NAHAM announces new access credential
The National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) in Washington, DC, is offering a new technical certification, the Certified Healthcare Access Associate (CHAA).
The certification, designed to recognize the professional competency of access services line staff, is the only nationally recognized certification of its kind, according to NAHAM president Karen McKinley, RN, CHAM. Now in the pilot stage, the certification will be available in January 2000.
The CHAA examination, she notes, will include questions regarding:
• admissions and registration;
• billing, insurance, and financial information;
• patient rights and responsibilities;
• customer service;
• laws and regulations that affect patient access services;
• Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requirements;
• Health Care Financing Administration regulations;
• computer skills;
• total quality management.
"The examination’s content is dynamic, just as the demands and qualifications change in access services," says McKinley, senior director of system access for Penn State Geisinger Health System.
The exam costs $75, which includes a study guide that can serve as an ongoing reference tool, and multiple employees may be tested at the same time, she notes. Line staff taking the examination do not have to be NAHAM members, and there is no recertification. For access personnel at the management level, NAHAM offers the Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM) certification.
[For more details, contact NAHAM at (202) 857-1125 or visit www.naham.org.]
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