Setting the Bar: HOPE CHS-C Passing Score Study Completed

by Linda Krulish, PT, MHS, COS-C, CHS-C

On July 31-Aug. 1, 2025, an Advisory Panel for the Certificate for HOPE Specialist-Clinical (CHS-C) Program was convened in Seattle, Washington. The purpose of the meeting was to conduct a final review of the test items, and to establish the passing score.

The panel was comprised of eight subject matter experts (SMEs) representing different roles in hospice data collection practice and with significant experience in hospice data collection and coding rules based on CMS guidance.

The Passing Score Study was carried out under the direction of the Program’s Director of Psychometrics, Dr. Ann White, PhD. Dr. White provided the Panel necessary education on the process of determining the passing score, including setting criterion-referenced standards and considerations for determining item difficulty. Each panelist rated the level of difficulty for each item and statistical analysis was conducted on the resulting data to determine the passing score for the inaugural exam form.

As changes are made to HOPE items and/or guidance, the CHS-C Exam form will be modified. To preserve fairness across different test forms, protect exam security, and keep the emphasis on demonstrated competence rather than test gaming, a numeric passing score is not published. The CHS-C program uses industry-standard psychometric methods to keep the passing standard constant while accounting for natural differences in form difficulty.

Periodic reviews of the CHS-C exam will be conducted for the purpose of providing evidentiary documentation necessary to establish that the oversight of the CHS-C testing program is in accordance with national testing standards and fair testing guidelines, such as those published by AERA/APA/NCME and NCCA.

Details about the exam are available on the CHS-C Exam Overview page, and details on the exam domains, including sample test questions are available on the CHS-C Exam Prep page.

The inaugural administration of the CHS-C Exam will occur on November 1, 2025 in New Orleans, LA. Computer-Based Testing will also begin on that day at testing centers nationally. Thank you to Dr. White and the CHS-C Advisory Panel for their critical contributions to this effort.

The eight panelists for the passing score study in the photo are: Linda Krulish, Chair, PT, MHS, COS-C Catherine Spangler Dehlin, RN, BSN, CHPN, Marian Essey, RN, BSN, COS-C, Barbara Goodman, DHA, RN, MSN, CHCE, CPHQ, PLNC, Shelly McDiarmid, MSPT, MHA, Kortney Petry, RN, BSN, Kerry Termine, DPT, HCS-D, COS-C, and Melanie Wascom, MHA, BS, BSN, RN, COS-C, HCS-D, CHPN.

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