Online pharmacy degree

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Beginning next year, all Florida pharmacists will have to subscribe to a new electronic tracking system for their continuing education, marking a shift in policy that could be adopted by other states. But the new online system, set up to ensure that pharmacists and other health care practitioners in Florida complete required CE courses, is raising more questions than answers.

Virtually everything having to do with continuing education for the 20,000-plus pharmacists with a Florida license soon will have to be done online at CEBroker.com, the new CE tracking service for the Florida Department of Health's Medical Quality Assurance Division. This includes applying to be recognized by Florida as a provider, submitting a course for approval and providing pharmacists with documentation of their course completion.

The online tracking system, while perhaps a positive move in theory, apparently took many industry professionals by surprise. Pharmacy leaders are scrambling to understand the full implications of CEBroker.com, which is owned by Information Systems of Florida.

"Florida caught us all by surprise. We had heard there was something in the works, and then all of a sudden, [the tracking system] passed. It was new to everyone, said Carmen Catizone, executive director and secretary of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Catizone said he is unaware of any other states currently developing similar online tracking systems.

However, the new system did not sprout up overnight. In fact, the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Department of Financial Services already are tracking CE online, according to Jim Knepton, management review specialist for the Florida Department of Health's Medical Quality Assurance Division.

When asked why the state has implemented CEBroker.com, Knepton simply said, "It is the law," and referred to Florida Statute 456.025(7), which specifies that all approved CE providers will start sending the licensee's CE completion data to the new continuing education tracking system (known today as CEBroker.com).

"We're not paving a new road here; it is something that has already been in the works for other licensees in the state of Florida," he said.

Knepton added that the agency "is giving each profession their full renewal cycle to comply with the board's CE requirements, so in the case of pharmacy, [the new system] starts in September 2005. Sufficient CE hours must be posted in a pharmacist's license record at CEBroker.com or the Florida license will not be renewed.

To access CEBroker.com, pharmacists are required to pay $35 for a two-year subscription. Once registered, they'll be able to locate CE courses, find CE providers and register for courses. Providers will be required to upload the completion data to the system. What isn't changing: the number and type of hours required by licensees, the qualifications for CE provider approval and the fee to apply for or to renew a license.

While CEBroker.com may not be new to the state, it is new to the pharmacy profession, and its impact on the industry remains unclear. Also unknown: its long-term effect on the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy.

ACPE's executive assistant director, Dimitra Travlos, said the organization is "still in the information-gathering stage" and declined to comment further.

Florida will continue to accept programs by providers who are accredited by ACPE, but only if the information has been submitted online to Florida's CEBroker.com.

For years, pharmacists have relied heavily on ACPE-accredited providers to provide CE and verification of completion via what are termed statements of credit. If a statement of credit is misplaced, the PAroviders are required by ACPE to provide a duplicate copy. State boards across the nation accept programs by ACPE-accredited providers, an important feature for the many pharmacists who have licenses in more than one state.

What does seem clear about CEBroker.com is that any pharmacist who does not have enough credits submitted online will not have his or her Florida license renewed, and pharmacists must make sure that the providers from whom they take courses are complying with the requirements of CEBroker.com.

That could be burdensome to individual pharmacists, but it offers the state's board of pharmacy at least one big advantage: instant verification--at the touch of a button--that pharmacists up for license renewal have completed all CE requirements.

The Florida Department of Health stated that it is working to spread the word to Florida health care professionals, Florida-approved providers and associations. But some industry observers are concerned that ACPE-accredited providers who are not approved directly by the Florida board may be unaware of the new system.

"If [the online system] is going to be implemented, they have to get information to providers soon because those providers are going to have to make some changes in their computer systems," said NABP's Catizone.

--Kimberly Werner, continuing education director for Drug Store News, contributed to this story.