- What the Credential Actually Is
- Who Issues It: HCCA, CCB, and PSI
- Sorting Out the Look-Alike Acronyms
- Eligibility: Work Experience and CEUs
- Exam Format and Question Style
- The Seven Content Domains
- Fees, Renewal, and the 2027 Increase
- Who Holds It and Where It Gets Used
- Preparation Resources: What the Issuer Says
- Sequencing the Domains in Your Study Plan
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CHRC stands for Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance, issued by the independent Compliance Certification Board (CCB) with HCCA as the governing body.
- The exam has 120 multiple-choice questions in two hours; only 100 are scored, and 20 are unidentified pretest items.
- Monitoring, Auditing, and Internal Reporting Systems is the largest domain at 20%, followed by Communication, Education, and Training at 18%.
- Initial exam fee is $350 for members and $450 for non-members, rising to $375/$475 on January 1, 2027.
What the Credential Actually Is
Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance (CHRC) is a professional credential for people who build, run, audit, and enforce compliance programs in research settings: academic medical centers, hospitals with clinical trial portfolios, universities, research institutes, sponsors, and contract organizations. It signals that the holder understands how a compliance program operates when the "business" is human-subjects research, federally funded grants, research billing, and data integrity.
The credential is not a clinical research coordinator qualification, and it is not a human-subjects protection certification. It sits in the compliance-program tradition: the exam tests how you design policies, train people, monitor and audit activity, handle reports, discipline violations, and investigate problems. Research is the subject matter, but the skill being certified is compliance program management. If you want the short-form definitions, our quick explainers on what CHRC is and what CHRC stands for cover the basics.
Who Issues It: HCCA, CCB, and PSI
Three organizations appear in the CHRC process, and candidates often blur them together:
- Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) is the governing body associated with the credential and the source of the candidate-facing certification pages, the content outline, and membership pricing.
- Compliance Certification Board (CCB) is the independent issuer of the credential. CCB sets eligibility, approves continuing education units (CEUs), and manages renewal.
- PSI is the testing provider. It delivers the exam through test centers, remote proctoring, and paper-and-pencil sessions at selected HCCA/SCCE events.
The practical consequence: eligibility questions go through CCB and HCCA, scheduling and test-day rules go through PSI, and the content you are tested on comes from the CHRC Detailed Content Outline published by the issuer. For scheduling mechanics, see our guide to CHRC exam dates and scheduling.
Sorting Out the Look-Alike Acronyms
A search for "CHRC" returns results for several unrelated credentials, which is a genuine trap for candidates. Human-resources certifications, cardiac-rehabilitation credentials, and clinical research professional certifications all surface alongside this one. The comparison below keeps the lines clear.
| Credential | Field | Relationship to CHRC |
|---|---|---|
| CHRC (Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance) | Compliance programs in research settings | The subject of this article |
| CHC (Certified in Healthcare Compliance) | General healthcare compliance | Sibling credential from the same certification family; broader scope, not research-specific |
| CCRP / CCRC | Clinical research conduct and coordination | Operational research roles, not compliance program administration |
| HR-focused "CHRC"-style titles | Human resources | Unrelated field; different issuer and content |
If a study resource talks about payroll, employee relations, or cardiac rehab, it is not about this exam. The CHRC exam content is organized around compliance program elements, not clinical or HR practice.
Eligibility: Work Experience and CEUs
CHRC has real prerequisites, and they are stricter than many entry-level certifications. To apply, you need both of the following:
- Work experience: one year in a full-time compliance position, or 1,500 hours of direct compliance duties in the two years before you apply, with duties related to the CHRC content outline.
- CEUs: 20 CCB-approved CEUs earned in the 12 months before the exam, with at least 10 of them live (not purely on-demand).
No separate degree requirement was verified. There is also an accredited-university pathway: according to current FAQ material, completing qualifying coursework at an accredited university can satisfy the work-experience requirement for 24 months and the CEU requirement for 12 months.
Our CHRC requirements guide walks through how to document duties and CEUs so your application holds up.
Exam Format and Question Style
The exam is 120 multiple-choice questions delivered in two hours, in English only. Of those 120, 100 are scored and 20 are unidentified pretest questions that the issuer uses to evaluate future items. Because you cannot tell which are which, treat every question as if it counts.
| Feature | CHRC Detail |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 120 multiple choice |
| Scored questions | 100 |
| Unscored pretest questions | 20 (not identified) |
| Time limit | 2 hours |
| Delivery | PSI test center, remote proctoring, or paper-and-pencil at selected HCCA/SCCE events |
| Language | English only |
| Open/closed book | Closed book; reference materials and personal electronic devices restricted |
The passing standard is established through an Angoff process based on the scored questions. A fixed numerical cut score has not been publicly verified, and the issuer does not publish a pass rate in the materials we located. Treat any specific percentage you see online with skepticism; our pages on the CHRC passing score and CHRC pass rate separate what is documented from what is rumor.
As for question style, expect scenario-driven items: a research situation, a compliance decision, and a request to identify the best next step, the most appropriate control, or the responsible party. Memorizing definitions helps less than understanding how a compliance program element applies to research. For a realistic view of difficulty, read how hard the CHRC exam is.
The Seven Content Domains
The Detailed Content Outline divides the exam into seven domains. The percentages correspond to the outline's published item counts out of 100 scored questions. Here they are, in outline order:
Domain 1: Standards, Policies, and Procedures (17%)
The regulatory and policy foundation. Candidates must know how research compliance standards are developed and applied.
- Roles of agencies named in the outline, including FDA, USDA, ORI, OCR, and OHRP
- Writing, maintaining, and communicating policies and procedures
- Applying standards to research billing, conflicts of interest, and data integrity
Domain 2: Compliance Program Administration (15%)
How the program itself is structured and governed.
- Compliance officer and committee responsibilities
- Program structure, resources, and reporting lines
- Risk assessment and work-plan development
Domain 3: Screening and Evaluation of Researchers, Employees, Physicians, Sponsors, Vendors, Contractors, and Others (8%)
The smallest-weight domain, but its full heading is worth memorizing because it defines scope.
- Exclusion and background screening practices
- Evaluating sponsors, vendors, and contractors before engagement
Domain 4: Communication, Education, and Training (18%)
The second-largest domain. Compliance programs live or die on whether people actually know the rules.
- Designing role-based training for investigators, coordinators, and administrators
- Open lines of communication and effective messaging
- Measuring whether training works
Domain 5: Monitoring, Auditing, and Internal Reporting Systems (20%)
The heaviest domain. Expect a fifth of your scored questions here.
- Distinguishing monitoring from auditing and choosing the right one
- Research billing and coverage analysis reviews
- Hotlines, reporting channels, and handling of reports
Domain 6: Enforcement, Discipline, and Incentives (8%)
Consistency and fairness in responding to violations and rewarding compliant behavior.
- Applying discipline consistently across roles and seniority
- Using incentives to reinforce compliance
Domain 7: Investigations and Remedial Measures (14%)
What happens when something goes wrong.
- Opening, scoping, and documenting an investigation
- Corrective action plans and follow-up verification
- Reporting obligations to sponsors and agencies
Competitor study pages often shorten domain names, for example dropping "Internal Reporting Systems" from Domain 5. Study against the full official headings. Our complete guide to all seven CHRC domains maps each one to the outline in more depth.
Fees, Renewal, and the 2027 Increase
Costs depend on HCCA/SCCE membership status. The figures below are the current published rates as of the October 2026 verification date, along with announced future rates.
| Item | Member | Non-member |
|---|---|---|
| Initial exam application (current) | $350 | $450 |
| Initial exam (from January 1, 2027) | $375 | $475 |
| Eligible re-exam | $75 | $75 |
| Renewal (current) | $145 | $265 |
| Renewal (from January 1, 2027) | $155 | $275 |
The fee page also lists a $75 non-refundable application amount, but it is not added on top of the published initial totals. Older indexed handbook text shows lower renewal fees ($125/$245); the current fee page takes precedence. Some third-party pages still quote outdated initial fees, so verify against the official fee schedule before budgeting. For a full breakdown including membership math, see CHRC certification cost.
Validity and renewal
The credential is valid for two years. Renewal requires 40 CCB CEUs earned in the renewal period, at least 20 of them live, plus an application, attestations, and the renewal fee. CEUs used for the initial exam do not carry into the first renewal period, and excess renewal CEUs do not roll into the next one.
Who Holds It and Where It Gets Used
CHRC holders work wherever research and compliance overlap. Typical settings include:
- Academic medical centers and university research offices
- Hospital and health-system research compliance departments
- Research institutes and cancer centers running large trial portfolios
- Sponsors, contract research organizations, and device or pharmaceutical firms with compliance functions
Typical titles include research compliance officer, research compliance manager, research billing compliance analyst, and research integrity or compliance auditor. Our overview of CHRC jobs goes deeper on roles.
Preparation Resources: What the Issuer Says
HCCA states plainly that no official exam study guide is available. What exists instead:
- The CHRC Candidate Handbook and Detailed Content Outline, your authoritative scope document
- A public set of sample questions and a candidate-only 50-question practice exam
- HCCA Research Academies, which the issuer says are not exam-preparation classes, though they build useful subject knowledge and can earn CEUs
- Independent study aids and third-party practice questions, whose quality varies widely
Because no official guide exists, your study plan should be built from the content outline itself. Our CHRC study guide turns the outline into a structured plan, and the CHRC cheat sheet condenses must-know facts for last-week review. When you are ready to test yourself against scenario-style questions, try the CHRC practice tests and compare your results across domains.
Sequencing the Domains in Your Study Plan
Rather than studying in outline order, sequence by weight and dependency. Here is one way to map a six-week approach to the actual domain structure:
Domain 1 and Domain 2 foundations
- Learn the agency roles (FDA, USDA, ORI, OCR, OHRP) and what each governs
- Understand program structure so later domains have context
Domain 5: the 20% domain
- Monitoring versus auditing, research billing and coverage analysis, reporting systems
- Do scenario questions daily; this is where the most points live
Domain 4 and Domain 7
- Training design and communication (18%)
- Investigation steps and corrective action (14%)
Domains 3 and 6
- Screening scope and enforcement consistency, two lighter domains at 8% each
Mixed review
- Timed sets of 120 questions in two hours to rehearse pacing
- Re-drill your weakest domain from practice results
Key Takeaway
Domains 5, 4, and 1 together account for 55% of scored questions. Master those three before polishing the 8% domains, but do not skip the small domains entirely, since each still contributes meaningfully to your raw score.
Frequently Asked Questions
It stands for Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance. The credential is issued by the independent Compliance Certification Board (CCB), with HCCA as the governing body. See also our explainer on what CHRC stands for.
There are 120 multiple-choice questions in two hours. One hundred are scored and 20 are unidentified pretest questions that do not count toward your result.
Yes. PSI offers test-center computer delivery and remote proctoring, and paper-and-pencil administration is available at selected HCCA/SCCE events. Remote testing has its own proctoring rules, including a ban on handheld calculators.
The standard is set by an Angoff process on the scored questions. A fixed numerical cut score was not publicly verified, and no official pass rate was located. Details are in our passing score guide.
No. HCCA states that no official study guide is available. Use the content outline, candidate handbook, official sample questions, and independent resources, and test yourself with CHRC practice questions mapped to the seven domains.