FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2015

Contact: Communications Office
(850) 245-4111

TALLAHASSEE—Today, the Florida Department of Health is making a push to remind health care practitioners to report continuing education/continuing medical education (CE/CME) requirements prior to renewing their licenses. By preparing for this new requirement health care professionals can avoid renewal delays.

"The department continues to find ways to reduce regulatory burden so health care professionals can focus on providing patient care," said Surgeon General and Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong. "Because the law now requires medical professionals to report their specific continuing education credits at the time of license renewal, the Florida Department of Health has provided an online reporting system to make the transition as seamless as possible."

The CE/CME electronic tracking system, powered by CE Broker, records licensees' credits and prompts completion before renewing a license. The system is designed to be convenient and to simplify the reporting process. Health care practitioners can check the status of their CE/CME hours at any time by visiting https://appsmqa.doh.state.fl.us/mqaservices/login.asp.

Starting with license renewal cycles in 2015, health care practitioners must report continuing CE/CME course hours to renew their licenses, as required by the Florida Legislature. The first groups of health care practitioners to report include dietitians, nutritionists, nutrition counselors and registered respiratory therapists, certified respiratory therapists, and respiratory practitioners (both critical and non-critical care). Licensees in all professions have received information over the past two years explaining their upcoming requirements.

To view Surgeon General and Secretary Dr. Armstrong's video message about the "Are You Renewal Ready" campaign, please visit http://youtu.be/dKscaPyWSXM.

Working in conjunction with 22 boards and six councils, the Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) regulates seven types of facilities and 200-plus license types in more than 40 health care professions. MQA evaluates the credentials of all applicants for licensure, issues licenses, analyzes and investigates complaints, inspects facilities, assists in prosecuting practice act violations, combats unlicensed activity and provides credential and discipline history about licensees to the public.

The department works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.floridahealth.gov.