National Association of Healthcare Access Management

What National Association of Healthcare Access Management does

National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) is a U.S.-based non-profit professional membership association founded in 1974 that serves Patient Access professionals working in hospitals, health systems, and ambulatory care settings. Its core constituents are frontline and managerial staff responsible for patient registration, intake, scheduling, insurance verification, and financial clearance — functions that sit at the revenue cycle entry point for provider organizations. The association positions itself as the recognized professional community and standards body for this discipline.

NAHAM's product portfolio centers on three pillars: credentialing, benchmarking, and education. Credentialing is delivered through two NCCA-accredited certifications, Certified Healthcare Access Associate (CHAA) and Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM), which function as the de facto industry credentials. Benchmarking is delivered through AccessKeys, a performance-measurement tool that has gone through multiple versions (most recently AccessKeys 5.0 in 2024) and was extended in 2025 into Ambulatory AccessKeys for outpatient settings. Education is delivered through publications, an annual conference (recently augmented with a Virtual Congress format in 2025), a network of 30+ state affiliates, and the newly launched NAHAM Learning Center as a centralized digital platform.

The business model is a diversified non-profit association revenue stack: individual professional membership dues, institutional/organizational membership dues (including newer group and enterprise tiers introduced in 2024), certification application and exam fees, conference registration and sponsorship revenue, and Business Partner programs (with disclosed partner fees around $7,500). Pricing is structured per-member, per-exam, and per-event, with enterprise tiers representing the most recent commercial expansion. The organization operates with a small staff (11-50 employees) from Washington, DC, and serves both individual practitioners and large health systems such as Northwell and Banner Health that appear across member channels.

Name

National Association of Healthcare Access Management

Legal name

National Association of Healthcare Access Management

Website

https://naham.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM), founded in 1974, is a non-profit professional association serving Patient Access professionals in U.S. healthcare through NCCA-accredited certifications, the AccessKeys benchmarking tool, conferences, and member education programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Dues: Active membership at $260/year and Associate membership at $75/year provide recurring revenue from individual professionals in Patient Access roles.
2. Business Partner Membership: Annual investment of $7,500 per year for organizations seeking visibility and engagement with NAHAM members, including year-round website recognition, webinar hosting, and conference benefits.
3. Group/Enterprise Memberships: Tiered group memberships (5-29 members) and Enterprise memberships (30-1000 members at flat rates from $6,000 to $35,000) provide bulk subscription revenue for organizations enrolling multiple staff.
4. Certification Fees: CHAA exam fees of $220 (members) / $250 (non-members); CHAM exam fees of $290 (members) / $515 (non-members). Recertification fees of $50-$125 for CHAA and $80-$250 for CHAM.
5. Annual Conference Revenue: Annual Conference generates revenue through registration fees, exhibit space, and sponsorships. The 2026 conference held April 28 – May 1, 2026 at Hilton Chicago.
6. Publications and Education: Revenue from publications including Access Management Journal, Connections newsletter, and education materials. Continuing education contact hour accreditation fees from organizations ($100-$350 per course).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

NAHAM is a nonprofit professional membership association dedicated to Patient Access Services in healthcare. It provides NCCA-accredited certifications (CHAA and CHAM), benchmarking tools (AccessKeys), continuing education through a learning management system, an annual conference, and networking resources for Patient Access professionals working across hospitals and health systems.

Product overview

NAHAM is a professional membership association for Patient Access professionals, not a software product company. Its offerings are organized as a platform of professional services comprising two NCCA-accredited certifications (CHAA and CHAM), the AccessKeys® KPI benchmarking tool (version 5.0), a Learning Management System (the NAHAM Learning Center, built on Litmos/Bridgefront), publications (NAHAM Connections with its podcast, the Access Management Journal, and NAHAM NewsBrief), community platforms (the NAHAM Access Forum and Career Center), downloadable toolkits (Patient Identity Integrity, Patient Experience, Disaster Preparedness, CMS Survey, Joint Commission Survey, and others), and event programming (Annual Conference, Virtual Congress, Patient Access Week, webinars). NAHAM also offers group and enterprise membership tiers, a Business Partner membership for vendors, awards and scholarships, continuing education accreditation, and a salary survey. These offerings are interconnected: certifications provide professional credentials that members can develop through the Learning Center and benchmark using AccessKeys®, while the Access Forum, publications, toolkits, and annual events support the broader professional development and networking needs of the Patient Access community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CHAA Certification

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ECG Management ConsultantscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025NAHAM partnered with ECG Management Consultants for the 2025 Virtual Congress event titled 'Driving Value: Workforce and Technology for a Cost-Conscious Future'. ECG brought outstanding panelists and moderators to discuss challenges common within the Patient Access space.
• Litmos/BridgefrontcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017NAHAM partnered with Litmos/Bridgefront to provide AccessKeys and Revenue Cycle education to members, as well as a new Learning Management System (LMS) for hosting education content. This partnership enabled the launch of NAHAM's Learning Center platform.
• SmithbucklincoreOthers · 1 January 1983Smithbucklin has served as NAHAM's association management company since 1983, providing operational support and management services. This partnership has been sustained for over 30 years, with NAHAM celebrating 30 years of partnership with Smithbucklin in 2013.
• YourMembership (by Streetwave)Technology or IntegrationNAHAM uses YourMembership software for membership management, website functionality, and member-only content delivery. This is the underlying technology platform powering the NAHAM website, member directory, and online community features.
• PrometriccoreTechnology or IntegrationNAHAM uses Prometric as its testing vendor for certification exams, providing both test center locations and remote proctoring services for CHAA and CHAM certification examinations.
• BeneplaceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNAHAM partnered with Beneplace to provide exclusive discounts and perks to members on brands and services including travel, hotels, car rentals, theme parks, electronics, fitness memberships, cell phone plans, and dining.
• Jim Coleman StoreminorOthersNAHAM partnered with Jim Coleman Store for official Patient Access Week merchandise, offering apparel, drinkware and other items for purchase.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ): NAHQ offers CPHQ certification for healthcare quality professionals and overlaps with NAHAM's quality domain (one of AccessKeys' six KPI areas). Comparable membership-association model focused on healthcare professional credentials.
• National Association of Medical Staff Services (NAMSS): NAMSS serves medical staff services professionals in healthcare with its CPCS and CPMSM certifications. Similar professional association model serving hospital administrative functions with comparable revenue streams (membership, conferences, certifications).
• Medical Group Management Association (MGMA): MGMA serves medical practice administrators and overlaps with NAHAM's ambulatory extension into physician offices and ambulatory surgery centers. Offers its own ACMPE certification and operational benchmarking data.
• American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC): AAPC provides healthcare coding certifications (CPC, CRC) to professionals in adjacent revenue cycle functions. Closely comparable membership-association-plus-certification business model and customer base overlap with NAHAM.
• Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA): HFMA serves healthcare finance professionals, with significant overlap into revenue cycle management where NAHAM members operate. Comparable in offering certifications (CRCR), educational events, and benchmarking, but broader in finance scope.
• American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA): AHIMA serves health information management professionals with credentials (RHIA, CCS) and serves an adjacent but overlapping healthcare administrative audience. Comparable structure of certification, education, advocacy, and annual conference.
• American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM): AAHAM is the most directly comparable professional association, also focused on healthcare patient access and business office management, offering its own CRCS certification. It targets the same hospital revenue cycle and front-office professionals as NAHAM.

Broad incumbents

• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS): HIMSS is a large healthcare IT and digital health association. As NAHAM's agenda increasingly intersects with self-service and digital front-door technology, HIMSS represents an adjacent incumbent that could expand into Patient Access content.
• American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE): ACHE is a much larger healthcare leadership association offering the FACHE credential. It overlaps in serving senior healthcare administrators who oversee Patient Access functions but covers leadership across all hospital operations.

Others

• American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA): AAMA is a healthcare professional association offering the CMA certification. While not directly competing in Patient Access, it illustrates the broader category of healthcare professional membership organizations and serves an adjacent administrative workforce.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MyNAHAM

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Association of Healthcare Access Management