CHAM study guide
CHAM · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM) is a certification offered by the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) for management-level professionals in patient access. According to NAHAM, the credential recognizes experienced leaders who have the knowledge, skills, and commitment to manage Patient Access departments and teams at the highest standards. NAHAM positions CHAM as an advancement step for Patient Access careers and notes that certified professionals earn higher salaries, perform at a higher level, and take greater ownership of their careers. This guide is independent study material and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NAHAM. The CHAM study guide has 4 sections and about 1,493 words.
01Patient Access Management
Patient Access Management tests the front-end processes that create a clean financial and clinical record before service: scheduling, pre-registration, identity and eligibility verification, benefits and coordination of benefits (COB), prior authorization, medical necessity screening, consent, financial counseling, and point-of-service collections. The exam expects you to connect each step to downstream claim accuracy and patient experience.
372 words, about 2 min02Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue Cycle Management tests how patient access work becomes a paid, compliant claim. Expect questions on charge capture and the chargemaster, coding and billing interfaces, claim scrubbing and submission, remittance posting, denial prevention and management, patient balances, and the metrics that show whether the cycle is healthy.
365 words, about 2 min03Compliance and Regulatory
Compliance and Regulatory tests the legal and ethical rules that shape access work: HIPAA privacy and security, EMTALA, Medicare Secondary Payer, Advance Beneficiary Notice requirements, consent, and basic fraud, waste, and abuse awareness. Questions often place a routine registration task inside a regulatory conflict.
402 words, about 2 min04Leadership and Operations
Leadership and Operations tests how access managers organize people, workflows, technology, and measures so service is timely, accurate, and financially sound. Expect questions on staffing to demand, productivity, training and competency, quality audits, patient experience, change management, vendor oversight, and dashboard interpretation.
354 words, about 2 min