CHM Certification

What the Certified Hospice Manager Credential Is

The Certified Hospice Manager (CHM) credential is awarded by the National Board for Home Care and Hospice Certification (NBHHC) and is designed for people who supervise or manage hospice operations. It is not a clinical license and it does not test bedside care. It tests whether you can run a hospice program: hire and develop staff, stay inside employment law, satisfy hospice regulations, manage a budget, and keep quality improvement moving.

If you are still orienting yourself, the explainer pages What Is CHM Certification? and What Does CHM Stand For? cover the basics. This article goes further and walks through how the Certified Hospice Manager certification actually works, from application to renewal, and where your preparation time should go.

Who Should Pursue It

The CHM fits professionals who already carry supervisory or management responsibility in hospice, or who are clearly on that path. Typical candidates include:

• Hospice administrators, executive directors, and program directors
• Clinical managers and patient care supervisors who have moved into broader operational duties
• Team managers and directors of volunteer, bereavement, or admissions services
• Quality and compliance leaders who supervise staff and own regulatory readiness

Employers that value the credential are hospice providers of all sizes, including nonprofit, for-profit, and hospital-affiliated programs, as well as home health and hospice combined agencies. For a realistic look at roles and postings, see CHM Jobs, and for earnings context see the CHM Salary Guide. Whether the investment pays off for your situation is covered in Is the CHM Certification Worth It?

Eligibility and Application Mechanics

The NBHHC ties eligibility to hospice supervisory or management experience combined with your education level. The pathways are:

On top of the experience pathway, there are several other requirements to plan for:

• Recent management work: relevant management or leadership employment for at least 12 of the last 48 months.
• Documentation: evidence of your education and your work history.
• References: three healthcare-industry references, with your current employer listed first when applicable.
• Proration: experience is prorated based on the share of your time spent on management duties, so a hybrid clinical-manager role may need careful documentation.

The full walkthrough is in CHM Requirements, and the shorter summary lives in the CHM Certification hub. Start gathering references and work-history documentation before you open the application, because those items, not the form itself, are what slow most applicants down.

Fees and 2026 Testing Windows

What You Pay

The optional CAHSAH hospice manager course is a separate purchase with its own tuition; it is not included in the US$598. A late renewal within the permitted one-year period adds US$99. The complete breakdown, including what is and is not optional, is in CHM Certification Cost.

2026 Computer-Based Testing Windows

Professional Testing (PTI) coordinates administration. Testing happens at Pearson VUE computer-based test centers, with approved onsite paper testing also available. After your application is approved you receive an Authorization to Test, which you must have in hand before scheduling with Pearson VUE. Approval lasts 12 months, so you have room to pick a window, but not unlimited room. More scheduling detail is in CHM Exam Dates.

Exam Format and Question Style

According to the NBHHC candidate handbook, the exam contains between 80 and 100 questions with a 2-hour time limit. Questions are single-answer selected response: you read a stem, often a short workplace scenario, and choose one best answer. The exam is closed book, results are reported as pass/fail, and there is no penalty for guessing, so never leave an item blank.

Because the scenarios are written from a manager's chair, the most common failure mode is answering like a clinician or like a friend instead of like a supervisor accountable for compliance, documentation, and fairness. When two options both sound caring, the better answer is usually the one that follows policy, protects the organization legally, and keeps a paper trail. For how the passing standard works, read CHM Passing Score; for a sober look at difficulty, see How Hard Is the CHM Exam? and the data discussion in CHM Pass Rate.

The Seven Domains in Detail

The exam follows the official seven-domain CHM blueprint. Weighting matters: nearly three-quarters of your score comes from three domains. A fuller walkthrough is available in CHM Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.

Case Topics You Must Master

Rather than memorizing definitions, drill the situations a hospice manager actually faces. These are the practice-case themes that map most directly to the blueprint:

Hiring and Onboarding

Know which interview questions are lawful, how to verify licensure and credentials, and what a compliant orientation covers. Expect items where the tempting answer is to hire fast to fill a staffing gap, and the correct answer is to complete the required verification first.

Coaching and Discipline

Questions reward a consistent, documented, progressive approach: address performance early, document specific observable behavior, apply policy evenly, and escalate appropriately. The wrong answers tend to be inconsistent, emotional, or undocumented.

Staffing and Scheduling

Be ready to balance patient needs, caseload, overtime rules, and staff burnout. Wage-and-hour compliance often hides inside a staffing scenario.

Documentation and Employment Law

If it is not documented, treat it as not done. Review how to write factual, dated, objective records of counseling, incidents, and corrective action, and how leave, accommodation, and anti-discrimination principles shape manager decisions. Targeted practice on CHM human resources questions is the best way to lock this in, since this is the 30% domain.

Hospice Regulations and Quality Improvement

Understand how performance improvement works as a cycle: identify a problem, collect data, act, and measure again. Regulatory questions usually ask what a manager should do first, so train yourself to recognize the step that protects patients and compliance before anything else.

A Domain-Weighted Study Sequence

Because the blueprint is so top-heavy, schedule your time in proportion to the weights. A sample eight-week sequence built around the CHM domains looks like this; adjust the length to your testing window. For a broader plan, see the CHM Study Guide, and keep the CHM Cheat Sheet nearby for last-week review.

Because there is no guessing penalty, build the habit of eliminating two options and choosing the best remaining one rather than skipping. To simulate the real experience, use a CHM practice test in timed conditions and review every missed item for the reasoning, not just the answer.

Renewal and Keeping the Credential

Certification lasts 4 years. To renew you need 50 points, made up of at least 36 continuing-education contact hours and no more than 14 other points, plus relevant management or leadership work for 12 of the preceding 48 months. Renewal costs US$99 for the application plus US$299 for the renewal, a total of US$398. If you miss the deadline but renew within the permitted one-year period, a US$99 late fee applies.

Many managers are also weighing this credential against others in the home care and hospice space. If you are comparing paths, the question of CHM vs CHA usually comes down to scope: the CHM is built around hospice management and supervisory practice, so confirm which credential matches your current role and your next career step before you apply.

Frequently Asked Questions