The Medical Quality Assurance Program has taken steps to improve its accountability system, and has established a system to track how long it takes to process nursing license applications. The program needs to evaluate the feasibility of tracking this information for other health care professions.
The program implemented our recommendation to assess the effectiveness of its delinquent license policy. Officials amended the policy when they found that investigations of delinquent licensees were not cost-effective.
The program has made progress in implementing an electronic continuing education tracking system. However, the system may produce incomplete and unreliable information due to low rates of stakeholder participation and an over-reliance on self-reporting by licensees. If participation in the new tracking system remains low and/or most of the information is self-reported, program officials should develop options for legislative consideration, such as requiring participation in the tracking system, expanding the electronic license renewal system, or transferring monitoring responsibility to professional associations in lieu of continuing its time-consuming and costly post-license renewal audits.

No Title
Report 03-06
Nurse Licensure Compact Would Produce Some Benefits But Not Resolve the Nurse Shortage
Report 06-02 January 2006
Miami-Dade County School District Making Progress But Not Yet Eligible for the State's Seal of Best Financial Management
Report 05-04 February 2005
Emergency Medical Services Program Should Improve Provider Compliance With Safety Standards
Report 03-25 April 2003

Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.