Passed the CCMA? Your Certificate, Verification, Using the Credential and the First Two Years

A passing score of 390 or higher makes you eligible for the credential; a few practical steps turn it into something an employer can see and check. Most take minutes. One, the two-year renewal, starts counting the day you're certified. This guide picks up where the CCMA passing score guide leaves off, with NHA's rules as checked on October 28, 2026.

Your first week after passing the CCMA

1. Watch for NHA's email. The Candidate Handbook says that after a pass you receive an email telling you that you can print your certificate
2. Open My Achievements. NHA's print how-to says that's where you see your certification number and expiration date and download or print the certificate as a PDF
3. Save a copy. Keep the PDF where you can send it to an employer, a school or a state agency
4. Claim your digital badge. NHA issues a digital badge for each of its certifications, the CCMA included (more below)
5. Write down your expiration date. It's two years out, and your renewal plan starts from it
6. Check your email address. The handbook advises a personal address rather than a school or employer one, so NHA can still reach you after you leave

If your CCMA certificate is on hold

Two eligibility routes let you test before you've finished every part of your training, and both hold the certificate after a pass. Under the handbook's pre-externship route, you learn whether you passed, but "no certificate number will be assigned" until your school tells NHA you completed the externship. You have 90 days from the exam date. The employer training route works the same way with 180 days to finish on-the-job training.

Once the completion is reported, NHA assigns the certificate number and emails you printing instructions. The handbook sets the certificate's effective date as the date NHA assigns the number, and from then an employer or regulator can confirm you're certified. If the deadline passes without the report, NHA voids the score and you retake the exam, so check with your school or employer that the paperwork has gone in.

Proving your CCMA to an employer

• The verification tool. The handbook says NHA is required to provide certification verification information to the general public: your name and certification appear in the online Verification Tool on nhanow.com, and that the tool doesn't show failed attempts or your score
• What NHA shares directly. NHA's Help Center says scores and certifications are provided to you and kept confidential, but certification status, number and current status can be shared with schools or employers
• The digital badge. NHA's badge page says each credential lives in a credential wallet and can be verified at any time through its own URL. NHA's update page says it moved all digital badges and transcripts to one provider, Accredible, on November 4, 2025; badges already accepted in Credly stay available
• Not a preliminary report. If you tested at a school, you saw a preliminary score report right away. The handbook warns that using a preliminary report or anything other than the formal certificate as proof of passing is "at your own risk"

Writing CCMA after your name

The handbook's credential use policy lets you put "the NHA program abbreviation" after your name once you've passed and while you hold "a current valid credential," for example "Jordan Lee, CCMA" (Passy's example). It names office signage, résumés, websites, business cards, presentations, introductions and electronic signatures as proper uses. Two limits: the credential may not be used to endorse any product, service or company, or as a company, product or brand name, and breaking the policy can lead to disciplinary review, including possible revocation. A provisional certification is a separate case; the class of 2027 guide covers it.

State steps after passing the CCMA

Passing NHA's exam doesn't complete every state's requirements. Two examples, with more in the CCMA state requirements guide:

• Washington. To work as a medical assistant-certified, you apply to the Department of Health. Under WAC 246-827-0200, the exam must have been passed within the five years before your initial application, together with approved training. The Department's FAQ says you may not practice clinically until the credential is active, unless an exemption applies
• California. The Medical Board's FAQ says medical assistants aren't required to be licensed or certified by the state, but the Board sets minimum training before you give injections or draw blood. Under the Board's regulation as amended in 2022 (OAL approval), the supervising physician or podiatrist, or the instructor, must certify that training in writing and sign it, stating where and when it took place, its content and duration, and that you were observed performing each task competently. Ask for that document when you're trained on a new task, and keep a copy

Planning your first two-year CCMA cycle

Your certification is valid for two years. From the day you're certified, these NHA rules shape the cycle:

• NHA One. NHA's enrollment article says certified professionals are enrolled when they certify (provisional holders excepted). NHA's NHA One article describes the plan as $95 a year, including unlimited NHA continuing education (specialty courses excepted), with renewal every two years at no additional cost while payments are current. If they aren't, renewal costs $195 plus the cost of continuing education
• Ten credits by your expiration date. At least 10 continuing education credits per cycle, at two hours per credit, with no carryover. NHA's CE article explains which courses are free and how outside CE is accepted
• Renew early if you like. NHA's CCMA page says there's no penalty for renewing early
• Know the lapse rules. The renewal page allows a normal renewal up to 30 days after expiry and reinstatement for $391.50 plus 15 credits up to a year after. Beyond a year, you retake the exam
• Keep your account current. NHA's renewal how-to says address changes must be made through your NHA account

A simple pace (Passy's suggestion) is one credit about every two months, which finishes the 10 credits with a few months to spare. The renewal guide for 2027 walks through the renewal itself, and the CCMA cost guide puts every amount in one table. If a lapse ever sends you back to the exam, planned CCMA prep would cover all seven domains again for a second sitting.

Adding a second NHA certification after the CCMA

If you hold more than one NHA certification, the renewal page says the same 10 credits count toward all of them, and that there is a separate fee for stacked certifications. For medical assistants, the closest companion is the administrative CMAA, compared in the CCMA vs CMAA guide. The handbook also notes that a number of NHA certification exams and learning resources have been evaluated by the American Council on Education for college credit recommendations; check NHA's ACE credit page for whether your certification is on the current list before you count on it.

Reading this before your CCMA exam

If you found this guide while you're still preparing, the order of work is the same for everyone: study by domain, rehearse at full length, then test. A full-length 180-question CCMA mock exam is planned for launch, and you can start now with the 20 free CCMA practice questions.

• Plan the weeks. The free CCMA study planner turns your exam date and daily study time into an outline
• Check your externship timing. If your externship isn't finished, ask your school whether it has NHA's pre-externship agreement, since the 90-day completion clock starts on your exam date

When you know your date, line up a planned CCMA access period with the time left before your exam.

Your next step after passing the CCMA

Today: download your certificate from My Achievements, claim your badge and note your expiration date. This month: if you work in Washington, start your Department of Health application, and wherever you work, put a reminder in your calendar six months before your expiration date, the point the 2027 renewal guide uses to start its renewal timeline.