintenance cycle.

Certified Healthcare Access Manager:

Certified Healthcare Access Associate:

CHAA Credential Earned . . . CE Hours Required Earn CE Between . . . Submit By

An even numbered year 2010 or earlier 30 Hours April 1, 2010 - March 31,

2012 April 30, 2012

An odd numbered year 2011 or earlier 30 Hours April 1, 2011 - March 31,

2013 April 30, 2013

An even numbered year 2012 or earlier 30 Hours April 1, 2012 - March 31,

2014 April 30, 2014

An odd numbered year 2013 or earlier 30 Hours April 1, 2013 - March 31,

2015 April 30, 2015

REMEMBER: NAHAM makes a reasonable attempt to notify certificants of their certification maintenance responsibilities through the Connections Newsletter, via broadcast email and through the Certification Central resource; however, it is ultimately the certified individual’s responsibility to know when they need to renew their certification as well as all of the processes, fees, and policies associated with successful certification maintenance.

What is a Contact Hour?A contact hour is defined as any learning activity you have completed going towards your professional development.

More specifically…

• Where the certificate holder is the learner and where the activity is directly or indirectly related to the practice of patient access services;

• That results in the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, or the enhancement of current knowledge and skills;

• There the certificate holder is responsible for determining that the professional development activity is appropriate, relevant, and meaningful to patient access services;

• In which the certificate holder's attendance can be documented by a third party such as an employer, educational institution, or sponsoring organization.

Collecting Your Hours…

Presentations, Publication, Instruction Design and Delivery & Leadership & Participation:

Education Related Development:Sample Activities Example/Information Contact Hours You May Claim

Attendance at NAHAM's Annual Conference & Exposition (education sessions, keynote addresses, networking sessions, etc.)

NAHAM's 38th Annual Conference will be held in San Diego, May 8 - 11, 2012. Visit www.naham.org/conference

1.0 contact hour per clock hour (note: at least and possibly more than 18 hours available each conference)

Employer or industry sponsored educational program or class related to health care field.

User group meetings; motivational speakers; Leadership or Management Institute; soft skills including communication, delegation, dealing with difficult people etc.

1.0 contact hour per clock hour

CHAM/CHAA Certification Once you earn your CHAM or CHAA you may report this as a professional development activity one time

6.0 contact hours. Certificants mayclaim this only the first time you arerequired to renew your certification.

Sample Activities Example/Information Contact Hours You May Claim

Development of training or education materials related to Patient Access Services

Creation of materials used to train staff on processes, software, hardware, etc.

1.0 contact hour per topic

Volunteer activities - community based Religious organization volunteer; youth organization; homeless shelter, etc.

5.0 contact hours per activity. Limit 5.0 per reporting cycle.

Below are examples from our Guide to Contact Hours chart to help guide you in gathering your professional development hours. This chart is not limited to the hours you can collect, but are some of the most common types of development activities.

Maintenance in Your Dashboard…

First Time to Certification Central but Already Certified? No Problem!

 1. Go to www.naham.org2. Go to right side of the page under “Sign in” 3. Your username is your email address (if NAHAM did not have one on file for

you, it is your first initial and last name, e.g. jdoe@email.com) 4. Your password is naham2011

You are now logged-in to Certification Central after you submit at step #4. You may go directly to https://certification.naham.org and view your dashboard!

You will log-in using this information you just created whenever you return to Certification Central in the future

In February 2012, NAHAM sent an email to all Certified non-members of NAHAM with their log-in information. The instructions are below:

Starting Your Renewal…Your Certification Central Home screen as it appears to those who hold the CHAA and/or CHAM Credential

Status of your renewal

Credential type

Enter credits earned

After clicking “enter credits” on the previous screen, you will see your CEU status. You may begin entering in hours as soon as you receive your credential by selecting your course type.

Enter Your CEU’s…

Enter personal CEU information and

click “insert”

Status

Certification Central keeps track of the hours you input and will let you know when you meet your CEU hour requirements!

Note: You are only able to submit your renewal application staring on

the first day of the renewal cycle.

Renewal Application

Click to continue renewal process

Your dashboard will then appear with your next steps on your Certification Maintenance Renewal.

Click to continue with your

maintenance application

On this section of the application, you will read and agree to NAHAM’s principle’s and code of conduct.

Enter your supervisor’s contact information and click “continue”

Forms of Payment…

Instant Payment…To complete your application, you may submit application fee by electronic check or credit card.

Paying by check has never been easier; simply print your invoice and mail to NAHAM with your payment.

Once payment is received your study guide will available via your dashboard inbox!

Check Payment…

Completed Application

Application Status

Please print receipt for your records

Once NAHAM approves your renewal application, you will receive an email stating your status as “Certified”, as well as have it reflected in your applicant home in Certification Central. Your new transcript will appear for the next upcoming cycle as well.

New expiration date

Questions? Comments?Thank you for viewing our tutorial on Certification Maintenance through our

new Certification Central! We hope that you found this a helpful overview of NAHAM’s new and personalized certification maintenance process.

If at any point you have questions regarding your eligibility, payment or CEU’s, you may contact NAHAM using the icons located at the bottom of

each screen.

We also welcome any feedback on your personalized certification experience!

As always, please feel free to contact us at (202) 367-1125 or info@naham.org