HCS-O - Home Care Clinical Specialist - OASIS

The Homecare Clinical Specialist – OASIS (HCS-O) certification through the Board of Medical Specialty Coding and Compliance (BMSC) is for clinicians working in home healthcare. This national specialty certification is earned by exam, and demonstrates the clinical skills and judgment required to correctly assess a patient’s condition. HCS-O credential holders are healthcare professionals with specialized knowledge in applying their clinical assessment findings to the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) items. 

HCS-O credential holders include Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Coding Specialists, Billing Specialists, Compliance Directors, Quality Assurance Directors, Administrators, and Agency Directors. Their role is to effectively ensure the accuracy of OASIS data. HCS-O certified home health specialists must understand and apply the OASIS Guidance Manual, category-specific questions and answers, and quarterly updates provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Clinicians with an HCS-O credential know how to:

• Gather patient clinical documentation.

• Validate the accuracy of OASIS responses.

• Correct OASIS response errors according to OASIS guidance and documentation standards.

• Ensure that all activities are done legally and ethically to support home healthcare policy and regulatory and professional guidelines.

Costs

• Testing Center: $329 for U.S. candidates and $429 for international candidates

• Remote Proctor: $329

• Rescheduling exam 5-29 days before the scheduled date: $35

• Re-take fee: $99 for U.S. candidates and $199 for international candidates

• Rescheduling the exam less than 5 days before the scheduled date, failing to appear or arriving more than 30 minutes after scheduled time: full test fee

Candidates for the HCS-O certification should know medical terminology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, anatomy, and physiology to comprehend and apply clinical information.

Candidates must pass the HCS-O written exam to earn this credential. Training and review courses are available.

HCS-O Exam:

The HCS-O certification exam is 3 hours long and contains 90 questions. The passing score for the HCS-O exam is 74%. All BMSC exams are “open book.” 

Candidates can retake the HCS-O certification exam within 90 days of their initial or previous certification exam for $99 in the U.S. or a remote proctor through Prometric.

The candidate must have, at a minimum, a high school diploma or have an equivalent background. Two years of homecare experience are recommended but not required.

The Homecare Clinical Specialist - OASIS (HCS-O) candidate must agree to abide by the BMSC Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct included in the candidate handbook.

The HCS-O certification requires annual recertification to remain active. Clinicians must fulfill annual recertification requirements and submit an application fee before the credential expires to maintain certification.

Recertification Exams: The recertification exam is a 10-question objective test, which only tests on code changes in the 12-18 months since an initial certification. Candidates have 90 minutes to take this exam. A passing grade is 80% correct or higher.

Recertification Fees

• $229

• Recertifying within 90 days after credentials expiration date: 15% late fee

HCS-O clinicians must earn twenty (20) CEUs annually.

The BMSC offers resources for exam candidates, including:

• Candidate Handbook

• OASIS Virtual Seminar (Cost: $499)

The BMSC has preapproved this program for CEUs.

• Homecare Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D)

• Certificate for OASIS Specialist - Clinical (COS-C)

• Certified OASIS Quality Specialist (COQS)