“The top reason we chose CE Broker was the outstanding technology they built. It required licensees to report CE at renewal, changing the way we performed audits, and we would have a system to track approved CE providers.
I can’t say enough good things about CE Broker as a company. I always enjoyed working with their staff. They are professional, friendly, and always helpful. This was a huge undertaking for a state agency, and I couldn’t have had a better company to work with through this integration project”
– Garnet Nevels, former Contract Manager for the Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance
Industry
Healthcare
Location
Florida
Number of Licensees
1.4 Million, as of 2023
Overview
Before implementing CE Broker, the Florida Department of Health (the Department) had a manual process in place to manage continuing education (CE) compliance for over 1 million healthcare professionals. The Department needed a digital system to manage license renewal requirements and track approved educational providers and courses. The Department went in search of a solution that could automate this manual process to improve staff efficiency and reduce costs and resources used on this system.
Challenge
In 2003, the Florida Department of Health was using a manual, paper process to review continuing education (CE) certificates and verify that licensees had fulfilled the requirements to renew their license.
Despite having a team of employees dedicated to reviewing CE certificates and processing educational provider applications, the paper-based system was inefficient. Only 3% of licensees were selected for a CE audit due to the manual process. Staffing resources were limited and they were facing high costs for certified postage notifications. The Department decided to release a Request for Proposal to find a solution that would better support their staff and licensees.
Solution
The Department selected CE Broker because it would create a digital, centralized system of record. The Department chose to take a phased-in approach to integrate their licensing system with CE Broker. Their audit process was automated in the first phase, eliminating the need to accept and review paper or emailed certificates. Staff was able to view CE compliance status for their entire population of licensees and review digital records in one system.
The Department then launched a communication campaign to the over one million licensees to educate them on the new license renewal process, which would require them to complete all required CE before attempting to renew their license and ensure that all completed CE was reported to CE Broker.
The Department then integrated their licensing system API with CE Broker, which created an instant compliance checkpoint in the license renewal process. The Department was also able to consolidate educational provider approval management into CE Broker and provide licensees with an automatic reporting system.
Results
CE Broker transformed the Department’s CE tracking, auditing, and educational provider approval processes with a robust, digital system. The solution created a central hub to manage educational provider applications and approvals and in doing so, offered licensees an easy way to find approved CE.
The Department was able to reduce audit-related costs by $500,000 each year and increase staff efficiency, ultimately using fewer resources to manage the new system. Two staff members were able to audit 100% of all healthcare professionals, compared to the previous 3%. The Department’s Prosecution Services Unit was able to focus on higher-priority cases in the healthcare system. CE Broker also provided a support center staffed with experts trained on each profession’s rules and regulations, which alleviated the number of licensee inquiries to the board.
CE Broker has been the Florida Department of Health’s continuing education tracking system for 20 years and has easily integrated with each version of the Department’s various licensing systems. The system continues to grow along with the number of licensed professionals in the state of Florida and adapt to any new changes in each profession’s rules and regulations.
About the Florida Department of Health
The Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) is responsible for licensing and regulating more than 40 healthcare professions and 10 unique facility types. MQA evaluates the credentials of all applicants for initial licensure and renewal, analyzes and investigates complaints, inspects facilities, assists in prosecuting practice act violations, combats unlicensed activity, and provides credentials and discipline history about licensees to the public.
About CE Broker
CE Broker is modernizing how professionals, their employers, regulators, and associations work better together. For over 20 years, CE Broker has propelled the progress of millions of licensed, certified, and registered professionals through our full-lifecycle continuing education management. In partnership with regulatory agencies and powered by industry-leading technology, EverCheck, a CE Broker product, delivers the most trusted and comprehensive technology solutions that simplify total professional compliance for both employers and employees.