IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Department of Health has announced that it will audit Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapist Assistants for continuing education compliance on June 11, 2011. http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/continuingeducation/ce_auditprocess.html

Questions on Continuing Education Requirements

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

A: A minimum of twenty-six (26) hours of approved continuing education which includes two (2) hours in Prevention of Medical Errors, 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, 2011 to February 28, 2013. A licensee may take no more than twelve (12) hours of home study per biennium. All of our courses are home study. Obtain detailed information at the Florida Board of Occupational Therapy website: www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/occupational/index

2. 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. One hour per biennium used to be required for all licensees and for applicants. Starting July 1, 2006, a one (1) hour course is required only for new licensees "prior to first license renewal." Other licensees can still take the HIV/AIDS course as an elective course.

3. 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 two (2) hour course in the prevention of medical errors every biennium. Applicants must also 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. This course counts as part of the 26 hour requirement.

4. 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 two (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.

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

A: Applicants seeking Initial Licensure must take the two (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 materials. Once you are licensed, e-mail us your name and license number and we will add it to your Account.

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

A. Newly licensed OTs and OTAs must take the 2 hour course in Medical Errors and a 1 hour course in HIV/AIDS.  Those licensed in the first half of the biennium must take all of the required Continuing Education courses and credits.  Those licensed in the second half (3/1/12 through 2/28/13) are exempt except for the Medical Errors and HIV/AIDS course. If you took our course as an Applicant or Student, once you are licensed, please e-mail us your license number and we will add the number to your Account with our company.

7. Q: When will I receive my license 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.

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

A: Approximately 20% of licensees do not update their addresses with their Board. Renewal and discipline notices are mailed to the address listed 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 Occupational Therapy, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin # C-05, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3255, or send the Board an e-mail to the “Current Licensee” section of the Board website. To check the address currently listed by the Board for you, go to the Department's "Licensee Look-up" site.

How to Sign Up for Courses

9. 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.

10. 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 you enter credit card information are 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.

11. 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 at any time in the future.

12. 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 your name or add your Florida license number, please send us an e-mail. For security reasons, we need to verify and make that change.

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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 these audits.

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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 does not count towards meeting the CE renewal requirements for the next biennium. All proof of taking deficient courses and payment of fines must be completed with 90 days of Citation. See OT Board Rule 64B11-4.005

22. 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. CE Broker does not apply to temporary licenses, limited licenses, and trainees. 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."

23. Q: Who do I contact if I have additional questions or concerns or need HELP?

A: Contact the support personnel for CE for Health Care Professionals. 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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