The Certified Healthcare Billing and Management Executive (CHBME) credential is offered by the Healthcare Billing and Management Association (HBMA). As an organization HBMA advocates a respectable standard of professionalism, ethics, and ability, and those who earn the CHBME credential reflect these values.
Sponsored School(s)
Earning the CHBME credential involves going through an education process followed by testing. Throughout this time the prospective candidate will need to also be a member of HBMA. The process works like this:
- CHBME candidates sign up for HBMA membership
- Once a member, candidates can apply for the CHBME and begin their education
- The education segment must be completed in three years, and all the while the candidate must renew his or her CHBME status annually in addition to keeping a current HBMA membership
- Once the candidate has completed the required 60 credits, he or she can take the 100-question exam
- Upon passing, the candidate will have earned the CHBME credential; re-certification takes place every three years and involves completing at least 60 Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
CHBME Education and CEUs
HBMA requires CHBME candidates to obtain at least 60 credit hours of approved education to be eligible to take the certification examination. Approved education comes in two basic forms: HBMA-sponsored hours which must make up at least 60 percent of the education (at least 36 credits), and approved non-HBMA-sponsored programs which can be no more than 40 percent (24 credits) of the education.
HBMA-Sponsored Education
Credit hours can be earned from many types of HBMA-sanctioned activities, some of which are mandatory while others have credit limits:
- Attendance of a spring or fall annual meeting – candidates must attend at least one live HBMA conference
- Completion of webinars
- Viewing of recorded conferences
- Attendance of a Compliance Conference
- HBMA Board or Committee members earn three credits for each year of serving, with a maximum of nine credits in a three-year certification cycle
- HBMA Course Instructors can earn three credits for each hour they teach, up to a maximum of 27 credits in a certification cycle
- Candidates can earn three credits for each article they have published in an HBMA publication
- Candidates can earn one credit for each quiz they complete in the HBMA publication Journal, with a maximum of six per year
Approved Non-HBMA-Sponsored Programs
This category of education includes programs that are provided by these professional organizations:
- American Academy of Professional Coders – AAPC
- American Health Information Management Association – AHIMA
- Medical Group Management Association – MGMA
- Healthcare Financial Management Association – HFMA
- Radiology Business Management Association – RBMA
- Health Care Compliance Association – HCCA
- American Chiropractic Association – ACA
- American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management – AAHAM
- Programs provided by local Medicare carriers or medical specialty associations
Continuing Education Units – CEUs
To be eligible for re-certification, CHBME holders must earn another 60 credit hours of education according to the same guidelines they followed for their initial certification, with one exception: CHBME holders must attend two live HBMA conferences each three-year re-certification cycle, and one of these must be a spring or fall national conference.
Other Professional Certifications
The CHBME is one of several medical billing and coding professional credentials, part of a category that also includes:
- Certified Professional Coder (CPC) – sponsored by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC)
- Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialist (CMRS) – sponsored by the American Medical Billing Association (AMBA)
- Registered Health Information Administrator, Registered Health Information Technician, Certified Coding Associate, and Certified Coding Specialist – also known as the RHIA, RHIT, CCA, and CCS credentials, respectively, which are all sponsored by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)