Healthcare Administration Degrees

Credentials in healthcare administration

CHFP Certification: Requirements and Cost

Edited by Taylor Rupe, B.A. Psychology, University of Washington Seattle · B.S. Computer Science, Oregon State University

Last updated

CHFP is not won in a single sitting. It is earned by working through a pair of modules in order, each ending in its own assessment, at a member fee of $100 each. That makes it the cheapest recognized credential in healthcare administration, and the one whose real cost is hardest to see.

Key facts for the CHFP credential
What it is Voluntary certification
Awarded by HFMA
Open to HFMA members. No degree or experience requirement is stated
Headline fee $100 per module at the member rate, $200 for both
Keeping it 60 hours of education every 3 years, plus active membership
Renewal cycle Every 3 years

CHFP Certification Is Taught, Not Tested

The other credentials in this field assume you already know the material and set an examination to find out. CHFP is structured the other way round. Module I, HFMA Business of Health Care, is a course covering risk mitigation, evolving payment models, healthcare accounting and cost analysis, strategic finance and financial resource management, and it ends in an assessment that must be passed before you may go on. Module II, Operational Excellence, then applies that material through exercises and case-based scenarios.

For a reader without a finance background, that ordering is the main argument for this credential over the others. Healthcare finance is genuinely technical, and payer contracting and cost accounting in this industry do not resemble their equivalents elsewhere. Being taught it and then assessed is a different proposition from being told to sit a paper and find your own preparation.

The corresponding weakness is signalling. A credential you can complete by working through two modules says less about prior achievement than one requiring a master's and five years of management. What CHFP evidences is that you have covered the material, which is a real thing but a smaller one.

What CHFP Certification Really Costs

At $100 per module, $200 in total at the member fee, CHFP costs a fraction of the alternatives. The comparison is stark against a CPHQ examination at several hundred dollars for a single attempt, and against the nursing home license examinations before a state board's own fees.

The catch is membership, and it is unusual enough to be worth stating plainly. HFMA professional or business partner all-access status is a required aspect of holding and maintaining CHFP, not merely of earning it. Most professional certifications survive a lapsed membership: you paid, you passed, it is yours. This one is coupled to an active subscription for as long as you want to claim it.

So the honest lifetime cost is the module fees plus membership for every year you intend to hold the credential, which for a career is the larger number by a long way. That does not make it poor value, particularly since the modules are included in all-access membership and the education you need for maintenance comes from the same place. It does mean $200 is not the price.

Keeping CHFP Certification Asks More Than Earning It

CHFP is maintained on a 3 year cycle with two requirements: remaining an active HFMA member in good standing, and completing 60 hours of eligible education activities.

Set that against the two modules that earned it and the shape of the commitment becomes clear. The entry is deliberately low and the upkeep is substantial, which is close to the opposite of FACHE, where qualifying is the hard part. Whether that suits depends on something the fee schedule cannot tell you: whether your employer pays for professional education and membership, as many health systems and finance departments do. If they do, CHFP is nearly free and the maintenance burden is somebody else's. If they do not, the recurring cost is the thing to plan around.

Questions About CHFP Certification

What is required to earn CHFP?
Two modules, taken in order, plus HFMA membership. Module I is HFMA Business of Health Care, covering risk mitigation, evolving payment models, healthcare accounting and cost analysis, strategic finance and financial resource management, and it ends in an assessment you must pass before progressing. Module II is Operational Excellence, which applies that material through exercises and case-based scenarios.
How much does CHFP cost?
The member fee is $100 for each module, $200 for both, and both are included in HFMA all-access membership. That makes it the least expensive credential covered on this site by a wide margin. The membership behind it is the recurring cost and is not optional.
Is there a CHFP exam?
Not in the sense of a single hurdle paper. Each module carries its own end-of-course assessment, and Module I's must be passed before Module II may be taken. That is a meaningfully different experience from a one-sitting examination: the material is taught and then tested rather than assumed and then tested.
Do you need HFMA membership to keep CHFP?
Yes, and this is the detail worth noticing. HFMA professional or business partner all-access membership is required both to hold and to maintain the credential. Letting membership lapse does not merely stop you earning credits; it affects the standing of the credential itself, which is not how most professional certifications work.
How is CHFP maintained?
Every 3 years, by remaining an active HFMA member in good standing and completing 60 hours of eligible education activities. The education requirement is larger than the initial modules, so the credential asks more of you after you have it than to get it.

Credentials to Consider Alongside CHFP

Healthcare finance is one of the routes into hospital administration, and CHFP pairs naturally with the finance side of healthcare management generally. Readers in a physician practice rather than a system will find CMPE the closer fit.

Sources for This CHFP Certification Data