RHIT certification is AHIMA's credential for Registered Health Information Technicians.
If you have seen "registered health information technician certificate" or "certified health information technician" and wondered what it refers to, this is it.
You earn the RHIT by completing an associate-level health information management (HIM) program accredited by CAHIIM, applying through AHIMA and passing the RHIT exam at a Pearson VUE test center.
Below: eligibility, exam format, fees, the 120-day scheduling window and the 20-CEU renewal cycle.
What is the RHIT credential?
RHIT stands for Registered Health Information Technician.
It is one of eight credentials on AHIMA's list as of October 2026, alongside the CCA, CCS, CCS-P, RHIA, CDIP, CHDA and CHPS.
AHIMA administers its certifications through the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM), which sets the standards for earning and keeping each credential.
AHIMA's candidate guide describes the credential's working world: RHITs often specialize in coding, and most work in hospitals, with others in physician practices, nursing homes, home health and other settings.
It is also an established credential: AHIMA counted 26,128 certified RHIT professionals as of December 31, 2025.
"RHIT" names the credential; "health information technician" names the job it supports.
The work itself — duties, settings, career ladder — is covered in our health information technician career guide.
Is RHIT a license or a certification?
The RHIT is a certification, not a license.
AHIMA awards it when you pass its exam, and CCHIIM sets and maintains the credential's standards.
A license is a different kind of authorization, issued by a government.
"RHIT license" searches land on the same letters, but what AHIMA grants is a credential you keep current through recertification — not a government-issued authorization.
Is it required?
AHIMA's own candidate guide describes taking its certification exam as voluntary.
What moves people to take it anyway is the hiring side.
BLS says certification may be required or preferred for medical records specialists, and that employers may prefer to hire certified applicants or expect certification shortly after hire.
The same precision applies to the "registered health information technician certificate" phrasing: a completion certificate from a school program and the RHIT are different things.
The RHIT is earned by passing AHIMA's exam after qualifying education, then maintained through AHIMA.
Eligibility: the CAHIIM degree requirement
RHIT eligibility runs through your education.
AHIMA requires completing an associate-level health information management (HIM) program accredited by CAHIIM, or a foreign HIM program covered under a reciprocity agreement.
The degree's field matters as much as its level.
AHIMA says it currently accepts only HIM degree programs for the RHIT exam — health informatics degrees do not qualify.
Students do not have to wait for a diploma in hand.
Those in CAHIIM-accredited RHIT and RHIA programs can apply to test early in their final term, after finishing coursework, or while awaiting transcripts — and AHIMA caps the early tester form at two submissions per exam.
AHIMA frames the RHIT as roughly a two-year academic route, against about four years for the RHIA.
Confirm eligibility before you enroll
The RHIT exam at a glance
AHIMA publishes the exam's format on its RHIT page:
| Detail | What AHIMA publishes |
|---|---|
| Questions | 150 total — 130 scored and 20 pretest |
| Time allowed | 3 hours 30 minutes |
| Materials | No books or resources required |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test centers |
| Passing score | A scaled score of 300 — which is not a percent correct |
| Results | Pass or fail immediately at the end of the exam, except during beta periods |
Content spans six domains: Data Content, Structure and Information Governance; Access, Disclosure, Privacy and Security; Data Analytics and Use; Revenue Cycle Management; Compliance; and Leadership.
AHIMA also sells its own exam preparation: two complete practice exams and 850 multiple-choice questions.
If you shop around instead, note CCHIIM's position — it does not contribute to, review, endorse or require any review book or prep activity.
Exam rules change
Cost and timeline
The exam fee is $229 for AHIMA members and $299 for non-members, as of October 2026.
A retake means the full fee again, after a 30-day wait for the RHIT.
Time works differently: the degree comes first — in AHIMA's framing, roughly two academic years — and the exam itself is scheduled inside a 120-day window.
Complete a CAHIIM-accredited associate-level HIM program
The program must be HIM at the associate level, or a foreign HIM program under a reciprocity agreement — health informatics degrees do not qualify.Apply to AHIMA
Current students can use the early-tester route in their final term, after finishing coursework, or while awaiting transcripts, with the form capped at two submissions per exam.Schedule with Pearson VUE within 120 days
AHIMA's exam eligibility period runs 120 calendar days from the application approval date.Sit the exam and get your result
150 questions in 3 hours 30 minutes, no reference books, and a pass or fail result at the end of the session except during beta periods.Keep the credential current
Your first AHIMA recertification cycle starts the day you pass and runs two years, with 20 CEUs required for the RHIT.
Budget beyond the exam: membership is a price lever, not an eligibility one — AHIMA lists member and non-member fees for the same exam — with dues starting at $49 for Student membership as of October 2026.
The degree program's tuition is a separate school-by-school cost.
Recertification
The RHIT stays current through AHIMA's two-year recertification cycle.
The RHIT — like the CCA, CCS and CCS-P — requires 20 CEUs per cycle; the RHIA, CHDA, CHPS and CDIP require 30.
Your first cycle starts the day you pass the exam.
CEUs accrue on clock time: half a CEU for every 30 minutes of qualifying education, and sessions under 30 minutes earn no credit.
Content has guardrails too: at least 80% of your CEUs must fall within the HIIM domains, with up to 20% allowed on other job-relevant topics.
Multiple credentials stack: each additional AHIMA credential adds 10 CEUs per cycle, capped at 50 CEUs total.
Recertification carries its own fee: $100 per cycle for members with a single credential and $249 for non-members, as of October 2026, plus $50 per additional credential for non-members.
Exam preparation does not double as CEUs — AHIMA says exam-preparation activities do not qualify for recertification credit.
One stale rule to disregard: older prep guides describe a requirement that 40% of CEUs come from AHIMA or component associations.
CCHIIM voted to dissolve that requirement effective immediately, so it is no longer part of the cycle.
Jobs RHIT opens
AHIMA's candidate guide sketches where the credential works: RHITs often specialize in coding, and most work in hospitals, with others in physician practices, nursing homes, home health and other settings.
The job title on the other side is health information technician.
Open roles are listed on our health information technician jobs board.
On pay: our research found no BLS wage line named for the RHIT, so the RHIT salary page reports the closest federal match — Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars (SOC 29-9021) — as a labelled proxy.
Treat it as a benchmark, not a promise.
The next AHIMA rung is the RHIA.
Under AHIMA's credential hierarchy the RHIA supersedes the RHIT — once the RHIA is granted, RHIT recertification is no longer required.
There is no experience-based shortcut up.
An RHIT still has to meet the RHIA's academic eligibility: a CAHIIM-accredited HIM program at the bachelor's or master's level, or a CAHIIM-approved post-baccalaureate certificate.
Career information, not coding, billing-compliance, legal or tax advice — confirm current RHIT eligibility, exam, fee and recertification rules with AHIMA before you apply or register.