Innovations-Magazine-April-2023 - 7

ASSOCIATION NEWS
Louisiana Board Uses CPE Monitor Data to Audit License
and Certificate Renewals
Last fall, the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy began using CPE Monitor® data to automatically audit pharmacists' continuing pharmacy education
(CPE) records during the license renewal process - and the Board will soon use it for pharmacy technicians' records as well.
A Licensure Renewal App,
Enhanced With CPE Monitor Data
This unique process ensures that these
licensees have completed their required
CPE before allowing online renewal.
Louisiana pharmacists already use CPE
Monitor as they are tracking continuing
pharmacy education for compliance, so
they did not have to do anything extra to
complete the Louisiana audit. Further, the
Board noted that the CPE audit should
take less than one minute during online
renewal.
Pharmacists were automatically audited
during the online renewal process that took
place during November and December
2022; for pharmacy technicians, who
already use CPE Monitor, it will begin
in May 2023.
Easy and Speedy - From the
Licensee's View
The Louisiana online renewal process begins
with a question relative to the licensee's
compliance with CPE requirements. The
renewal process paused for an automated
check of the applicant's records via CPE
Monitor. The time for receipt of the
return message from CPE Monitor was
just a few seconds. Upon verification of
compliance with CPE requirements by
CPE Monitor, the applicant was permitted
to complete the renewal process.
In the event that compliance could
not be verified by CPE Monitor, the
renewal process was terminated, and
the applicant was invited to return
to complete the renewal process
when their records at CPE Monitor
substantiated their compliance with CPE
requirements, or contact the Board.
The Board's rules for pharmacy
technicians also require them to
maintain their CPE records using CPE
CPE Monitor Helps Pharmacists, Technicians Manage CPE Requirements
CPE Monitor helps pharmacists and
technicians track and store continuing
pharmacy education (CPE) credits
and monitor progress toward licensure
compliance. The Standard plan is free
for both pharmacists and technicians.
Currently, the Plus plan is only available to
pharmacists. Both plans can be accessed
via desktop or mobile app.
The Plus plan, which costs only $12
per year, offers perks such as CPE cycle
deadline alerts; at-a-glance views of hours
completed versus hours needed; detailed,
state-specific transcripts that can be
submitted to the boards; and state-specific
CPE analysis reports. The report also offers
detailed records of fulfilled pharmacy
continuing education requirements, by
topic, format, and various sub-requirements
for each of a pharmacist's licenses. In
addition, detailed information on a state's
topic requirements is available, including
a report on Accreditation Council for
Pharmacy Education-accredited topics that
are state-specific for an individual's license.
Monitor and to make those records
available to the Board by recording their
Louisiana credential number within
their NABP e-Profile® account.
Transitioning Away From Manual,
Paper-Based Processes
The Louisiana Board has historically used
CPE Monitor to audit for continuing
education (CE) compliance, but this was a
manual, paper-based process. Using CPE
Monitor as an auditing tool worked well for
the Board because its standard was to accept
only Accreditation Council for Pharmacy
Education (ACPE)-accredited CE activities,
which are only valid if listed in CPE Monitor.
Last year, the Board wanted to incorporate
its CE audits with its online license renewal
process, so that licenses could only be renewed
if the licensee met the CE compliance rules,
and approached NABP on how to implement
this change. With this new process, Louisiana
licensees who were not compliant had the
option to obtain additional CPE to become
compliant, or discuss directly with the Board
the reasons for noncompliance and follow
a paper-based, manual process to renew.
The Board said that this new approach,
supported by its software, would help ensure
compliance with its CPE rules.
Other boards of pharmacy have expressed
interest in implementing a similar system for
their online license renewal processes. NABP
is currently working to address structural
barriers for boards that accept non-ACPEaccredited
CPE courses, so that the system
can be more widely implemented. NABP's
Member Relations and Government Affairs
department is available to discuss particulars,
readiness, and any proposed implementation
schedules for boards of pharmacy interested in
this new feature of CPE Monitor.
APRIL 2023 | 5

https://nabp.pharmacy/programs/cpe-monitor/ https://nabp.pharmacy/programs/cpe-monitor/

Innovations-Magazine-April-2023

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