What Is A CHA?

CHA Defined: The Certified Hospice Administrator Credential

On this site, CHA stands for Certified Hospice Administrator. It is a professional certification for people who lead, manage, or help run hospice organizations. The acronym is shared by several unrelated credentials in other industries, so it helps to be precise: everything on this page concerns the hospice-administration credential, not any other certification that happens to use the same three letters. If you want the shorter definitional versions of this topic, see our pages on what CHA stands for and the meaning of CHA.

The credential signals that an administrator understands the operational, financial, developmental, and regulatory demands unique to hospice care. Hospice is not a general healthcare management exercise. It has its own payment structure, its own levels of care, its own cap concepts, and its own compliance expectations, and the exam is built around that reality.

Who Issues It and How the Exam Is Run

The certifying body is the National Board for Home Care and Hospice Certification (NBHHC). Professional Testing (PTI) coordinates administration, and testing is delivered through Pearson VUE computer-based test centers, with approved onsite paper testing also available. The content basis is the official CHA blueprint and the 2024 candidate handbook, which are the two documents every candidate should read before doing anything else.

Exam format at a glance

Because there is no guessing penalty, you should never leave an item blank. Because the exam is closed book, you need to carry definitions, formulas, and regulatory concepts in memory. For a deeper look at scoring mechanics, read our guide to the CHA passing score.

Who the Credential Is Built For

The CHA is aimed at professionals already working in hospice leadership or on a path toward it. Typical holders and candidates include:

• Hospice administrators and executive directors responsible for overall agency performance
• Directors of operations, clinical directors, and managers who oversee departments and budgets
• Supervisors and managers preparing to step into an administrator role
• Professionals with a health-related license who have moved into administrative responsibility

Employers are hospice providers of all kinds: freestanding agencies, hospital-based programs, and organizations that contract with nursing facilities. If you are curious how the credential appears in postings and what employers tend to ask for, our page on CHA jobs covers that angle, and the CHA salary guide takes up compensation.

Eligibility: The Education-and-Experience Routes

The NBHHC does not let anyone sit for the exam simply by paying. The hospice pathway uses a sliding combination of education and management experience. Each route below is a different way to qualify:

A health-related professional license also supports the 3-year administrator route. On top of the education-and-experience combination, applicants need relevant management or leadership work for at least 12 of the last 48 months, documentation of education and experience, and three healthcare-industry references, with the current employer listed first when applicable. Management experience is prorated based on the share of your time spent on management duties, so a hybrid clinical-and-managerial role will not count at full value.

What the Exam Actually Tests

The blueprint divides the exam into four content domains. The weights are not evenly distributed, and that should shape how you allocate study time. A full walk-through is available in the CHA exam domains guide; here is the overview.

Why the weights matter

Business Operations and Finance together account for 65% of the exam. A candidate who is strong in those two areas and merely adequate elsewhere is better positioned than one who spreads effort evenly across all four. That said, Compliance at 24% is too large to treat as an afterthought, and Business Development, while smaller, can still decide a close result.

Topics Worth Your Study Hours

Within the blueprint, certain concepts recur across the official materials and deserve concentrated attention. Prioritize these:

1. Hospice utilization and length of stay. Understand what these metrics measure, why they matter to quality and finances, and how an administrator would interpret changes in them.
2. Levels of care. Know the distinctions among them, when each applies, and the operational and financial consequences of providing each.
3. Hospice cap concepts. Be able to explain what a cap is, why it exists, and how an agency's patient mix and length of stay interact with it. Our practice question bank includes scenario items built around exactly this reasoning.
4. Cost reports. Focus on purpose and interpretation rather than memorizing line items.
5. QAPI. Know how performance improvement projects are structured and how data drives them.
6. Volunteer programs. Understand their role within the hospice model and the administrator's responsibility for sustaining them.
7. Nursing-facility agreements. Understand what these agreements govern and where operational or compliance risk can arise.

Fees, Windows, and Deadlines

Initial certification fees

The optional CAHSAH administrator course is priced separately and is not included in the total. For a fuller breakdown including renewal costs, see the CHA certification cost guide.

2026 computer-based testing windows

Application approval lasts 12 months, and Pearson VUE appointments require an Authorization to Test, so you cannot simply book a seat the moment you pay. Because windows are limited, missing a deadline can push you out by a full testing cycle. Our CHA exam dates page goes deeper on scheduling.

Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Blueprint

Rather than a generic schedule, tie your calendar to the weights. A sensible order front-loads the heaviest domains and revisits the lighter ones repeatedly. Here is one way to structure a four-week run-up, adjustable to your own timeline:

Finance follows Operations deliberately: cap and reimbursement questions make far more sense once levels of care and length of stay are solid. For a fuller plan, see our CHA study guide, and when you want a one-page recap near test day, the CHA cheat sheet compresses the essentials. If you are weighing how demanding all of this is, how hard the CHA exam is addresses that directly, and the CHA pass rate page explains what is and is not publicly known.

Where the Credential Fits in a Hospice Career

The certification does not replace experience; the eligibility rules make that clear, since the exam is only open to people who have already managed. What it does is formalize that experience against a recognized standard. For administrators, it can support credibility with boards, owners, and survey-facing stakeholders. For managers aiming at an administrator seat, it can document readiness.

Whether the investment pays off depends on your situation: your current role, your employer's expectations, and your market. Our analysis of whether the CHA is worth it lays out the considerations without overpromising, and you can explore the certification overview for the broader picture.

Keeping the Certification Active

Certification lasts 4 years. Renewal is points-based and requires:

• 50 points in total
• At least 36 continuing-education contact hours within those points
• No more than 14 other points
• Relevant management or leadership employment for 12 of the preceding 48 months

Renewal costs US$398 (a US$99 application plus a US$299 renewal fee). If you renew late within the permitted 1-year period, an additional US$99 applies. Because the continuing-education requirement is substantial, it is wise to log hours steadily across the four years instead of scrambling at the end.

CHA Compared With Related Credentials

Candidates often ask how the Certified Hospice Administrator relates to neighboring home-care and hospice certifications, such as the CHM (Certified Hospice Manager). In broad terms, the credentials sit at different leadership levels within the same NBHHC family, and eligibility and focus differ accordingly. Because details change, confirm current requirements for any credential you are comparing directly with the NBHHC rather than relying on secondhand summaries. This site focuses on the CHA, and the what is CHA certification page covers the credential's scope in more depth.

Frequently Asked Questions