WHY CERTIFY?
Benefits for you:
- Demonstrate continued growth and development through dedication to continuing education
CSHA Objective: Promote professional and organizational success by helping accreditation specialists who serve in leadership positions define and obtain the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively fulfill their responsibilities. - Increase your body of knowledge
CSHA Objective: Provide special recognition to those accreditation specialists who demonstrate mastery of an acquired body of knowledge and skills in healthcare accreditation through successful completion of the certification process. - Empower yourself to become a leader in your organization
CSHA Objective: Obtain credible leadership within their own ranks to establish and certify key competencies; Also strengthen credibility and leadership across the organization. - Emphasize the importance of your role as an accreditation professional
CSHA Objective: Differentiate the accreditation professional role and its value from other roles within healthcare management
Benefits for your organization:
- Develop well trained and competent accreditation professionals
CSHA Objective: Support the effectiveness of healthcare in our communities by promoting standards of competency for accreditation professionals working in a range of positions. - Empower the accreditation professional to become a leader
CSHA Objective: Identify individuals with substantive knowledge and skills in healthcare accreditation leadership for the benefit of all hospital staff members. - Be confident the organization is compliant
CSHA Objective: Know that accreditation of your facility is in qualified hands. - Provides impetus to stay up-to-date with education
CSHA Objective: Stay current with continuing education in areas critical to managing the survey process
About Certification
Successful candidates must achieve a passing score of 73 on the certification examination, which tests the candidate's ability to apply the information covered in the required curriculum to typical challenges faced by accreditation specialists today.
The Certified Specialist in Healthcare Accreditation Program is a service provided in conjunction with the Association for Healthcare Accreditation Professionals specifically to help those professionals with a background in preparing a healthcare facility for accreditation gain the knowledge and skills to fulfill their responsibilities competently. The required curriculum for certification does not include any contact hours on behalf of the applicant, as the exam has been designed so that only those accreditation professionals who have the experience and skill to pass the exam will. The program, defined competencies, and test design have been developed by the program advisory board, which includes the following members:
- Sharon Chaput RN, CSHA
Chaput is the director of regulatory and quality management at Brattleboro Retreat in Brattleboro, VT. - Jean Clark, RHIA, CSHA
Clark is the service line director for health information management at Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, SC. She is a past president of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), AHIMA's 2000 Distinguished Member, and past president of the International Federation of Health Records Organizations. - Lisa Eddy, RN, CPHQ, CSHA
Eddy is a senior consultant for The Greeley Company (a division of HCPro, Inc.) with more than 20 years of healthcare management and leadership experience and expertise in Joint Commission and AOA accreditation and CMS surveys. - Jodi L. Eisenberg, MHA, CPHQ, CPMSM, CSHA
Eisenberg is program manager of accreditation and clinical compliance at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL. She has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare administration. In her current role, she is responsible for leading a full range of The Joint Commission's and other accreditation and regulatory compliance activities to promote a state of constant survey readiness. - Elizabeth Giacomo-Geffers, RN, MPH, CNAA, BC, CSHA
Giacomo-Geffers is a healthcare consultant in Trabuco Canyon, CA, and a former Joint Commission surveyor. - Mary (Missi) Halvorsen, RN, BSN, CSHA
Halvorsen is the senior consultant for accreditation and compliance for Baptist Health, a five-hospital healthcare system servicing the five-county region of Duval, Nassau, Baker, Clay, and St. Johns, in northeast Florida. - Candace J. Hamner, RN, MA, CSHA
Hamner has been actively involved in Joint Commission survey preparation since 1981 in four different hospitals. Currently, she is the vice president of care management for Northwest Hospital Center, a Lifebridge Health Center in Randallstown, MD. - Patricia Pejakovich, RN, BSN, MPA, CPHQ, CSHA
Pejakovich is a senior consultant for The Greeley Company (a division of HCPro, Inc.) with more than 25 years of healthcare management experience and expertise in accreditation standards and regulatory compliance.