- What CMGT-BC Training Actually Means
- The Training Clock: Program Phaseout Dates
- Training Before Training: Eligibility Hours and CE
- Training for the Exam Format
- Domain-by-Domain Training Plan
- Sequencing Your Training Weeks
- Training Your Scoring Expectations
- Training Beyond the Exam: Renewal Readiness
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CMGT-BC initial applications close December 31, 2026; the exam and retesting end December 31, 2027.
- Care Coordination is the heaviest domain at 30%, worth 37 of 125 scored questions.
- The exam is in-person at Prometric: 150 questions, three hours, closed book, no personal calculator.
- Passing requires a scaled score of at least 350 out of 500, not a raw 70%.
What CMGT-BC Training Actually Means
"Training" for the Nursing Case Management Certification can mean three different things, and nurses often conflate them. First, there is the professional training that qualifies you to sit for the exam: practice hours in case management and specialty continuing education. Second, there is exam training: building recall and judgment across the four content domains of the ANCC test. Third, there is maintenance training: the continuing education and professional-development activity that keeps the Case Management Nurse - Board Certified (CMGT-BC) designation active over a five-year cycle.
This guide treats all three as a single pipeline. If you are new to the credential itself, start with What Is CMGT-BC Certification? and then return here to plan your preparation. The credential is issued by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), part of the American Nurses Enterprise, and it is specific to RNs practicing in nursing case management.
The Training Clock: Program Phaseout Dates
Before you invest months in preparation, understand that this certification is in a managed phaseout. That changes how you should structure your training timeline.
| Milestone | Date | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| Initial applications close | December 31, 2026 | You must submit your first application by this date |
| Examination and retesting end | December 31, 2027 | Last chance to sit for the exam, including any retake |
| Program becomes renewal-only | After December 31, 2027 | No new certificants; existing ones renew |
| Active certificants on January 1, 2028 | January 1, 2028 | May continue renewing the credential |
One consequence deserves attention: after exam retirement, a certification that lapses beyond the two-year reactivation window cannot be reactivated by taking the retired examination. For this credential, maintaining continuous standing matters more than it does for programs that remain open. Our CMGT-BC exam dates guide covers scheduling logistics in more detail.
Training Before Training: Eligibility Hours and CE
The practice requirements are the first form of training the credential demands. To apply, you need:
- A current, active RN license (or an accepted international equivalent)
- Two full-time-equivalent years of experience as an RN
- 2,000 hours of nursing case management practice within the last three years
- 30 hours of continuing education in the specialty within the last three years
That CE requirement is an opportunity. Rather than collecting 30 hours of whatever is cheapest, choose activities that overlap with the exam content outline: transitions of care, utilization review, outcomes measurement, population health, and patient education. Hours earned this way count twice, once for eligibility and once as genuine exam preparation. Details on documentation and qualification appear in our CMGT-BC requirements guide.
Key Takeaway
If you are short on practice hours, the deadline math matters more than the study math. Applications close December 31, 2026, so confirm your 2,000 hours and 30 CE hours first, then build the study schedule around your authorization window.
Training for the Exam Format
Good preparation mirrors the conditions you will face. Here is what the testing environment looks like:
- Delivery: Computer-based, closed-book multiple choice, administered by Prometric at a test center. The certification exam is in person, not remotely proctored.
- Length: 150 questions, of which 125 are scored and 25 are unscored pretest items. You will not know which is which.
- Time: Three hours. Breaks consume exam time.
- Tools: No personal calculators and no paper or electronic resources. A dry-erase board is provided.
- Navigation: You can mark questions and return to them. Guessing carries no penalty, so never leave an item blank.
- Authorization: A standard authorization to test lasts 120 days, so schedule your appointment with that window in mind.
Three hours for 150 questions works out to roughly 72 seconds per item. Train at that pace. Practice sets of 25 questions in 30 minutes build the rhythm of reading a case scenario, identifying what is actually being asked, and eliminating distractors without lingering. Because pretest items are mixed in, a strange or unusually obscure question is not necessarily a sign you are underprepared; it may simply be unscored.
For a full walkthrough of the preparation process, see the CMGT-BC study guide, and use the CMGT-BC Exam Prep practice tests to rehearse under timed conditions.
Domain-by-Domain Training Plan
The test content outline (effective October 23, 2024, updated September 8, 2025) divides the exam into four domains. The percentages below are the issuer's published figures, which sum to 101% because of rounding; scored items are allocated 27, 37, 32, and 29 out of 125.
| Domain | Weight | Scored Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Domain 1: Professional Foundation | 22% | 27 |
| Domain 2: Care Coordination | 30% | 37 |
| Domain 3: Quality Management | 26% | 32 |
| Domain 4: Health Promotion | 23% | 29 |
Domain 1: Professional Foundation (22%)
This domain covers the standards, ethics, and legal framework that govern case management practice. Expect scenario questions where the right answer depends on professional boundaries and role clarity rather than clinical knowledge.
- Ethical decision-making when patient autonomy, payer limits, and organizational policy conflict
- Advocacy and the case manager's responsibilities to the patient versus the employer
- Scope of practice, documentation standards, and confidentiality obligations
Domain 2: Care Coordination (30%)
The largest domain and the one where extra study hours earn the most return. It centers on moving patients safely through the continuum of care.
- Assessment, care planning, and interdisciplinary collaboration
- Transitions of care, discharge planning, and handoff communication
- Matching patients to the right level of care and post-acute resources
- Follow-up and monitoring after a transition
Domain 3: Quality Management (26%)
Here the exam shifts from the individual patient to the system. You will interpret measures, recognize improvement opportunities, and understand how case management demonstrates value.
- Outcome indicators, quality metrics, and performance improvement cycles
- Utilization management and resource stewardship
- Risk identification, patient safety, and variance analysis
Domain 4: Health Promotion (23%)
Questions in this domain test your ability to support patient self-management and population-level wellness.
- Health literacy, education strategies, and teach-back methods
- Motivational approaches to behavior change and adherence
- Social determinants of health and community resource linkage
- Prevention and chronic disease self-management support
A deeper treatment of each area is available in our CMGT-BC exam domains guide.
Sequencing Your Training Weeks
This is the one place where generic planning logic is worth applying, and only because the domain structure dictates a clear order. Start with the heaviest domain while your energy is highest, and finish with the one that most overlaps with everyday clinical intuition. A sample eight-week sequence:
Care Coordination First
- Work through transitions of care, level-of-care selection, and interdisciplinary planning
- Take a short baseline quiz to find your weakest subtopic
Quality Management
- Review outcome measures, utilization concepts, and improvement methods
- Practice interpreting data-driven scenarios
Professional Foundation and Health Promotion
- Drill ethics and role-boundary scenarios
- Cover health literacy, behavior change, and social determinants
Timed Mixed Practice
- Complete full-length 150-question simulations in three-hour blocks
- Revisit your weakest domain and review every missed item
Because the exam is not a raw-percentage test, avoid obsessing over a target like 70% on practice sets. Instead, track domain-level patterns. If your Care Coordination results trail the others, that gap costs you more on test day than an equal gap in Professional Foundation, simply because it carries more scored items.
Training Your Scoring Expectations
The ANCC reports results on a scaled score, with a maximum of 500 and a passing threshold of at least 350. The cut score is set with a Modified Angoff standard-setting method, meaning subject-matter experts judge how a minimally qualified candidate would perform, rather than applying a flat percentage. The practical takeaway: do not convert your practice scores into a fake pass line. Our CMGT-BC passing score guide explains this in depth.
For context on how candidates fare, ANCC's 2025 data reports a first-time pass rate of 66%, with 188 passes among 286 first-time candidates. As of December 31, 2025, 1,961 certificants were active. That means roughly one in three first-time candidates did not pass, so treat the exam as demanding even if you have years of experience. Read more in what the pass-rate data shows and our assessment of how hard the exam is.
Training Beyond the Exam: Renewal Readiness
Passing earns you five years of certification, and the clock for your next cycle starts immediately. Renewal requires:
- Active licensure and certification standing
- 75 hours of specialty continuing education, including at least 60 formally approved hours
- One additional professional-development category
The 1,000-practice-hour option is one of the additional categories you may choose, not a universal requirement. Activities must fall within the five-year cycle and occur before you submit the renewal application. Renewal fees are $350 for nonmembers, with ANA-member pricing advertised as low as $250.
Because the program is moving to renewal-only status, renewal by examination will not be available once the exam retires. Plan to renew through continuing education and professional development from the start, and track your hours as you earn them rather than reconstructing them at the deadline.
Weighing the Investment
The initial examination fee is $395 for nonmembers or $295 for ANA members, and it includes a $140 nonrefundable administrative fee. Add the cost of study materials and CE, and the total outlay is meaningful. Our certification cost breakdown itemizes it, while the ROI analysis and salary guide help you judge the return. Employers in hospitals, health systems, payer organizations, and community-based care programs commonly seek credentialed case managers, which you can explore further in CMGT-BC jobs.
For a compact refresher before test day, the CMGT-BC cheat sheet condenses the must-know facts, and the main practice test site offers question banks to pressure-test what you have learned.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but time is limited. Initial applications are accepted through December 31, 2026, and examination and retesting end December 31, 2027. Confirm your eligibility hours first, then work backward from those dates.
There is no mandated course, but you must have 30 hours of specialty continuing education within three years, plus 2,000 case management practice hours and two years of full-time-equivalent RN experience.
Care Coordination, at 30% of the exam and 37 of 125 scored questions. That said, every domain contributes, so avoid neglecting Professional Foundation, Quality Management, or Health Promotion.
No. The certification exam is delivered in person at Prometric test centers. Remote delivery of an ANCC readiness test does not mean the certification exam is available remotely.
You may retest after at least 60 calendar days, with renewed eligibility, up to three attempts in 12 months, but always before the final testing deadline of December 31, 2027. Plan your first attempt early enough to leave room for a retake.