The mission of the PACB is "To establish a national credential (BCPA - Board Certified Patient Advocate) for those who advocate for patients." We define a Patient Advocate as "... a professional who provides services to patients and those supporting them who are navigating the complex healthcare continuum. Advocates work directly with clients (or with their legal representatives) to ensure they have a voice in their care and information to promote informed decision making. Advocates may work independently or in medical or other organizational settings. They serve individuals, communities, disease‐specific populations, and family caregivers. Synonyms may include health advocate, healthcare advocate, healthcare advocacy consultant, healthcare consumer advocate, and other phrases that imply this role." The goal of the Patient Advocacy Certification Board (PACB) is to develop standards and practices that reflect the broad knowledge and insight of our diverse professional community, not just the perspective of any single individual or organization. Accordingly, PACB’s publicly released documents are the product of countless hours of volunteer work by a diverse group of PACB members, task force members, practitioners, educators and professionals, drawing on numerous sources as well as their own professional experiences. PACB employs a careful and deliberative process that involves research, discussion, drafting, review, editing, critique, posting for public comment, revision, clarification, final editing and posting of the final version on the PACB website, https://pacboard.org/. PACB’s standards and practices are the product of an evolutionary process that continuously builds upon the work of our predecessors, work that has guided, inspired and provided a basis for PACB’s independent efforts. Patient Advocate Certification Board, Inc. is a non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
