CCMA certification: cost, renewal & jobs
CCMA (NHA) is the clinical medical assistant credential: a $165 exam of 180 questions, renewed every 2 years with 10 CE credits.
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A clinical medical assistant draws a blood sample from a seated patient in a clinic room.
What is CCMA (NHA) certification?
CCMA is the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant credential from the National Healthcareer Association, earned by passing a 180-question exam in 3 hours. It leans toward the clinical side of the job, patient care such as vital signs, injections, phlebotomy, and EKGs, though the exam also covers front-office and administrative work. The exam costs $165 per attempt as of 2026, and the certification runs 2 years before you recertify. NHA writes it "CCMA" because several bodies certify medical assistants and the letters get mixed up.
How CCMA differs from CMA and RMA
CCMA is one of several medical assistant credentials, and employers often accept any of them. The full side-by-side of CCMA against the AAMA's CMA, the AMT's RMA, and the medication aide that shares the letters lives in our CMA certification guide. The short version: CCMA comes from NHA and weights the exam toward clinical patient care, while the credential you should sit for is usually the one your training program prepares you for.
Who requires CCMA
Clinics, physician offices, and hospital outpatient departments ask for it on Medical Assistant roles, and they usually word the posting as certification rather than naming NHA specifically. It shows up where the job includes clinical tasks a provider delegates under their own license, such as injections, drawing blood, or running an EKG. Front-desk and scheduling roles in the same practice don't ask for it. Employers who name a preferred body often list CMA, CCMA, or RMA together and accept whichever you hold.
Requirements and eligibility
NHA sets one baseline plus a training-or-experience route. You need both parts.
- A high school diploma or GED.
- Then one of two routes: complete a medical assistant training or education program within the last 5 years, or have at least 1 year of supervised medical assisting work experience within the last 3 years.
The 5-year window on the training route catches people. If you finished your program longer ago than that, the classroom route is closed and you qualify through work experience instead. NHA verifies eligibility with an official transcript from your program or a verification letter from your employer, so line up that paperwork before you register. You don't need a state license to sit for the exam. Most states don't license medical assistants at all, and the ones that do treat a national certification as an input rather than a substitute.
What the CCMA exam covers
The CCMA exam weights clinical patient care as its largest content area, which is what sets it apart from front-office-heavy medical assistant credentials. NHA's blueprint spreads the 150 scored questions across a set of domains: foundational knowledge and basic science, clinical patient care, patient care coordination and education, administrative assisting, communication and customer service, and medical law and ethics. Two hands-on areas get their own weight, phlebotomy and EKG, because a clinical medical assistant is often the person drawing the blood and running the tracing. If your day-to-day is mostly reception and scheduling, the clinical share of this exam is the part to study hardest.
Cost, format, and renewal
The figures below are current as of 2026, from NHA (National Healthcareer Association).
| Exam fee | $165 per attempt, payable when you register (NHA, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Format | Computer-based, at an approved test center or online with live remote proctoring |
| Number of questions | 180 items: 150 scored, plus 30 unscored pretest items you can't tell apart |
| Exam length | 3 hours |
| Passing score | A scaled score of 390 on a 200 to 500 scale, so the raw count needed varies by form |
| Validity period | 2 years |
| Renewal requirement | 10 continuing education credits every 2 years. NHA counts 2 contact hours as 1 CE credit, so that's about 20 hours |
| Renewal fee | $179 to recertify every 2 years (NHA, 2026) |
| If it lapses | Reinstate within a year with extra CE and a fee. More than a year expired and you retake the exam |
| Issuing body | National Healthcareer Association (NHA) |
The CE requirement is the part people forget across a 2-year cycle. NHA's CE library is online, so log credits as you earn them rather than scrambling in the last month before your date.
How to get certified
- Confirm which eligibility route you fall into: a training program finished within 5 years, or a year of supervised experience within 3 years.
- Gather your proof, an official program transcript or an employer verification letter, since NHA checks eligibility before it clears you to test.
- Create a candidate account and apply through NHA, then pay the $165 exam fee.
- Schedule your exam at a test center or online with remote proctoring, and complete any required background check step in the portal.
- Take the exam: 180 questions in 3 hours. You pass at a scaled score of 390.
- Once certified, start logging CE. You need 10 credits over the 2-year cycle to renew.
Demand for CCMA on MedJobList
CCMA is named in 277 of the active US openings we track right now. Those are Medical Assistant roles at clinics, physician groups, and outpatient departments, where the posting usually asks for certification and lists CCMA alongside CMA and RMA. You can browse those roles in the section below, or filter the full job list by CCMA yourself.
On the job
Employers verify certification with NHA directly, so keep your status current and your CE logged before your renewal date rather than after it. Ask at onboarding who pays for continuing education and the recertification fee, because many practices cover CE courses and some reimburse the renewal, and it's worth raising in the interview before it comes out of your own pocket.
FAQ
$165 per attempt as of 2026, paid to NHA when you register. Recertifying every 2 years costs a separate $179 renewal fee, and a lapsed certification adds fees to reinstate.
180 items, of which 150 are scored and 30 are unscored pretest questions mixed in that don't count. You have 3 hours, and you pass with a scaled score of 390 on a 200 to 500 scale.
A high school diploma or GED, plus one of two routes: a medical assistant training program completed within the last 5 years, or at least 1 year of supervised medical assisting work experience within the last 3 years. NHA verifies it with a transcript or an employer letter.
Every 2 years. You complete 10 continuing education credits, where NHA counts 2 contact hours as 1 credit, and pay the renewal fee. If it expires you can reinstate within a year with extra CE, but past a year you retake the exam.
No. CCMA comes from the National Healthcareer Association, while CMA comes from the American Association of Medical Assistants, and the RMA comes from American Medical Technologists. Employers commonly accept any of them. The full comparison is in our CMA certification guide.
In most states, no. Medical assistants work under the delegating provider's license, and certification is an employer expectation rather than a legal one. A few states credential the role, and where they do, a national certification is an input to the state credential rather than a replacement for it.