PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
Michael Baron, MD, MPH, DFASAM, FAPA - Fall 2025
We, the FSPHP, have done it! We envisioned, outlined, constructed, and launched two top-notch programs that will strengthen and elevate Physician Health and Professional Health Programs (PHPs) for years to come. I’m referring, of course, to the Performance Enhancement and Effectiveness Review (PEER)™ and the Evaluation and Treatment Accreditation (ETA)™—both of which launched this year.
Consensus Builds Credibility and Objectivity
The “we” includes more than 75 dedicated individuals, both internal and external to the Federation of State Physician Health Programs (FSPHP). I don’t want to name names because there is just not enough room. The process involved accreditation experts, clinicians, administrators, lawyers, subject matter experts, and representatives from many different organizations—including the American Medical Association (AMA), Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), American Osteopathic Association (AOA), American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and others. I am deeply grateful for the work, energy, and purpose that everyone gave throughout this process.
Setting New Standards in Physician Health
This journey began over six years ago with a recognized need for increased uniformity among PHPs and a way to accredit facilities that PHPs use to evaluate and treat healthcare professionals.
PEER™: Strengthening PHPs Through Best Practices
The PEER™ is a structured review process designed to empower PHPs and other safety-sensitive professional health programs to use the FSPHP PHP Guidelines as a practical tool for identifying opportunities to optimize performance and effectiveness in alignment with best practices. With
broad participation, PEER™ will do the following:
- Ensure best practices are up to date and consistently applied
- Strengthen defensibility during audits, lawsuits, and funding requests
- Provide assurance to stakeholders that PHPs are operating with accountability and transparency
- Enhance the PHP’s ability to contribute to workforce health and preservation to the benefit of the professional and the public served
- Identify opportunities to enhance collaboration between PHPs, organized medicine, legislators, regulatory authorities, and other stakeholders
- Identify staffing, operational, financial, and other resource needs and allocation to support current and anticipated levels of service
Physician Foundation Grant Offsets PEER™ Expense for PHPs
FSPHP received a generous grant from the Physicians Foundation to help offset some of the costs for PHPs to undergo a PEER™. The first 15 PHPs to participate will benefit from these savings.
FSPHP-ETA™: Recognizing Specialized Care for Health Professionals
PHPs also need to ensure their participants are receiving the best and most up-to-date care. The ETA™ was developed to recognize evaluation and treatment services that are qualified to specialize in the care of physicians and other safety-sensitive professionals. It is built on a valid, reliable assessment process that confirms compliance with objective standards. It does the following:
- Supplements existing accreditation (e.g., CARF®, Joint Commission®) with standards specific to safety-sensitive professionals. The ETA standards are different and do not duplicate.
- Enhances the defensibility of PHP referrals to treatment programs.
- Provides PHPs with objective guidance for selecting evaluation and treatment facilities.
- Demonstrates commitment to high standards of care, accountability, and excellence.
Guided by Structured Governance, Expertise, and Objective Oversight
The development process was structured by forming three committees:
- Accreditation Review Council (ARC), which reviewed the work of two technical committees
- ETA™ committee (ETAC) and the PEER™ committee (PEERC), made up of volunteers from PHPs and evaluation and treatment facilities.
- ETAC Focus Group, which provided insight into ETAC’s work
These committees, with guidance from an accreditation consultant, held numerous meetings over several years to develop criteria based on the FSPHP PHP Guidelines.
The work of these committees was then reviewed and approved by the ARC and ultimately by the FSPHP Board of Directors. Thousands of hours of work went into this project. I was intimately involved in the development of the ETA™.
Testing, Launch, and the Path Forward
Once developed, the ETA™ and PEER™ programs went through beta testing to validate the functionality and user experience in real-world environments. The programs were refined and were finally launched in early 2025.
PHPs will undergo a PEER™ review to demonstrate to their stakeholders their compliance and utilization with FSPHP guidelines. PEER™ ensures that best practices are used, that policies are not dated, and that participants are receiving cutting-edge support and health verification.
PHPs are adopting ETA™ as their single standard accreditation program for vetting evaluation and treatment programs. ETA™ enhances the defensibility of where PHPs send participants for evaluation and treatment. It also provides PHPs with objective guidance in selecting evaluation and treatment facilities. ETA™ demonstrates a commitment to high standards and encourages accountability and excellence for safety-sensitive professionals’ care.
Raising the Standard Together
The launch of PEER™ and ETA™ represents the dedication of countless people over many years. These programs elevate PHPs and treatment centers by providing consistency, defensibility, functionality, validity, and reliability.
My goal has always been to provide the best evidence-based care possible to ensure the highest success rates for those with substance use disorders and other mental health conditions. PEER™ and ETA™ are catalysts to ensure that happens. Congratulations to us!
For more information, see the following:
Read more on this in the Fall 2025 issue of Physician Health News.
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