Questions on Continuing Education Requirements

Q: How many contact hours of continuing education are needed for this licensing period?

A: A minimum of twenty-six (26) hours of continuing education which includes two (2) hours in Prevention of Medical Error, and two (2) hours in Florida Laws and Rules for Occupational Therapy must be obtained by occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants during the biennium beginning March 1, 2009 and ending February 28, 2011. Check the Board of Occupational Therapy Practice for new rules on other ways to earn CE credit. Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants will be audited using the CE Broker system at the end of this biennium.

Q: How many hours of HIV/AIDS are required by the Board?

A: Effective July 1, 2006, the Legislature changed the HIV/AIDS requirements for most health care licensees. A minimum of one hour per biennium used to be required for all licensees. New applicants were also required to take a HIV/AIDS course. Starting July 1, 2006, a 1-hour course is required by new licensees "prior to first license renewal." Other licensees are not required to take the course each biennium, but can still take the HIV/AIDS course as an elective course.

Q: What are the requirements concerning a course in "Prevention of Medical Errors"?

A: The Florida Legislature requires that all health care licensees of the Florida Department of Health take a 2-hour course in the prevention of medical errors every biennium, and applicants must take the course before initial licensure. The Occupational Therapy Board rule requires that certain materials be included in the course. Our course includes these materials and has been approved by the Board of Occupational Therapy. This course counts as part of the 26-hour requirement.

Q: Is a course in the Florida Laws and Rules on Occupational Therapy required as part of the CE requirements by the Board?

A: Yes, all licensed OT's and OTA's must take a Board approved 2-hour course on the Florida Laws and Rules for occupational therapy, as part of the total 26 hour requirement. CE for Health Care Professionals is a Board approved CE Provider and our course has been specifically approved by the Board. Those seeking Initial Licensure can take our course for review but cannot get credit for the Laws and Rules course unless they take it after licensure.

Q: What elective courses can I take to count for my CE courses?

A: Licensees can take our HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Misconduct courses as home study courses as part of the 26 hour total needed for this biennium.

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

A: A licensee may take no more than twelve (12) hours of home study per biennium. All of our courses are home study.

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

A: The notices are mailed approximately 90 days before February 28, 2011. The notices will be mailed to the last address you have given the Board. The renewal notices are NOT forwarded.

Q: How can I find out the address that the Board has for me and how do I change my address with the Board?

A: The Board website has a link to the "Licensee Look-up site." This site lists every licensed health care practitioner; you can check your name and address and other information on the site. To change your address, send the Board a letter, or check the Board Website and print out a change of address form and mail to: Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin # C-05, Tallahassee, Florida 33999-3255, or change it electronically by sending the Board an e-mail. The Board office number is (850) 245-4373.

Q: What are the requirements for APPLICANTS seeking INITIAL LICENSURE?

A: Applicants seeking Initial Licensure must take the 2 hour Prevention of Medical Errors course prior to licensure. Send a copy of your Certificate of Course completion to the Board with your other application material.

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

A: The Board rule exempts those licensed during the second half of the current biennium from the CE requirements. This means anyone licensed March 1, 2010, and after, is exempt, BUT ALL newly licensed OTs and OTAs, regardless of when they were licensed, are still required to take the Prevention of Medical Errors course upon initial licensure and as a CE course during their initial licensure biennium. New licensees must also take a 1-hour HIV/AIDS course prior to their first renewal.

Q: What do I do with my Certificates of Course Attendance and Completion?

A: When applying for initial licensure, send the Certificates to the Board along with your other application materials. Licensees should keep all certificates for 4 years (this is a Board rule). If the Board audits your license, you will be asked to send copies to the Board. When you renew your license, you are certifying that you have taken the required number and type of courses. See the last Q & A on this page for the penalties for not taking the proper number or type of CE courses.

Q: If I take more than the required number of CE hours during one biennium, do the extra hours carry over the next biennium?

A: No, the courses are "cancelled out" at the end of the biennium, and you must start over during the new biennium. Make sure you keep your certificates of course completion for at least 4 years (this is a Board rule) and it is easy to prove when you took the courses.

Questions on Signing Up for Courses

Q: How do I order courses?

A: On the Order Page, there are three sections: Course Selection, Current Members, and New Member Profile. After checking the course(s) you want to order, go to the New Member Profile section and enter the information. These fields are required: first name, last name, email address, profession, license number, email, login name and password that you make up. Remember your Login name and Password; they are case and space sensitive. You'll need these later to login to the Member section to gain access to the courses, tests and course completion certificates.

Q: Why do I have to put in my license number, and how do I do it?

A: CE Broker keeps a record of the courses you take by your state of Florida license number. 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 use any other terms or your license number from another state or certifying organization. Once you have submitted your information and it is correct, press the "Submit Info" button and you'll be sent to a secure site to enter your credit or bank card information.

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, (Recently purchased by PayPal) one of the leading security companies on the net. VeriSign has added a Secure Socket Layer (or SSL) to protect these pages. An SSL is an industry standard protocol for encrypting data to prevent eavesdropping or message forging. Note: Once you submit your credit card 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 complete, the transaction approval page appears. You may return to our website by pushing the Login button at the bottom of that page. You will also receive an e-mail Receipt of the transaction which you can print out for your records. If you do not want to log in at this time, return to the CEHCPRO website at any time and go to Member Login to log in and access your courses.

Q: What do I do after I've paid? / How do I take my courses?

A: Once the system has verified your credit card, you can go immediately to the Member Login page by using the button at the bottom of the approval page. Enter the login name and password exactly as you entered them during the purchase. Your account page will open and there will be a list of courses you ordered and the contact information you provided at sign up. There are two links: "Review Course Materials" and "Take the Test.”

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

A: To change your contact information, first log into the Member's section from the Member Login page. Use the button on the bottom of your Account page that reads "Update Contact Info". Once you have changed your contact info you will need to enter your password in order to confirm the changes.

Q: How do I order more courses later?

A: To add additional courses at any time, go to the Order page and check the course (s) you want to add. Then enter your User name and Password in the Current Member section. When the information is correct, press the "Submit Info" button and you will be sent to the secure site to enter your credit card information. The new courses will be added to your Account.

Questions on Course Procedures

Q: How long do I have to take the courses?

A: You have as long as you need to take the course(s). It is not timed. The Test is not timed. You can open and close your Account and the courses as many times as necessary until you have completed them. You can review the course materials in any format you wish (online, offline, in print). CEHCPRO does not impose any time limit on how long you have to take a course, however you should be mindful of the deadline for renewal imposed by your licensing Board or Council.

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

A: Tests must be taken online. All tests in the CEHCPRO system are "true / false" with any blank answers counting as wrong. A score of 70% or more is passing. You can take the test as many times as necessary to achieve a passing grade. Once you have passed the test you will be able to open a new window which contains your certificate of completion.

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

A: When you log in to the Member's section, your Account page will have a list of all of the courses you ordered. When you complete a test, the Certificate of Course completion will appear as a new link. Open this link to view your certificate, and use the Print button to create a copy of the certificate for your records. You can do this at any time from any computer; just remember your Username and Password to get into your Account.

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

A: Go to the Contact Us page on our Website. It is best to E-mail your questions or concerns. We usually reply within less than 12 hours, sometimes immediately. Our telephone staff does not have access to your Username and Password.

Information on CE Broker

Q: What is CE Broker?

A: "CE Broker" is a 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 received evidence that many health care licensees were not taking the required CE courses. In 2001 the Legislature passed a law that required the Department to set up an "electronic CE tracking system." But the Legislature did not provide any funding for the tracking program. The Department then contracted with a company, CE Broker, which agreed to do the tracking without charging the Department. Under the contract, CE Broker makes money by charging licensees $35 to subscribe to its services for two years. The CE Course Educational Providers are required to register their courses with CE Broker, and to submit the names, license number and other information about the licensees who take CE courses from the Provider. CE Broker then creates a "transcript" for each licensee showing their name, profession, license number, name of course taken and number of hours for each course. For more information visit the CE Broker website: http://www.cebroker.com/

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. A licensee can and should keep their own records of the CE courses they have taken; in fact, most Board rules require the licensee to keep their CE records for 4 years. CE Course Providers also must keep their attendance and course taker records for 4 years. CE Providers must report their attendance records to CE Broker. CE Broker will then have a complete transcript for ALL licensees. The Department can electronically and quickly obtain those records from CE Broker, and will be able, after license renewal, to conduct audits to determine which licensees have failed to take the required CE.

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 $0.15 a page. (Most records will cost a total of less than $1.00) To obtain a list of the courses that CE Broker has listed for you (without joining CE Broker), you can send a letter to the following address:

Divisionof Medical Quality Assurance
Management Services, Bin C01
Attention: Public Records-CE History
4052 Bald Cypress Way
Tallahassee, FL 32399-3251

For further information, here is a link to the Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance FAQs on "CE Tracking System (CE Broker)" : www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/Publications/cebroker-FAQ.htm

Q: How is the CE Broker process working with the Department of Health?

A: In early 2009, Department staff told our President that there is now a special audit unit in the Department of Health. After a profession renewal biennium period ends, CE Broker sends this unit the names of the licensees who have NOT completed all of the courses, and a certain percentage of these are sent audit letters that ask for proof of the courses that that licensee took. Option 3 is a new FREE feature on the CE Broker website that allows you to search for CE Providers and courses without subscribing to CE Broker.

Q: Is CE for Health Care Professionals complying with the new rules?

A: Yes, once you complete a course, we send that information to CE Broker immediately and electronically (from our computer to their computer). CE Broker uses your state of Florida License number to keep the records. If you do not use your correct license number, the system kicks back your information OR it credits someone else if you use their number.

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.

Q: What is the penalty for not taking the correct number or type of CE credits?

A: The penalty for first violation is a Citation and a Fine of $50.00 per hour for each hour of deficiency, up to a maximum fine of $1,000. In addition, licensees must make up the deficient continuing education and must take one additional hour of continuing education for each of the deficiencies, which shall not count towards meeting the CE renewal requirements for the next biennium. All proof of taking deficient courses and payment of fines shall be completed with 90 days of Citation. OT Board Rule 64B11-4.005.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: the State of Florida, Department of Health, will audit Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants for CE course completion using the "CE Broker" system at the end of the current biennium.

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