15.2 Test Day, Scoring, Results & Maintaining the CBET Credential
Key Takeaways
- Candidates must present two forms of identification, one of which is a government-issued photo ID, and must arrive at least 15 minutes early; late arrivals are treated as no-shows and forfeit all exam fees, and a U.S. Social Security card is not an acceptable secondary identification.
- With 165 questions in 180 minutes the average time per item is about 65 seconds, which makes a two-pass strategy — answer everything you know quickly, flag the rest, then return — the practical approach; there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so every item should be answered.
- Passing candidates are notified within 45 days of the close of their testing window and receive an electronic certificate; since 2025 ACI issues certificates electronically only and no longer distributes wallet cards, and results can be delayed up to 60 days when new exam forms require committee review.
- Unsuccessful CBET and CRES candidates receive scaled scores together with an analysis of performance that identifies the content areas in which performance was deficient, which converts a failed attempt into a targeted study plan for the next window.
- Maintaining the credential requires 30 CEUs from six approved categories within each three-year cycle plus a renewal fee of $100 for members or $150 for non-members; Category IV (professional development) has a 15 CEU minimum and no maximum, while other categories are capped, and CEUs must relate to the current content outline.
Test Day, Scoring, Results & Maintaining the CBET Credential
Passing the examination is one day. Holding the credential is a three-year cycle that repeats for the rest of your career. This section covers both.
Confirm details against the current ACI Certification Candidate Handbook before your appointment; administrative rules are reviewed annually.
1. Admission and Identification
The admission rules are enforced strictly, and candidates are turned away for failing them every window.
- Two forms of identification are required, and one must be a government-issued photo ID. Acceptable secondary identification includes a credit card, a bank debit card or an employee identification card.
- A U.S. Social Security card is not acceptable as identification.
- Bring the confirmation email containing your exam launch code. It also lists your date, time, testing center and exam. Without a launch code you cannot begin. If you lose the email or never received it after scheduling, contact ACI before test day rather than on it.
- Arrive at least 15 minutes before the start time. Late arrivals are not admitted, are recorded as no-shows, and forfeit all fees paid.
- Permitted: a simple calculator. Prohibited: cell phones, tablets and any device with internet capability or a camera.
2. Managing 165 Items in 180 Minutes
The arithmetic is straightforward: 180 minutes divided by 165 items is roughly 65 seconds per question, including the time you spend reading, deciding and navigating.
A workable strategy:
- First pass — momentum. Answer everything you know on sight. Do not agonize. Flag anything that requires calculation or that you are unsure of, and keep moving. Most candidates clear 60–70% of the exam in well under half the time this way.
- Second pass — calculations. Return to the flagged computational items: Ohm's law and power, energy stored in a capacitor, RCF, static compliance, MAP, flow-rate error, subnetting, unit conversions. These are the items where a calculator and thirty seconds of care converts a guess into a certainty.
- Third pass — judgment items. Come back to the scenario questions that require weighing options. A second reading often reveals the qualifier — "first," "most likely," "best initial action" — that decides between two plausible answers.
- Answer every question. There is no deduction for an incorrect answer. An unanswered item is a guaranteed zero; a considered elimination down to two options is a coin flip worth taking.
Reading discipline for CBET items. The exam is written around clinical scenarios, so the stem often contains more information than you need. Two habits help. First, identify what the question is actually asking before you read the options; scenario detail is frequently there to establish context, not to be used arithmetically. Second, watch for the qualifier. "What should the technician check first" and "what is the most probable cause" have different correct answers even with identical option sets.
Use the comment feature. ACI invites candidates to write comments on specific questions, on the administration, or on site conditions. Comments that could affect whether a candidate passes are reviewed before the exam is scored; the remainder are reviewed by the ACI Board at its regular meetings. If an item appears defective or the testing environment was disrupted, say so in the comment field at the time — not afterwards.
3. Scoring and Results
How it is scored. Performance is evaluated by a criterion-referenced method: candidates are measured against a predetermined standard, not against each other. The ACI Board and its committees rate each item's difficulty against the expectations for an entry-level professional and combine those ratings using the modified Angoff method to set the cut score. Some administrations include unscored pretest items being evaluated for future forms — a standard psychometric practice, and a further reason not to spend disproportionate time on any single question.
When you find out. Candidates who pass are notified within 45 days of the close of the testing window in which they tested — not within 45 days of their individual appointment. When new exam forms are introduced, results may be delayed up to 60 days while ACI exam committees complete their review.
What you receive. Since 2025, ACI distributes electronic certificates only and no longer issues wallet cards. Note the formal position carefully: you are not certified until you receive official results from ACI. Preliminary on-screen results at the testing center do not determine certification status, and you should not update a resume, a badge or a professional profile on the strength of them.
If you do not pass. CBET and CRES candidates who are unsuccessful receive their results as scaled scores together with an analysis of performance identifying the knowledge areas in which performance was deficient. This is the single most valuable output of an unsuccessful attempt, and it should drive the next study cycle directly. If the analysis flags Healthcare Technology Problem Solving, rework the fault trees and corrective-action material; if it flags Healthcare Information Technology, rework networking, interoperability, cybersecurity and system-hardware troubleshooting. Retaking with the same undifferentiated study plan is how candidates fail twice.
Retakes are charged at the reduced retake fee ($355 member / $405 non-member, non-refundable) and require applying for a subsequent window.
4. Maintaining the Credential: The Three-Year Cycle
The CBET is not a permanent award. Maintaining it requires three things in each three-year reporting period:
- Earn at least 30 CEUs from the six approved categories.
- Report them in the active CEU journal accessible through your AAMI profile. Supporting documentation is recommended but not required at submission — retain it, because a percentage of certificants are audited.
- Submit the renewal payment.
The six CEU categories
| Category | Description | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| I | Earning an additional HTM-related certification — ACI credentials (CBET, CHTM, CISS) and CCE earn 5 CEUs each; healthcare-related, technology-related (A+, Net+, Sec+, MCSE, CET) and business certifications earn 2 CEUs each | Maximum 15 |
| II | Leadership roles — ACI Board, exam committees, HTM society roles, hospital committees, professional association roles; 4 CEUs for 30 or more hours per year, 2 CEUs for less | Maximum 15 |
| III | Development of educational content — 5 written exam items equals 1 CEU; a published opinion article of 500+ words earns 1 CEU; a published peer-reviewed or technical article of 1,200–1,500 words earns 3 CEUs; a book chapter earns 3 CEUs | Maximum 15 |
| IV | Professional development — classes, documented in-services, vendor training, webinars, HTM podcasts with proof of attendance, and conference sessions at 1 CEU per hour; presenting or teaching earns 2 CEUs; indirectly related courses such as communication or accounting earn 0.5 CEU per hour | Minimum 15, no maximum |
| V | College or university courses directly related to an accredited degree and to the HTM profession, with a grade of C or above and a transcript as proof — 1 CEU per 10 hours of class time; 3 CEUs per 10 hours of teaching | Maximum 15 |
| VI | Work experience — 1.5 CEUs per year of full-time HTM employment; 0.5 CEU per year part-time or military reserve duty | Maximum 6 |
Two rules trip people up. First, Category IV carries a minimum of 15 CEUs — you cannot assemble 30 CEUs from certifications, committee work and employment alone; at least half must come from genuine professional development. Second, CEUs must relate to the current content outline for the credential you hold, which is a real constraint now that the CBET outline was revised in June 2025.
Renewal fees and deadlines
| Item | Member | Non-member |
|---|---|---|
| Recertification | $100 | $150 |
| Each additional certification | $50 | $75 |
| Reactivation | $100 | $100 |
| Change to retired status | $25 | $25 |
Recertification fees are non-refundable. CEUs must be obtained by December 31 of the recertification year. A reactivation fee is added to the renewal invoice after December 31, and the last day for reactivation is March 31 — after that the credential lapses and the examination must be retaken.
Emeritus and retired status
Certificants who meet the qualifying criteria may move to emeritus status, which removes the continuing-practice journal and renewal-fee obligations and appends an "E" to the designation in the online registry (CBET-E). Those who do not qualify for emeritus may take retired status, which requires a $25 fee every three years but no CEUs. Either change requires submitting the status change form; simply stopping payment results in revocation.
5. A Realistic Preparation Timeline
| Time before the window | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6 months | Confirm your eligibility pathway and gather documentation. Read the current content outline and score yourself honestly against each of the six areas. |
| 5 months | Begin structured study weighted to the blueprint — device function and problem solving first, then IT, then safety, then anatomy and electronics. |
| 3 months | Submit the application. Do not wait for the deadline; incomplete applications get a five-business-day window to be fixed. |
| On approval | Schedule the seat immediately. Preferred centers and times fill, and travel of a hundred miles is not unusual in some regions. |
| 2 months | Shift from reading to practice questions. Work timed sets to build the 65-seconds-per-item pace. |
| 1 month | Drill the recurring numbers: leakage limits, NFPA 99 categories, applied part types, sync delay, REM window, autoclave parameters, WMTS bands, ECG bandwidths, unit conversions. |
| 1 week | Confirm the appointment, the launch code and the center location. Assemble two forms of ID including a government photo ID, and a simple calculator. |
| Test day | Arrive 15 minutes early. Two passes, then judgment items. Answer every question. |
A candidate arrives at a Kryterion testing center with a valid state driver license and a U.S. Social Security card as a second form of identification. What will happen?
A candidate does not pass the CBET. Beyond the pass or fail decision, what does ACI provide, and how should it be used?
A CBET holder assembling 30 CEUs for a three-year cycle plans to claim 15 CEUs from an additional certification and committee leadership, 6 CEUs from full-time work experience over three years, and the remainder from college coursework, with nothing from Category IV. Why does this plan fail?
A candidate sits the CBET on November 3 and sees a preliminary result on screen at the testing center. When is the candidate actually certified?
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