DCPA BULLETIN
July 2005
Although there were efforts underway during the last legislative session to remove CE Broker from the process of professional CE tracking, nothing happened. So for now, we must comply with the process.
In January 2005, CE Broker tracking system kicked in for consultant pharmacists. All CE must be posted to the site by the CE Provider within 90 days of the program. A consultant must have 24 hours of Florida Board Approved Consultant Recertification CE posted in CE Broker by December 2006.
The CE Broker tracking system kicks in for RPh licenses after the current cycle that ends September 30th.
There are still a lot of unresolved questions, so the following were posed to CE Brokers earlier this month:
DCPA: “The questions involve issues for the next renewal cycle (Oct 2005-Sep 2007)
1. This year we received our renewals in early July, If I do not have the full CE requirements posted on CE Brokers by that time, will that delay receiving my licensure renewal form from the department?
2. If I take CE courses in September (07) that are to count toward my 2007 renewal will that affect my license renewal.
3. I know that CE providers are required to post credits within 90 days of the program. What happens to my license renewal if I take a program in the last 60 days of the renewal cycle and the provider posts after Sept 30th? Thank you for your response..”
CE Broker Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting CE Broker. License renewal is not determined by the information contained in CE Broker. The Department of Health will conduct the electronic audit of the information 4 to 6 months AFTER the licenses are renewed in September, 2007. As long as the CE is completed prior to the license expiration date then the audit will return a YES answer when the system is asked if the licensee completed all of their continuing education requirements. Again, license renewal is not based on the information contained in CE Broker. The information is going to be used for audit purposes only. Hopefully, this answers all three of the questions you had. If we can be of further assistance please contact the CE Broker Helpdesk via the web or by calling toll free, 1-877-i-find-CE (1-877-434-6323) Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. EST
C. Aceves Blumenthal, Treas
October 2004
CE Brokers – Self Reporting
CE Brokers will allow pharmacists to self report CE credits not obtained and processed by CE Broker (Florida Approved) providers such as ACPE credits. This service will be available to paid subscribers as well as non-subscribers. However, since our RPh license is still in mid-cycle, this service will not be available until October 2005.
Pharmacists are not required to subscribe to CE Brokers ($30 per biennium). You can create a user ID and establish an non-subscriber account so you may post your hours when the time comes. However, I personally, have noticed that when a Florida approved provider submits my credits to CE Broker – they send a confirmatory e-mail to my e-mail address on file.
You may want to try it out – sign up as a non subscriber and keep track of your own hours by maintaining an e-mail trail of hours that are credited to your account.
DCPA has been submitting CE credits since March.
C. Aceves-Blumenthal, Treas.
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APRIL, 2004
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INFORMATION ON THE NEW ELECTRONIC Continuing EDUCATION TRACKING SYSTEM.
As of February 1, 2004, an electronic continuing education tracking system for health care practitioners licensed in Florida was initiated. CE course completion credits, submitted by Florida approved CE Providers, will be used to determine that Florida health care licensees have met their continuing education renewal requirements. All Florida approved CE Providers will submit CE course completion data on participants who attended, including the number of hours completed, as well as the license number of the individual taking the course, to the new electronic continuing education tracking system (CE BROKER). This information will be posted to the licensee's records within 30 days of course completion. While non-Florida approved providers are not obligated to submit the information to CE BROKER, they may do so if they have ACPE status.
CE BROKER will keep track of all CE credits completed by licensees as of the above date. Only CE credits reported to CE BROKER will be accepted for license renewal.
Subscription service, provided by CE BROKER, is not mandatory but optional, where the licensee will be able to view their chronological course history, continuing education license detail, and may search for available courses that
satisfy their licensing requirements. Subscription service is $35.00 per biennium renewal period. All licensees that use this service and have completed their CE requirements with electronic submission by CE providers for license renewal, will not be audited by the BOARD OF PHARMACY (BOP).
Starting with the renewal period Oct. 1, 2005 to September 30, 2007. All CE credits must be obtained from Florida approved CE providers that will transmit electronically the CE course completion credits. If CE credits are obtained from non-Florida approved CE providers, then effective June 1, 2004, the licensee may self submit these CE credits with a FREE online registration service to CE BROKER. The data requested of the licensee is dependent on the type of CE credit being reported. All CE credits obtained from non-Florida approved providers will be subject to BOP audit. When a licensee is due for renewal, the DOH licensing system will request a yes/no indicator from the CE BROKER system as to whether their CE requirements have been fulfilled. If the licensee does not have the hours required for renewal, the licensee will be subject to BOP audit.
DADE COUNTY PHARMACY ASSOCIATION is an approved Florida CE Provider and we will submit CE course completion credits to the new electronic continuing education tracking system (CE BROKER).
Web demos are available at are highly recommended. If you have any questions, the CE BROKER Help Desk toll-free number is 1-877-1-FIND-CE (1-877-434-6323).