Certified Compliance Professional (CCP)

Distinguish yourself through the Health Ethics Trust’s Certified Compliance Professional (CCP) Program!

The CCP healthcare compliance certification program defines a level of accomplishment in the compliance profession and recognizes expertise in healthcare compliance. Certification recognizes compliance achievement at a professional level and establishes professional practice standards. CCP certification is a designation sought by individuals who strive to represent high professional standards in executing their compliance responsibilities.

Complete the application and begin today to pursue your certification and be recognized as a compliance professional!

CCP is a healthcare compliance certification process for a healthcare compliance professional that is offered by the Health Ethics Trust. The Trust began the process of establishing a professional healthcare compliance certification shortly after the Trust’s inception in 1995. The goal of HET’s certification program is to promote professionalism and competence throughout the health care compliance community. HET is a division of the Council of Ethical Organizations (a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to promoting ethical and legal conduct in private organizations, government, and the professions). The purpose of the Trust is to promote sharing of information and the establishment of best practices in health care compliance and ethics.

Compliance responsibilities continue to grow more complex, more regulated and more costly. New, more rigorous benchmarks for effective programs are demanded. The HET healthcare compliance certification process is very comprehensive. The Trust believes this approach is necessary because the compliance professional role is a complex, dynamic and challenging one. This is particularly the case for compliance professionals working in the current healthcare environment of increasing regulatory and enforcement pressures. The HET healthcare compliance certification process is periodically reviewed and updated to ensure its continued relevance to healthcare compliance professionals.

The Trust’s CCP healthcare compliance certification process in overseen by the Education Committee of the Council of Ethical Organizations. This is an independent, objective and voluntary committee of experienced compliance professionals (health care and non-health care) from around the country. Members of this committee oversee changes to HET healthcare compliance certification criteria as well as reviewing individual applications for HET certification. Members of the Council staff only serve in an administrative and advisory capacity to the Education Committee. This means that they do not have any decision-making authority regarding HET healthcare compliance certification applications. Council staff can, however, offer advice on how to best prepare for HET certification.

In order to earn the CCP healthcare compliance certification, an individual must complete compliance related courses, have worked one year in a compliance position, and be recommended for certification by your supervisor.

The application for the CCP healthcare compliance certification is built around specific factors. These factors include professional experience; higher education background and related continuing education. All items submitted for review with the exception of higher education must have been accomplished in the last four years.

Requirement: A total of 100 points is required in the identified categories to qualify for the CCP healthcare compliance certification. The points are listed at the top of each section indicate the minimum/maximum points a candidate must have in each category. An applicant must have the minimum number of points in each category in addition to a total of at least 100 points.

Requirement: Basic Work Experience in Compliance and/or Ethics-related Area

Current or recent (one-year minimum) workplace-based experience in a compliance-and/or ethics-related area. This includes experience where the applicant undertakes compliance and/or ethics work as part of their duties, but does not necessarily have primary responsibility for this area (e.g., an individual serving as a compliance director, compliance-training specialist or investigator under the supervision of the chief compliance officer).

Requirement: Submission of a letter of recommendation from a supervisor or superior as evidence of relevant experience.

Requirement: Submission of a resume detailing the applicant’s background and compliance/ethics related work experience.

When sufficient points are accumulated and eligibility is determined, an essay examination will be scheduled on topics such as those in Part IV of the application. The written examination is tailored to the individual applicant and evaluated by compliance professionals serving on the Council of Ethical Organizations Education Committee. Thus, the test questions for an applicant working for a health plan might differ somewhat in focus from those for an applicant working for a home care agency.

Applications for CCP healthcare compliance certification are reviewed by members of the Education Committee of the Council of Ethical Organizations. Responsibility for reviewing applications rotates among members of the Committee. Each application is reviewed by no fewer than three members of the Committee. All applications are reviewed with recognition of the wide range of backgrounds represented among current graduates, while maintaining the Trust’s goal of advancing the competence and reputation of healthcare compliance professionals. Committee members judge applications strictly according to the certification criteria – as described herein.

In 2002, the Education Committee and HET implemented a continuing education requirement for maintaining certification. This means that all HET Certified Compliance Professionals who wish to maintain their certification must meet the continuing education requirements over a defined period of time. The only exception is for individuals who retire while currently certified. This stipulation was introduced because both the Trust and the Committee believe that the field of ethics and compliance is evolving rapidly and that continuing education is important to meet the growing challenges in the field of compliance/ethics.

Requirements to maintain certification became effective in 2003. From this time on, every three years, all HET Certified Compliance Professionals are encouraged to apply for re-certification or advanced certification (CCE).

The CCP certificate of achievement is valid for three years. It can be kept current by completion of 40 continuing education points submitted to the Council of Ethical Organizations within each additional three-year period.

Please contact the Certification Coordinator at 703-683-7916 to request an update of your current certification status or for a list of current HET courses attended.

There is an application fee of $150.00 to process each certification application. This fee should be sent with the application. This fee includes the review and evaluation of points and essays. In the event that an applicant does not initially meet the minimum point requirements for essay submission, the fee remains valid for three years to allow time for accumulation of points. There is no charge for re-submission to the Education Committee. This fee is waived for employees of organizations that are members of the Council of Ethical Organizations and the Health Ethics Trust.

Successful applicants for the HET Certified Compliance Professional status will be notified by mail. Once applicants have been approved, they are entitled to use the designator “CCP” (i.e., Certified Compliance Professional) after their name. HET certified compliance professionals are publicly acknowledged at the Healthcare Best Compliance Practices Forum. The Forum is sponsored by the HET and is held in Washington, DC every year. (Visit the Healthcare Best Compliance Practices Forum website further details.)

Compliance professionals who wish to complete the certification process must earn a total of 100 points in the identified categories within a three year period to qualify.