Important Message: After the biennium renewal period ends, the Florida Department of Health will obtain the names of all licensed massage therapists who have NOT completed their CE requirements from CE Broker and these persons will be audited. See below.

Continuing Education Requirements

1. Q: How many credit hours of continuing education are needed for this licensing period?

A: A maximum of twenty-four (24) hours of Florida Board of Massage Therapy approved continuing education must be obtained by all licensed massage therapists during the biennium ending August 31, 2011. As part of the 24 hour total, massage therapists must take the following required mandatory courses: Prevention of Medical Errors (2 hours), Professional Ethics (2 hours), Laws and Rules of Massage Therapy (2 hours) and a course in HIV/AIDS (no set hours, 1 hour minimum).

IMPORTANT RULE CHANGE: The Board CE rule reads: "At least 12 C.E. hours of the 24 total shall be relevant to and focus on massage therapy techniques, which may include history of massage therapy, human anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and/or pathology." The Board amended this rule to add the following sentence after the above language: “As of September 1, 2007, the 12 continuing education hours shall be taken via live classroom instruction, which includes hands-on instruction or demonstration, 6 hours of which may be performed as pro bono services pursuant to rule 64B7, F.A.C.” See Board Rule 64B7-28.009(3)(a), F.A.C.

See the Board of Massage Therapy website for further information.

2. Q: How many hours of continuing education may be taken by home study?

A: Since the above rule change, only 12 hours may be taken by home study. Our courses are considered home study.

3. Q: What are the CE requirements for persons NEWLY LICENSED during the current biennium?

A: The Board rule states that a person licensed during the biennium must "complete one CE hour for each month or part of a month that shall have elapsed since the issuance of the license for which renewal is sought, up to a maximum of 24 hours for the renewal period." The four (4) mandatory courses, listed in Q & A No. 1 above, must also be taken. However, graduates of a Board approved massage school that received 2 hours of education in Board laws and rules, and 2 hours of professional ethics, prior to initial licensure, are not required to take these courses for their first time license renewal.

4. Q: What are the course requirements for APPLICANTS for Initial Licensure?

A: Applicants must take a 2 hour course in Prevention of Medical Errors and a 3 hour course in HIV/AIDS. Applicants can take our CE courses for initial licensure. Once you complete the courses, print out and mail or fax copies of the Certificates of Course completion to the Board with your other application materials. Once you are licensed, send us an e-mail with your license number and we will add the license number onto your Account.

5. Q: When will I receive my renewal notice from the State?

A: The notices are mailed approximately 90-120 days before the end of the biennium. The notices will be mailed to the last address you have given the Board.

6. Q: How can and why should I change my address with the Board of Massage Therapy?

A: Approximately 20% of licensees do not update their addresses with their Board. Renewal and discipline notices are mailed to the address you list with the Board. If a notice comes back to the Board because of improper address, the Board may file a discipline charge of failure to keep your address current, which is $250.00 fine. Send the Board your new address by letter to: Board of Massage Therapy, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin # C-01, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3251, or send the Board an e-mail to the “Current Licensee” Board website link. To check the address currently listed with the Board for you, go to the Department's "Licensee Look-up" site.

7. Q: Is "CE for Health Care Professionals" an Approved CE Provider of the NCBTMB?

A: Yes, we were approved on July 23, 2009. Our NCBTMB Approved Provider number is 451101-09. The number will appear on your Certificate of Course completion. According to the NCBTMB, we can award "retroactive continuing education hours" up to 2 years from the date of the July 23, 2009 approval. So if you took our courses prior to that date, simply write our approved provider number on the copy of your Certificate when you forward it to the NCBTMB for certification or recertification. E-mail us if you have any further questions.

How to Sign Up for Courses

8. Q: How do I order courses?

A: On the Order Page, there are three sections: Course Selection, Current Members, and New Member Profile. The first time you order, check the course(s) you want to order and create a New Member Profile for yourself.  Remember your user name (login name) and password (case and space sensitive). You'll need these later to login to the Member Login section to access the courses, tests and certificates. To correctly enter your Florida license number, do not use the two or three letter prefix for your profession, or the zeroes that appear before your license number. If you are not licensed in Florida, put in "applicant" or "student." Do not put in the license number from another state because CE Broker will reject your course completion. Verify your information on the next screen.  When correct, press the "Submit Info" button and you'll be sent to a secure site to enter your credit card information.

9. Q: How does the secure site work, and what sort of security is being used for my credit card information?

A: The secure pages where your credit card information is entered are being hosted by VeriSign, (now owned by PayPal) one of the leading security companies on the net. VeriSign has added a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to protect these pages. An SSL is an industry standard protocol for encrypting data to prevent eavesdropping or message forging. We have never had any security problems with our orders.  And we do not sell or use your personal information in any way. Note: Once you submit your credit card, debit or bank card (VISA or MasterCard logo) information, the approval is almost instantaneous. Do not push the button more than once or you may reorder and be charged again. Once the transaction is completed, the transaction approval page will appear.

10. Q: What do I do after I've paid? / How do I get to my courses?

A: After approval, you will be sent an e-mail Receipt (which you can print out for your records). You can go immediately to the Member Login page by using the button at the bottom of the transaction approval page. Enter the login name and password exactly as you entered them during the course purchase. You will be sent to your personal Account page. This page contains a list of courses you ordered and the contact information you provided at sign up. For each course, there will be two links. "Review Course Materials" opens the course. "Take the Test" opens the test. You can return to the CEHCPRO website home page from any computer, and go to Member Login to access your Account courses at any time in the future.

11. Q: How do I change my Account profile's contact information?

A: Log in via the Member Login link. Use the "Update Contact Info" button on the bottom of your Account page. Once you have changed your contact info, enter your password to confirm the changes. However, to change or add your Florida license number, please send us an e-mail. For security reasons, we need to verify and make that change.

12. Q: How can I order more courses in the future?

A: Go to the Order the Courses page and check the course(s) you want to add. Then enter your login name and password in the "Current Member" section. Your newly added courses will be placed on your Account page under your previously ordered courses.

Course Completion Procedures

13. Q: How long do I have to take the courses and can I print out the course materials?

A: Our courses are self-paced. Take as long as needed to read the courses and complete the tests. You can review the materials in any format you wish (online, offline, or print out). You can open and close the course and tests as often as needed and from any computer. We do not impose any time limit on how long you have to complete a course; however be mindful of the renewal deadline for your license.

14. Q: What are the testing procedures? / How many times can I take the test?

A: Tests must be taken online. The tests are not timed. All tests in the CEHCPRO system are in a "true / false" format with any blank answers counting as wrong. A score of 70% or more is considered passing. Take the test as many times as necessary to pass. Once you have passed the test, a new window will appear which contains your Certificate of course completion.

15. Q: How do I make a copy of the Certificate of completion for my own records?

A: Log into your Account via the Member Login page, and open the "Certificate of Completion" link. Use the Print button in your browser to print a copy of the certificate. You can also copy and paste and print or e-mail it as an attachment. Board rule requires you keep your certificates and any other proof of taking all CE courses for 4 years.

Information on CE Broker

16. Q: What is "CE Broker"?

A: "CE Broker" is a private company that tracks the continuing education courses taken by all 500,000 health care practitioners licensed by the Florida Department of Health. Several years ago, the Florida Legislature found that many health care licensees were not taking the required CE courses and in 2001 passed a law requiring the Department to set up an "electronic CE tracking system." The Department then contracted with CE Broker which agreed to do the tracking without charging the Department. CE Broker makes money by charging licensed health care professionals $35 to subscribe to its services for two years. All of the approved CE Course Providers, like our company, are required to register their courses with CE Broker. We must then submit the names, license number, courses taken, and other information about the licensees who take our courses to CE Broker. CE Broker then creates a "transcript" for each licensee, showing the course(s) taken and number of hours for each course.  This is done for all licensees, whether or not they have subscribed to CE Broker. For more information visit the "CE Broker" website: www.cebroker.com

17. Q: Do health care licensees have to subscribe to "CE Broker" in order to have their license renewed?

A: No, subscription is not mandatory and is completely voluntary, although Department letters to licensees earlier seemed to imply otherwise, and seemed to tie license renewal with membership in "CE Broker." The Department has now decided that they will check for compliance after a person renews their license.  Since all CE providers must report their attendance records to “CE Broker,” then "CE Broker" will have a complete transcript for ALL licensees. After the license renewal period ends, the Department will then electronically obtain the records from "CE Broker" of those with an incomplete transcript and these people will be audited. In early 2009, Department staff told our President that there is now a special audit unit in the Department of Health to perform the audits.

18. Q: Can I find out my CE records from CE Broker without being a subscriber?

A: No, not unless you subscribe; however, any records of "CE Broker" are "public records" under the state of Florida public records law, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. The Department of Health has stated that they will provide a "list of courses taken" under the public records law, at the normal public records charge of $.15 a page. To obtain a list of the courses that "CE Broker" has listed for you (without joining CE Broker), send a letter to the following address: Division of Medical Quality Assurance, Management Services, Bin C01, Attention: Public Records-CE History, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, FL 32399-3251.  For further information, see: www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/Publications/cebroker-FAQ.htm

19. Q: Is "CE for Health Care Professionals" complying with the CE Broker rule?

A: Yes, once you successfully complete a course with us, we immediately, automatically and electronically (our computer to their computer) send our records of course attendance to CE Broker. We are also keeping all of our CE course attendance records in case there is a mix-up or error. Note: We do not send info on Applicants or persons licensed in other states.

20. Q: What is the penalty for not taking the CE courses?

A: For first time violation, a Citation is issued and a fine assessed. The fines are: $25 for each hour missed (24 times $25 is $600), plus a $250 for failure to take the HIV/AIDS course, and a $250 fine for failure to take the Prevention of Medical Errors course. The Board's costs of investigation and prosecution are also assessed: generally $250 to $1,000.

21. Q: Is there any health care person that "CE Broker" does not apply to?

A: Yes, only health care licensees of the Florida Department of Health are affected. Applicants for licensure frequently take our CE courses, as needed for initial licensure or review, but the "CE Broker" system does not keep records for these persons. Licensees from other states can take our courses, but their records are not sent to or kept by "CE Broker."

22. Q: Who do I contact if I have additional questions or concerns?

A: You may contact the support personnel for CE for Health Care Professionaals. The contact information is found on the Contact Us page. The easiest way to contact us is to send us an E-mail. We answer that day, sometimes within minutes. Our telephone staff does not have access to your loginname and password, so send us an e-mail if you forget these, or have other questions. Include your name and profession. We welcome comments, corrections, and questions, and we will respond. And THANK YOU for taking our courses!

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