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Study tips for HFMA Certifications?

I am about to study for my first HFMA Certification (CHFP) and my colleagues have provided me with the following list of study tips. I'll admit that it's been a long time since I've taken an exam....

For those of you that have taken our certifications, what other helpful tips can you add to this list? Please use the comments below to share your advice, I appreciate it!

  • Download and print the Key Concepts Guide. You can use this to take notes while taking the course. These notes cannot be used during the assessment. Not every certification has a key concepts guide (only Business of Health Care, Operational Excellence and CRCR).
  • Since 75% of our exam questions are based on the learning objectives, make sure you understand the learning objectives that are presented at the beginning of each course module. At the end of each course module, look and those objectives again and make sure you can achieve them (Recognize, Identify, etc.).
  • There are checkpoints to check your understanding in each course module. Be sure to answer those and if you get them wrong, understand why it was wrong.
  • Set aside time to study and review – uninterrupted, without distraction. If you’re multitasking while reviewing the course, you won’t retain the information.
  • Set aside time for the assessment. You have 90 minutes to answer 75 multiple choice questions for most of our certifications. Operational Excellence has 56 questions with 3 hours to answer them.
  • If possible, take the assessment on a computer with a wired connection. If your wifi is not strong, you’ll experience delays between questions.
  • You have the opportunity to flag questions so make your best guess and then if you have time at the end, you can review them. You’ll find out right away if you passed. The passing score is 70%. (Operational Excellence passing score is 65%).  If you didn’t pass, you can click on the Analysis tab to see your exam summary. It will tell you how you did on the questions from each unit. You can focus your studies while you wait for the 30 days until you’re eligible for another exam attempt.
  • Hi Melanie!

    Those are all great tips! I recently passed the CRCR and CSMC exams. I would suggest taking notes and doing a thorough review after each chapter to make sure not only the learning objectives, but main points that stand out to you are also understand.

    After all modules completed, then go back and complete the study guide (which was helpful when available) as a means of testing your knowledge, as well as brushing up on any concepts you may have missed. Even with all of that, I felt a lot of the test required me to rely on first hand experience gained from working in the industry. So I’d say knowledge, plus experience, is key.

    Good luck!

  • I obtained my CHFP, CRCR and CSBI last year and would add these tips:

    • Read the questions and answers carefully. That might seem like a gimme, but I have gotten tripped up more than once by a question that was "Which one of these is NOT blah blah blah." There are also some very crafty answers that are allllllmost correct but if you read on, there's a better answer. So read everything a few times. 
    • You have plenty of time to complete the exam, so take that time to read everything carefully.
    • Don't feel bad if you don't pass on the first try. I was sure I know the CRCR material cold and still failed on the first go. It's frustrating when you don't pass, but as Melanie mentioned, you do get insight into where you fell short, so don't fear the test. Go for it!
    • Talk to the experts around you. Some of the concepts discussed in these courses are hard to wrap your head around if you haven't applied them. The whole point of these courses is to learn things you can use, and talking with colleagues or friends in the field can only help enrich your knowledge.
  • Thanks so much for all of this helpful advice and , I really appreciate it!