CBCS & CEHRS
The NHA Certified Billing & Coding Specialist (CBCS) and Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) are entry-point allied-health credentials that open the door to remote and in-office revenue-cycle jobs at clinics, hospitals, physician practices, and billing companies. Many employers list one of these NHA certifications as a hiring requirement, and most career-college and CTE programs gate graduation on passing the exam. Miss the cut score and you delay a job offer or a diploma — this page lays out exactly what each exam covers, how it's delivered, and how to clear it the first time.
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No upfront fee — you settle only after your verified passing score. We advertise guaranteed results — 100% pass guaranteed or money back.
How the CBCS billing & coding exam is built — at a glance
100
100 scored multiple-choice questions count toward your result, plus 25 unscored pretest items NHA mixes in to trial future questions — you can't tell which is which.
390
NHA reports a scaled score from 200 to 500 and you need 390 or higher. Forms are statistically equated, so there is no fixed raw percentage to hit.
4
Billing & Reimbursement, Coding & Coding Guidelines, Insurance Eligibility & Other Payer Requirements, and the Revenue Cycle & Regulatory Compliance — weighted as shown below. The CEHRS exam uses its own EHR-focused domains.
NHA's current CBCS test plan allows up to 3 hours of seat time for the 125 questions; the CEHRS exam runs 125 minutes. Questions are standalone multiple-choice — many CBCS items hand you a chart note, CMS-1500 claim, or coding scenario and ask you to assign or correct a CPT, ICD-10-CM, or HCPCS code, so you read carefully rather than recall a definition.
Your raw correct count is converted to a 200–500 scaled score so that a 390 means the same competency no matter which exam form you sat. You won't see a per-question breakdown, but your score report flags which domains were strong or weak. Code-book reference is not allowed — you must know the conventions and current code-set rules cold.
CBCS content domains — bars show each domain's share of the scored exam
CMS-1500 claim completion, charge capture, patient billing, payment posting, and the reimbursement methods payers use. The single largest domain on the exam.
Assigning CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS Level II codes from chart notes and encounter forms, plus the conventions and guidelines that govern each code set. The most code-heavy part of the exam.
Verifying coverage and eligibility, pre-authorization, and the documentation and payer rules a clean claim depends on — across commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, and other payers.
The end-to-end revenue cycle plus HIPAA privacy and security, fraud and abuse rules, and compliant documentation that keep a billing workflow inside the law.
Billing & Reimbursement and Coding together make up nearly two-thirds of the scored exam, so weak code assignment is the most common reason candidates miss the 390 cut. The CEHRS exam shifts the weight toward electronic charting, EHR data integrity, and HIPAA — see the component breakdown below if you're sitting that credential instead.
CBCS and CEHRS are separate NHA exams — here's how they line up
| Spec | CBCS — Billing & Coding | CEHRS — EHR Specialist |
|---|---|---|
| NHA code | CBCS | CEHRS |
| Scored / pretest items | 100 + 25 | 100 + 25 |
| Time limit | Up to 3 hours | 125 minutes |
| Scoring & pass mark | 200–500 · pass 390 | 200–500 · pass 390 |
| Exam fee | ~$117 | ~$129 |
| Core focus | Coding, claims, revenue cycle | EHR charting, data integrity, HIPAA |
| Renewal | 2 years · 10 CE credits | 2 years · 10 CE credits |
Both are stackable: a billing professional who also holds the CEHRS signals to employers that they can work the claim and the electronic record. Tell us which one you're sitting and we tailor the plan to that test plan exactly.
Three ways to sit an NHA exam — and what to expect on test day
If you trained at a career college or CTE program, you often sit the exam on campus under a staff proctor. Otherwise you book a seat at a PSI test center near you, where staff verify your government ID, store your belongings, and monitor the room while you test on a workstation.
NHA offers live remote proctoring so you can test from a private room at a location of your choice. You complete a system check, ID verification, and a 360-degree webcam room scan, then a live proctor monitors you for the whole session. PSI powers the secure browser and check-in workflow behind the scenes.
A valid, unexpired government photo ID with a name that matches your NHA registration exactly. The proctor captures a photo and may have you show the ID to the webcam before the exam unlocks.
A clear desk, no second monitor, no phone or notes within reach, and a webcam pan of the room. No code books, no headphones, and no one else may enter during the exam.
Stay on-camera and in frame. Looking off-screen, reading aloud, leaving your seat, or losing connection can pause or flag the session — and a flagged remote attempt can be invalidated.
Built for revenue-cycle and health-information roles
You must meet one NHA pathway to sit the exam
Difficulty: The CBCS doesn't ask for advanced math, but it demands real fluency with three code sets (CPT, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS), HIPAA rules, and the claim lifecycle — all from memory, with no code book at the workstation. Candidates most often stumble on the heavy Billing domain and on tricky denial/appeal scenarios under time pressure. That's exactly the pressure point our help is built to remove.
The CBCS and CEHRS sit between you and a diploma or a job offer, and the code-heavy Billing domain plus the live-proctored environment trip up plenty of well-prepared candidates. Exam Assist pairs you with a vetted billing & coding specialist and works on a pay-after-you-pass model — so the risk sits with us, not you. No upfront fee, guaranteed results: Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end, and you settle only after the verified result.
Tell us whether you're sitting CBCS or CEHRS, your delivery method (school, PSI center, or NHA live remote), and your test date. Takes a couple of minutes over WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
We review your timeline and proctoring setup and tell you plainly whether it's realistic — before any money is discussed. If it isn't a fit, we say so.
Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end. You're matched with a specialist who maps the work around the Billing-heavy CBCS test plan, the code sets, and the live remote check-in — discreetly and confidentially.
You only pay once your passing score is confirmed on your official NHA report. No verified result, nothing owed.
See how our pay-after-you-pass model works for healthcare credentialing exams like the NHA CBCS and CEHRS.
Sitting the NHA exam under live remote proctoring? Understand the check-in, room scan, and monitoring before test day.
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Straight answers about the NHA CBCS and CEHRS exams
Service and sibling allied-health exams
Pair with a vetted specialist on a results-first arrangement. No upfront fee — settle only after a verified passing score.
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View examGet expert CBCS or CEHRS help with no upfront fee — you settle only after your verified passing score. Honest feasibility answer first, results-first arrangement always.