Procedure for Filing a Complaint

Your complaint is important to the Board, so it is essential to provide a clear and detailed statement of your major concerns as they relate to the licensee. A copy of your complaint will be provided to the licensee identified in your complaint for his/her review and response if you so indicate on your form.

Copies of your medical records may be obtained from the licensee as part of the review process. Please be sure to include the patient’s full name and date of birth as well as the specific date(s) of all appointments and consultations referenced in the complaint.

Filing a complaint online

You may file your complaint through our secure webportal: https://secure.ncbpe.org/.

Filing a complaint by mail

Due to the confidential nature of complaints and their supporting documentation, as well as to provide an official paper trail, the Board of Podiatry Examiners only accepts complaints submitted by mail (or through our secure webportal, beginning January 16, 2017.) . You may request by phone or email a hardcopy complaint form sent to you from the Board in the mail by providing your full name and mailing address.

The Board's policy is to mail Complaint (Grievance) Forms to persons requesting them via U.S. Postal Service.

A request for a Complaint Form may be:

mailed to: NCBPE, 3739 National Drive, Suite 202, Raleigh, NC 27612
faxed to: NCBPE, (919) 787-4916
emailed to: info@ncbpe.org 
phoned to: (919) 861-5583

In order to receive a Complaint Form, you MUST include your Name, Mailing Address, City, State, and Zip Code in your request.

The Board’s staff does not have the expertise to comment on complaints. However, if you have questions about the complaint process, please contact the Board’s Grievance support staff at (919) 861-5583.

Please note that monetary claims, fees disputes, financial disputes, and other non-medical issues concerning podiatrists--unless fraud, misrepresentation, or false advertising is involved--are civil matters and not within the purview of the statutory jurisdiction of the North Carolina Board of Podiatry Examiners.

Process Upon Board’s Receipt of Complaint

Upon receipt of a complaint form, a written acknowledgement of your complaint will be sent via the U.S. Postal Service within a week of receiving the complaint. In addition, a copy of the complaint will be sent to the Board’s Grievance Committee for initial evaluation and investigation.

The Grievance Committee members will review the complaint and medical records. The Grievance Committee may contact the complainant and/or the podiatrist for further information as part of their investigation of the complaint. Contact may include telephone calls, requests for additional documentation, and/or an in-person meeting with the Grievance Committee. The purpose of the Grievance Committee’s investigation is to determine if there is "probable cause" of a violation of the Podiatry Practice Act--the state law that governs licensing of podiatrists. The acts deemed to be "probable cause" are listed in N.C.G.S. 90-202.8 of the Podiatry Practice Act, available from our web site. If "probable cause" is determined, then the complaint is referred to the Board of Podiatry Examiners for a hearing in accordance with Chapter 150B of the Administrative Procedure Act of the General Statutes. Board members recuse themselves from any deliberations that may involve them or their practices. Any action of the Board in this regard is subject to judicial review as provided by Chapter 150B.

Since the members of the Grievance Committee (as well as the members of the Board) are volunteers who are highly respected podiatrists, their investigation may take several months. In addition, the investigation is confidential. Please be patient with this investigative process as we wish to afford due process under the law to anyone accused.

If the Grievance Committee members deem that there is no probable cause for a hearing based on the complaint, a letter will be sent to both the complainant and the podiatrist to that effect. A copy of the complaint is retained in the podiatrist's file should future complaints warrant additional investigation. Under state law, complainants have the right to be informed of the outcome of their complaints, even if it does not result in public discipline. However, a licensee’s complaint history is confidential. State law prohibits the Board from saying whether patients have filed complaints about a particular practitioner.

Complaints from patients and others are the Board’s single largest source of information about possible misconduct among its licensees. Each complaint is thoroughly evaluated to determine if a violation of Board policy or state law has occurred and, thus, may warrant formal discipline.