ABA HALM study plan

Map the statutory and regulatory hierarchy that governs health care entities, from federal statutes down to agency guidance

Define the core health law statutes (licensure, EMTALA, fraud and abuse, privacy) and state one operational duty each imposes

Distinguish the roles of federal, state, and accrediting bodies in setting and enforcing health care requirements

Build a one-page reference of key regulatory terms and their sources

Explain the structure of the fraud and abuse laws (Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark, False Claims Act) and how they interact

Identify the elements of a compliance program and match each to a governing authority or guidance source

Differentiate civil, criminal, and administrative enforcement mechanisms and their consequences

Apply the physician self-referral rules to a hypothetical arrangement and justify the conclusion

Interpret the Privacy and Security Rules' scope, permitted uses and disclosures, and minimum necessary standard

Distinguish breach notification obligations and the criteria for risk assessment

Describe enforcement trends and penalties for privacy and security violations

Draft a corrective action plan responding to a simulated privacy incident

Design a compliance work plan that assigns monitoring, auditing, and education responsibilities

Evaluate a billing compliance risk area and propose an audit sampling approach

Connect compliance controls to operational workflows such as coding, credentialing, and contracting

Prepare for the midpoint by consolidating domains 1 and 2 into a review outline

Compare organizational structures and governance models and their operational implications

Outline the credentialing and privileging process and identify common failure points

Analyze staffing, scheduling, and workflow design decisions for efficiency and quality impact

Interpret performance metrics and propose operational improvements based on them

Trace the reimbursement pathway from coding and charge capture through claim submission and payment

Differentiate payment methodologies (fee-for-service, capitation, bundled, value-based) and their financial incentives

Identify key contract terms in payer and vendor agreements and assess their risk allocation

Calculate revenue-cycle metrics such as denial rate and days in accounts receivable from sample data

Describe board fiduciary duties and the governance oversight responsibilities for compliance and quality

Apply an ethical decision-making framework to a conflict-of-interest scenario

Explain the elements of an enterprise risk management program and how risks are prioritized

Design a quality improvement initiative using a recognized methodology and define its measures

Synthesize all six domains into an integrated outline that links legal requirements to operational and financial practice

Complete timed practice questions and categorize misses by domain

Re-review the two weakest domains identified by practice performance

Finalize a test-day strategy covering pacing, question triage, and flagging