The Monthly Dose: November 2025

Posted by Jorge Francisco on

Welcome to the latest edition of "The Monthly Dose"!

Let’s dig in!

News and Announcements

Grateful for Your Leadership and Physician-Led Progress

As we wrap up the Thanksgiving season, we want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the physicians who continue to drive meaningful change within their hospitals and surrounding communities. Thanks to your leadership, 44 hospitals have added NBPAS to their bylaws this year alone, including 12 in the past month. This momentum is entirely physician led, and it is a powerful reminder of what peer-to-peer advocacy can accomplish.

When physicians speak to each other about meaningful, evidence-based continuous certification, hospitals listen. Your influence, your persistence, and your willingness to lead these conversations are the catalyst that moves NBPAS, and physician-led change forward.

If you're considering introducing NBPAS at your hospital, we are here to support you every step of the way with data, materials, and direct guidance to help you navigate the process.

We are deeply grateful for your continued advocacy and for helping advance a certification pathway that is relevant to clinical practice, respectful of physicians' time, and mindful of cost.

Hospital Acceptance

New Accepting Hospitals Added!

We are proud to share twelve more hospitals that have officially recognized NBPAS in their medical staff bylaws:

  • Williamson Medical Center
    Franklin, TN
  • Trinity Health - Mercy Medical Center
    Springfield, MA
  • Trinity Health - Enfield Surgery Center
    Enfield, CT
  • St. Mary's Sacred Heart Hospital
    Lavonia, GA
  • St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital
    Greensboro, GA
  • Holy Cross Health Florida
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • St. Joseph's Health Hospital
    Syracuse, NY
  • Saint Alphonsus Medical Center
    Nampa, ID
  • Saint Alphonsus Medical Center
    Ontario, OR
  • Saint Alphonsus Medical Center
    Baker City, OR
  • Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center
    Oakbrook Terrace, IL
  • MercyOne Medical Center
    Des Moines, IA

Help bring NBPAS to your hospital with the resources and downloadable materials available on our website.

Advocate for NBPAS at Your Hospital

NEW: The Break Room

A Quick Learning Stop with NBPAS Associate Director, Karen Schatten

We’re excited to launch The Break Room, a new feature of The Monthly Dose designed to deliver quick, clear answers to your most common questions—whether about certification requirements, points of confusion, or regulatory updates.

Check in each month to sharpen your certification knowledge and stay current on the opportunities and challenges that matter as you advocate for NBPAS within your hospital and the broader health care community.

November’s Question:
Payors versus Hospitals (Chicken versus Egg)–Who Controls Board Certification Acceptance?

It’s not uncommon that I receive a call or email like this: My MEC is totally on board with NBPAS but my administration is worried about it being “accepted” by payors. What should I tell them?

Great question.

Short answer: Under CMS accreditation rules for payors, hospitals have the authority to decide how to credential their medical staff. In other words, CMS allows hospitals to choose which board certifications they accept and list in medical staff bylaws. This helps explain why hospital acceptance of NBPAS often came before broader payor acceptance.

Where does a lot of the confusion arise? CMS requires hospitals to verify the highest level of a physician’s education and training at the primary source. For most physicians, that highest level is board certification, and the primary source for this information is the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or the AOA for osteopathic physicians. When a physician is not participating in MOC, the ABMS record may show “not certified,” “lapsed,” or “not meeting MOC requirements.” That status reflects only their MOC participation, not their initial board certification qualification or whether the hospital may accept NBPAS.

But primary source verification and requiring ABMS certification are two entirely different things—this is where many misunderstandings arise.

Beyond primary source verification, NBPAS has also seen rapid growth in payor acceptance, driven in part by the increasing recognition that traditional maintenance of certification programs create burden without clear benefit.

Conclusion:
If your hospital raises this concern, it may simply be a misunderstanding. Share this clarification, and feel free to contact NBPAS for further support.

NBPAS Leadership Academy

Session Five: NBPAS Physician Leadership Roundtable

Be sure to register for Session Five of the NBPAS Leadership Academy: The Physician Leadership Roundtable
Hosted on: December 1st at 7pm EST.

Our exciting group of confirmed panelists include:

  • Paul Teirstein, MD, FACC, Chief of Cardiology and Director of Interventional Cardiology for Scripps Clinic, and Director of the Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute for Scripps Health
  • Rupa Dainer, MD, FASA, NBPAS-certified anesthesiologist, physician executive, retired military officer, and former board director of the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)
  • Herb Bravo, MD, NBPAS-certified pediatrician, founder of the Pediatric Lounge Podcast, and nationally known children' s health care advocate

We’re planning an engaging, fast-paced hour featuring a panel of physician leaders who represent key areas of hospital engagement, credentialing, and advocacy. This dynamic discussion will bring together insights from our first four sessions, highlighting practical strategies, real-world success stories, and next steps to advance physician-led change within hospitals and health systems.

Join us and be part of the growing movement to bring meaningful, evidence-based change to your institution.

Register Now

Champions of Change

Thank you to all NBPAS physicians who go above and beyond to champion life-long learning while advocating for competition and choice in continuing certification.

Meet our November Champion of Change: Sean Gallagher, MD

This month, we proudly recognize Sean Gallagher, M.D., for his exceptional leadership in advancing NBPAS acceptance across Ascension Health hospitals in Texas.

Thanks to Dr. Gallagher’s dedicated efforts, at least 13 Ascension facilities now recognize NBPAS certification—significantly expanding our presence in the state.

Dr. Gallagher is an NBPAS-certified orthopedic surgeon based in central Austin, where he practices at ATX Orthopedics with a specialization in lower extremity reconstruction and joint replacement. He earned his undergraduate degree from Brown University, completed his medical training at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and went on to finish his orthopedic residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. His fellowship was at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA.

We are deeply grateful for Dr. Gallagher’s commitment to increasing hospital acceptance in Texas and for championing greater choice and competition for physicians—now and in the years to come.

Start your Holiday Shopping Here!

Support the cause, sip with purpose.
Every mug or pin you purchase fuels real change, powering our physician-led advocacy, raising awareness nationwide, and keeping the future of continuing certification where it belongs: in the hands of doctors.

Make a statement. Start a conversation.
Whether it’s on your jacket or at your desk, your NBPAS gear helps spark dialogue and show solidarity in the movement for choice in board certification.

Your support strengthens our voice and furthers our shared cause.

Shop

We’d love to see how you’re showing your NBPAS pride!
Feel free to send us an email with a photo or tag us on social media.

Not yet a Diplomate? Apply for NBPAS Certification today.

Apply Now

Suggestion Box

Have an idea, need help? Reach out to NBPAS at info@nbpas.org.

We look forward to hearing from you.