PACB believes that Board Certified Patient Advocates (BCPA) should continue to expand their skills to enhance the quality of the services they provide. PACB’s certification renewal requirements are designed to encourage Board Certified Patient Advocates to seek professional education through ongoing continuing education, which should enhance knowledge beyond that which is required for initial certification.

The Patient Advocate Certification Board (PACB) provides this information to stipulate the Continuing Education and Certification Renewal Requirements for the Board Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA) credential. Certification renewal is essential to ensure that Board Certified Patient Advocates keep current with the best practices, continuing education, emerging trends, and policy changes that relate to the ethical and professional practice of patient and health care advocacy.

Certification Renewal

Board Certified Patient Advocates may renew their certification in one of two ways.

The 30 CE units must be PACB-approved to qualify for recertification. NOTE: At least six (6) of these 30 required units (6 clock hours) must be dedicated to the ethics domain and three (3) hours in the area of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.*

In support of quality continuing education, the Patient Advocate Certification Board has established a pre-approval process for providers of CEs. PACB encourages providers of continuing education to seek pre-approval for their programs. This guide is designed to describe both the process as well as the requirements for submission of continuing education programs for pre-approval.

*The requirement for JEDI CEs begins with advocates first credentialed in 2022. Individuals with renewal dates in 2023 and 2024 may submit JEDI-related CEs but are not required to do so. Thereafter, all renewals will require a minimum of three (3) JEDI-related CEs for renewal.

PACB Approval of Continuing Education

To offer, advertise, and grant PACB continuing education credit, the Provider must either:

1. Receive Approved Continuing Education Provider status (BCPA-ACE) from PACB, or
2. Receive approval from PACB to grant credit for a specific program.

All continuing education providers must comply with the requirements explained in this Continuing Education Provider Policy. PACB has the sole discretion to determine whether a continuing education provider or program follows requirements. Each Provider offering BCPA credit is solely responsible for submitting to PACB all required information and documentation demonstrating that the Provider and the Provider’s programs are following PACB requirements. Providers failing to demonstrate compliance with this Policy may be sanctioned by PACB, including the disqualification of non-compliant programs and/or Providers.

Provider Types

PACB accepts continuing education from two (2) types of Providers.

Application and Approval

Single Program Providers should use the Regular online application and:

• Must submit one application for each program.
• Pay one fee per application.
• Approval, once granted, is for one year, beginning on the first date of the program for live or in-person programs. Recorded online, on-demand, and home-study programs are approved for two years. At the conclusion of the first year, a signed attestation statement indicating the program has not changed and is still current is required. Once received, the expiration date will be extended for an additional year.
• Activities, once approved, may be offered an unlimited number of times (in the same format) within the specified approval period.
• No retroactive approvals are granted for any program at any time.
• See fee schedule below.

Approved Continuing Education Provider (BCPA-ACE)

Approved Continuing Education Provider status is granted by PACB to eligible providers demonstrating compliance with all PACB provider and program requirements. PACB retains the sole authority to determine if a provider qualifies for BCPA-ACE status.

BCPA-ACE Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for Approved Provider status, an applicant must satisfy all eligibility requirements, including the following:

• The applicant currently develops and presents continuing education programs that would qualify for credit under the regular pre-approved single program policy.
• The applicant must sufficiently demonstrate that the organization or individual offers and presents at least two different live programs (virtual or in-person) or one home study program that would qualify for BCPA credit under the regular pre-approved single program policy.
• The applicant must designate an authorized representative to serve as administrator. Among other responsibilities, the administrator serves as the primary contact person for all BCPA-ACE program matters. The program administrator is responsible for assuring that the content of all provider programs offering BCPA credit, and the qualifications of all program presenters satisfy the requirements of the PACB Continuing Education Program.
• The applicant must submit an application, including all required information, and fees. All application materials become the property of PACB, and fees are not refundable.
• The applicant must not display any statement concerning approval or status prior to written notification of approval from PACB.
• Once BCPA-ACE status is approved, each program must be submitted for review and approval (at no additional fee) up to and including the allowable number of CEs.
• Programs submitted must have been created, developed, advertised, planned, and implemented by the applicant (organization/individual).
• Sessions presented by the applicant for another provider’s program or conference will not be considered. The applicant cannot delegate any portion of the application process to another organization.
• Programs submitted as part of the application cannot be from a co-sponsorship relationship or a co-sponsored program without the prior consent of PACB.

Each provider offering BCPA credit is solely responsible for submitting to PACB all required information and documentation demonstrating that the provider and the provider’s programs follow PACB’s Continuing Education Guidelines. Providers failing to demonstrate compliance with the policy may be sanctioned by PACB, including the disqualification of non-compliant programs or providers, or suspension or termination of Approved Provider status.

Program Fees*

BCPA-ACE Provider

• New application fee (One-time fee) – $25

BCPA-ACE Annual Fee (Both New and Renewal)

• 1-10 CEs – $500
• 11-29 CEs – $750

Individual course

• Regular Single Program Approval Category – $100 per program
• Rush fee – $100

Conference

• $100 minimum (includes up to 6 credit hours; thereafter $15 additional per credit hour

*All fees are non-refundable.

**An additional fee of $100 is charged to all organizations requesting rush processing of their application; this applies to any application submitted less than 30 days prior to the first event date. Applications submitted less than 10 business days in advance of the activity date will not be accepted.

No retroactive approvals will be issued at any time.

PACB will communicate with you via the email address you provide on your application. Please be sure to add admin@pacboard.org to your safe senders’ list to ensure you receive all communication.

PACB reserves the right to monitor the programs and activities for which it has granted approval and to withdraw its approval from any program or activity that is offered or presented in a manner that is inconsistent with approval requirements.

Payment Methods

Credit Card – The preferred method of payment is by credit card. PACB accepts MasterCard, Visa, and American Express. All credit card payments are processed securely. When paying by credit card, be sure to enter your information as requested on the payment portion of the application. You will receive a receipt after the successful transmission of the transaction.

Check – You also have the option of paying by check. Checks must be made payable to the Patient Advocate Certification Board. A service fee of $35 will be assessed for checks returned for insufficient funds or for charges made to closed accounts.

Make checks payable to:

Patient Advocate Certification Board
2300 Wildwood Ave, #6771
Sherwood, AR 72120

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