Arizona and Iowa Chapters partner to help HFMA members achieve certifications

The Arizona and Iowa Chapters held their second joint virtual HFMA certification bootcamp in July, where an estimated 373 participants signed up to prepare for the Certified Healthcare Finance Professional (CHFP) exam.

“Virtual events allow us to reach a wider audience, making participation more accessible across all chapters and regions,” said Nicole Helfrich, the former certification chair/current committee member for the Arizona Chapter and current member of the Scottsdale-based Honor Health Patient Financial Services Leadership team.

In July of 2024, those same two HFMA chapters held their first HFMA certification boot camp, where an estimated 80 out of 486 certified revenue cycle representative (CRCR) boot camp participants took and passed the final exam, for a 16.46% success rate. (Pass rate data for the 2025 boot camp was unavailable at press time.)

How the partnership between the chapters came about

The partnership formed during a 2024 HFMA leadership training conference in Orlando, Florida, where the then-certification chair for the Iowa Chapter, Bryant Blay, met Helfrich.

The two chapters originally planned and marketed the 2024 boot camp for their own members. But they then invited Regions 8 and 10 and eventually all HFMA members to register for the event.

The 2024 event was so successful that Region 8, which includes the Iowa Chapter, and Region 10, which includes the Arizona Chapter, together earned HFMA’s Multi-Region Success Award for their collaboration, noting an overall 13% increase in CRCR certifications from the previous year.

For the 2025 event, the boot camp was open to all HFMA members at the onset of registration.

The Iowa Chapter didn’t have extensive experience in hosting boot camps. A committee member had taken an in-person CHFP class with Southern California Chapter President-elect Sam King, FHFMA, EHRC, FHIMSS, who is a faculty member at the USC Price School of Public Policy, and recommended him as a speaker and as a source of guidance on the boot camp format.

It also was important to define the two Chapters’ roles in executing the boot camp. Brian Grimes, president, Credit Bureau Services of Iowa, Inc., and vice president and programming committee chair of the Iowa Chapter, said, “The Iowa Chapter’s focus was on planning and marketing the event, and the Arizona Chapter led speaker recruitment.”

Outreach ranged from word of mouth across chapters to working with the national HFMA office on marketing efforts.

 Tips for hosting a certification boot camp

For chapters interested in partnering to host a training camp, boot camp leaders offer six tips:

• Maintain clear and consistent communication across chapter leadership from initiation through execution.
• Identify qualified speakers.
• Prioritize event content and confirm timing during and between sessions.
• Request feedback from presenters who have previously taught the class.
• Provide guidance on the test-taking process.  
• Make sure registration for the course is intuitive.

 Additional words of advice

If a chapter feels overwhelmed about co-hosting an HFMA event, Grimes reminds fellow members, “It’s about taking that first step of reaching out to colleagues to network and collaborate.”

According to Helfrich, engaging HFMA members as speakers increases the value of the program content. All CHFP-certified, the speakers understood the challenges for the audience of exam preparation and learning objectives, tailoring their presentations to feel relevant and actionable. Each speaker volunteered their time. 

“Within HFMA, people see its value and want to help deliver certification opportunities to the members that want it,” Helfrich said.