Okay so I'm finally on the other side of this thing and I have to share because I was seriously about to give up. Failed in October, failed again in January, and I genuinely cried in my car after that second one. I'd been working in medical billing for two years so I thought I had a solid foundation, but the exam goes so much deeper than day-to-day work tasks — particularly the compliance and privacy sections, which wrecked me both times.
What finally clicked was switching up my study approach completely. Instead of just re-reading the NHA study guide, I started drilling with a CEHRS practice test every single day for about three weeks. Like timed, full-length sessions. It exposed these weird gaps I didn't know I had — stuff around retention schedules and release of information authorizations. I also made a two-page cheat sheet of exam tips I kept finding myself forgetting.
Scored an 82 on my third attempt. If anyone's in that spiral of failing and not knowing why, drop your questions here — happy to walk through what worked for me.