Become a Board Certified Patient Advocate Today
Are You Ready?
Championing patient well-being through a universally recognized certification for patient and health advocates
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What is BCPA Certification
In our complex system of health care, certifications help to provide assurance of quality, safe and ethical conduct. Across industries, certification translates to confidence and trust, and is valued by consumers worldwide. Certification can help guide consumers to locate the most qualified service providers available. To that end, the Patient Advocate Certification Board (PACB) endorses certification (by examination) for all individuals in the field of patient advocacy.
Certification is one-part of a process called, “credentialing.” It focuses specifically on the individual and is an indication of current competence in the specialized area of patient advocacy practice. Passing the examination for Board Certified Patient Advocate creates and promotes competence and professionalism in the field of patient advocacy, provides formal recognition on behalf of practicing patient advocates and enhances consumer safety, ensuring patients have a voice in their care.
Certification can lead to better visibility, opportunities, and jobs. In today’s increasingly complex and highly-specialized healthcare system, credentials are more important than ever. Sure, you know you’ve got the skills to do the job, but how do you convince potential clients and employers you do? For many career-minded professional patient advocates, certification is often the answer. For some patient advocates, certification is recognized as a valuable way to prove professional credentials to both health care providers as well as patients and family care givers.
Registration Deadline for the Fall 2020 Exam
Start Your Journey to Certification Today
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2016 – Year in Review
While it may have seemed quiet to those who await updates from the PACB, 2016 was actually a very busy year, as we continue to move patient advocate certification forward. This year-end review will bring you up to date on our progress: We welcomed new and returning...
Answering Your Questions about Patient Advocate Certification
After these many years of work on building the patient advocate certification, the PACB decided to hold teleconferences, live Q & A type sessions, two of which were held during this month of March 2016.To maximize the benefit of these calls, we recorded them. Find...
Patient Advocacy vs Medical Advocacy: View from the PACB
A recent article in the Washington Post has triggered vigorous debate about the proper scope of practice of the professionals who are patient advocates. Initially, it is apparent that almost anyone can “advocate” for someone who is a patient. Physicians, nurses,...
Welcome to the PAC Board’s New Website
As we begin 2016, and having shifted from being a steering committee to being an incorporated entity with a board and a new name, we have now moved to this new website to reflect the changes. The look and feel of the site have changed, but all the content of the old...
PACB: End of 2015 Wrap Up – and Next Steps
What a year it has been for the Patient Advocate Certification Board. A year of major progress, several hurdles, hundreds of hours of hard work, and some long strides that move the profession of patient advocacy forward.We completed two big projects / published...
Update from the PACB: Competencies and Best Practices, Ethical Standards, and Definitions Are Now Published
Earlier this year, the PACB published two documents for public review and asked for comments. More than 100 people took us up on our request!Since then, members of the Patient Advocate Certification Board have spent countless hours studying each and every one of the...
Ethical Standards – Final Version Published
The PACB (Patient Advocate Certification Board) is pleased to publish the final version of its Ethical Standards. Development of these standards was truly a collaborative effort. In June we put our first PACB draft document out for public review.Almost 75 of you...
Review of Public Comments – Ethical Standards & Best Practices, Competencies
The Patient Advocate Certification Board thanks those of you who took the time to comment on the two documents (Ethical Standards & Best Practices and Competencies, as described previously). Reading through them, we experienced your passion for our chosen...
Naming Decisions and Request for Comments – June 2015
The steering committee has been hard at work for many months developing several aspects of what will become the patient advocacy credential. Here are some of the decisions we have made:NamingThe name of the body that will provide and support the credential (replacing...
Update on Advocate Certification Steering Committee Work – January 2015
Our January meeting was intensely focused on moving forward with a wide variety of issues related to finance and eligibility. The Ethics-Legal Task Force is engaging with external fiduciaries to address whether a conflict of interest exists or other concerns arise...
