American Society for Bioethics and Humanities

Name

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities

Legal name

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities

Website

https://asbh.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ASBH is a non-profit professional membership society serving approximately 2,000 healthcare ethics and humanities professionals in the United States. Founded in 1998, it administers the HEC-C certification, hosts an annual conference, publishes standards including Core Competencies (3rd ed.), and operates affinity groups and a career center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare & Clinical Professional Development (CME/CE) (EDAGANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Behavioral Health & Counseling (Social Work, Psychology, Substance Use CE) (EDAAALAD)

Keywords

• Bioethics professional society
• Healthcare ethics certification
• Health humanities education
• Professional membership association
• Clinical ethics consultation

Headquarters

HQ city

Schaumburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues ranging from $75-$475 based on income level, plus $600 sustaining membership option. Individual members receive voting rights, discounts on conferences and publications, access to affinity groups, career center, and member directory.
2. Annual Conference Registration: Conference registration fees: $495 member, $990 nonmember, $130 student, $325-$650 one-day. Includes sessions, networking, and CE credits.
3. Publications and Books: Sales of Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultants (3rd ed.), case-based study guides, and other publications with member discounts. Quantity discounts available.
4. Advertising and Sponsorship: Year-round advertising opportunities including website banner ads (30-day increments), blast email advertising, survey distribution, and mailing list rental. Separate advertising for annual conference exhibits and sponsorships.
5. HEC-C Certification: Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified program with initial application and renewal fees administered by the HCEC Certification Commission.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ASBH is a nonprofit professional membership society that serves bioethics and health humanities practitioners through an annual multidisciplinary conference (400+ sessions), the HEC-C certification program for healthcare ethics consultants administered via the HCEC Certification Commission, and authoritative publications including Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultants (3rd edition) along with case-based and education guides. Supporting offerings include affinity groups, a career center, DEI webinars, preconference workshops, and continuing education credits (CME, nursing, social work).

Product overview

ASBH offers a portfolio of professional development, certification, and educational resources for the bioethics and health humanities community. The core offerings include the Annual Conference (providing networking and programming with over 400 sessions), the HEC-C certification program (assessing professional competence in healthcare ethics consulting), and publications including the Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultants (now in its Third Edition), the Case-Based Study Guide, and the Improving Competencies education guide. Supporting products include the HEC-C Review Course and Practice Exam for certification preparation, the Career Center for job seekers and employers, Affinity Groups for specialized networking, the ListServe for member communication, and DEI webinars for professional development. ASBH membership provides access to all these resources along with conference discounts and journal subscription benefits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASBH Annual Conference A multidisciplinary national conference offering plenary sessions, interactive workshops, paper and flash presentations, and special interest group meetings for bioethics and health humanities leaders. The conference typically occurs in October, rotating across U.S. cities, and includes over 400 papers, panels, and workshop sessions.
• Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) Program A national certification program identifying a standard for professional practice of clinical healthcare ethics consulting. The program endorses knowledge of key concepts in healthcare ethics and affirms basic competence for healthcare ethics consultants, with initial application and renewal fees administered by the HCEC Certification Commission.
• Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultants, Third Edition An essential publication establishing professional standards for healthcare ethics consultation, providing a shared benchmark for ethical practice across roles and settings. Defines expectations for ethics consultants and supports the development and evaluation of competencies for ethics consultation services.
• ASBH Career Center The field's primary resource for connecting bioethics and health humanities professionals and employers, featuring job seeker profiles, job listings, fellowships, and access to the National Healthcare Career Network.
• Affinity Groups Special interest groups including Animal Bioethics, Artificial Intelligence and Bioethics, Clinical Ethics Consultation, Health Humanities, Pediatric Ethics, and over 35 others that plan presentations, develop position papers, and offer networking opportunities.
• HEC-C Review Course An in-person preconference workshop at the Annual Conference providing a thorough review of core references and content domains through sample questions and examination content outline discussion, developed by the ASBH HEC-C Review Course Task Force. Priced at $200.
• HEC-C Practice Exam An online practice exam with 50 multiple choice questions in stand-alone and scenario-based formats, featuring a diagnostic report with correct answers, rationales, references, and recommended reading. Hosted by Scantron.
• ASBH ListServe A member benefit enabling sharing of announcements for scholarly meetings, events, courses, workshops, conferences, and calls for papers relevant to the bioethics and health humanities fields.

Quantifiable outcome

• Professional certification as HEC-C demonstrates knowledge of healthcare ethics concepts, analysis skills, and competency-based processes
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Emory Center for EthicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20262026 Annual Conference supporter. Logo displayed on conference materials and website with link to Emory ethics programs.
• Indiana University Center for BioethicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20262026 Annual Conference supporter (host city sponsor for Indianapolis conference).
• Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20262026 Annual Conference supporter. Recognized as major academic bioethics institution.
• Loyola University Chicago - Neiswanger Institute for BioethicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20262026 Annual Conference supporter from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
• Saint Louis University Department of Health Care EthicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20262026 Annual Conference supporter. Academic department focused on healthcare ethics education and research.
• Sutter HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20262026 Annual Conference supporter representing major healthcare system with bioethics services.
• NaylorminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Third-party platform partner for ASBH Career Center providing job listing and career networking services to members.
• Creighton University Health Sciences Continuing EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint accreditation provider for continuing education credits including AMA PRA Category 1, Nurse CE, and NASW Social Work contact hours. ACCME, ACPE, and ANCC accredited.
• HCEC Certification CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Functionally autonomous body created by ASBH in 2017 to administer the Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) program. ASBH retains non-essential decision-making authority while Commission maintains autonomy for certification policies.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National Catholic Bioethics Center: Faith-based bioethics organization offering ethics certification, publications, and consultation services; directly comparable to ASBH in mission, content (healthcare ethics consultations), and audience (clinicians and ethicists).
• The Hastings Center: Independent bioethics research institute publishing scholarship and convening scholars on healthcare ethics; closely comparable scholarly community and bioethics focus, though structured as a research institute rather than a membership society.
• Kennedy Institute of Ethics (Georgetown University): Academic bioethics institute producing BioethicsLine, scholarly publications, and ethics education; directly comparable to ASBH in healthcare-ethics scholarship and educational programming.
• American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics: Interdisciplinary society at the intersection of law, medicine, and ethics publishing the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics and hosting conferences; comparable mission and overlapping audience of bioethics scholars and clinicians.

Broad incumbents

• American College of Healthcare Executives: Large healthcare-leadership professional society offering membership, certification (FACHE), continuing education, and an annual congress; comparable member-society business model but for healthcare executives rather than ethicists.
• American Medical Association: Largest U.S. medical professional society with membership, CME accreditation, journals (JAMA), and policy advocacy; broader incumbent operating an analogous dues + CME + journal business model at much greater scale.
• American Nurses Association: National nursing professional society offering membership, certification, CE, and an annual conference; analogous professional society structure serving a major healthcare workforce segment that ASBH's clinical ethics consultants engage.
• American Psychological Association: Large professional society for psychology with membership, CE, certification, and journals; comparable dues-and-CE society model serving behavioral-health professionals adjacent to ASBH's bioethics audience.

Emerging players

• American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine: Specialty society for hospice and palliative medicine offering membership, board certification, and an annual assembly; comparable niche medical professional society model with substantial end-of-life ethics overlap.
• Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics: Membership organization for compliance and ethics professionals offering certification (CCEP), conferences, and training; comparable professional-society business model in an adjacent ethics domain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AmerSocBioHum
• Facebookfacebook.com/AmerSocBioHum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/amersocbiohum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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