About CCMC

Commission for Case Manager Certification 25th Anniversary Logo

The Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC) had its beginnings in a July 1990 case management conference and a survey conducted to determine interest and attitudes towards certification.  As a result of the survey, a National Task Force on Case Management convened in Dallas on March 27, 1991. Notes from the meeting reference formation of a Steering Committee made up of 30 professionals representing 29 healthcare industry stakeholders. The organizers envisioned the establishment of an entry-level type certification that would demonstrate basic education, experience, and competence, evidenced by an examination. 

A paramount concern was the varied training and background of people who called themselves case managers; incompetent practice could damage the emerging profession and endanger the well-being of patients. The idea was put forward that case management professionals themselves, rather than a regulatory authority, should oversee the credentialing process. As a result of the Dallas meeting, the task force set to work to research and develop what would become the first CCM® examination.

The work to develop case management certification included a number of milestones:

  • Clarification of the case manager role and development of a draft definition of case management (August 23, 1991, Steering Committee Report)
  • Finalization of case management definition and name of the credential: the Certified Case Manager (CCM) (July 3, 1992, letter to National Task Force)
  • A 1992 bid to develop the certification process, won by the Certified Insurance Rehabilitation Specialists, (now the Certified Disability Management Specialists)
  • Development of certification eligibility guidelines, the role and function study, and the examination process
  • Formation of an interim commission to oversee the certification process.
  • Refinement of the eligibility criteria for the Certified Case Manager (CCM®) credential
  • Development and field testing of an examination in 1993

In 1993, CCMC offered its first credentialing exam. Some 12,000 case managers sought the CCM in its first year, well beyond the 1,000 or so applicants expected.

In 1995, the interim commission was renamed the Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC). The Commission comprises up to 18 commissioners responsible for setting all policies and guidelines for the administrative processes of CCMC. The next year, CCMC developed and adopted a code of professional conduct and a uniform scope of practice. In 1999, CCMC was granted accreditation by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, which it continues to maintain—the only comprehensive cross-setting, cross-discipline case manager credential to do so.

Other recent milestones:

Take a look at our 2020 Compendium highlighting our performance across certification and all related products and services. 

“Case Management—The Origins, Evolution and Future.” Catherine M. Mullahy, RN, BS, CRRN, CCM and Jeanne Boling, MSN, CRRN, CDMS, CCM. CareManagement, April/May 2015, 7-11.
“The Commission for Case Manager Certification’s 10th Anniversary.” Susan Gilpin, JD. The Case Manager, May/June, 2003, 49-51.

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