EBAS organizes more than 700 scenarios across five categories. Your board names the categories in the order, and EBAS selects the specific scenario based on the licensee’s profession. EBAS recommends three or more assessments, because a single assessment covers a single scenario.
The five categories
| Category | Covers ethical reasoning around |
|---|---|
| Misrepresentation and Fraud | Financial misconduct, misrepresentation, and falsification |
| Boundaries | Professional relationships, confidentiality, and consent |
| Substance Abuse | Impaired practice, diversion, and return-to-practice obligations |
| Unprofessional Conduct | Demeanor, judgment, and conduct outside accepted standards |
| Professional Standards | Scope of practice, standard of care, and regulatory compliance |
The full description of each category and the conduct it covers is on the Assessment Types page.
How many to assign
A single assessment covers one scenario, so it shows how the licensee reasoned through one situation. Three or more show whether the reasoning holds across different situations, which makes the result more reliable and easier to defend.
One assessment still gives a solid read on a specific concern, and it is a reasonable choice when the case is narrow. Five is the most thorough option, and some medical boards assign all five by default.
Repeating a category
A category can be assigned more than once, and each assignment presents a different scenario within it. Assigning Boundaries twice gives your board two independent looks at how the licensee reasons through boundary situations.
How boards commonly combine them
These are patterns EBAS has seen. They are examples, and a specific case can call for a different mix.
| Case type | Common stack |
|---|---|
| Boundary violation (behavioral health) | Boundaries, Boundaries, Professional Standards |
| Billing fraud (medical or dental) | Misrepresentation and Fraud, Misrepresentation and Fraud, Professional Standards |
| Impaired practice (medical or nursing) | Substance Abuse, Professional Standards, Unprofessional Conduct |
| Dual relationship | Boundaries, Boundaries, Unprofessional Conduct |
| Mixed violation (multiple complaints) | One category per violation type, plus Professional Standards |
| Comprehensive review | All five categories |
Professional Standards appears in most of these stacks because the cases behind them also raise a question about the licensee’s obligations to the field and the public.
Two things to know before you choose
The Substance Abuse category is not a clinical evaluation. It measures the licensee’s understanding of impairment, diversion, and self-reporting obligations, and it does not evaluate whether the licensee has a substance use disorder or substitute for an evaluation that does.
Not every board uses all five. Where a state already runs its own monitoring or professional resource program, the board often leaves the overlapping category out and assigns the rest.
When a case does not map cleanly
A pre-order consultation is a short call to talk through a case that falls between categories, or one where the conduct spans more than the stacks above cover. Sample order language adaptable to your board’s format is available from admin@ebas.org.
