The Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) program licenses health care practitioners who meet statutory standards, enforces laws and rules governing health care practitioners, and provides information to assist the public in making informed health care decisions.

• Licensure. To ensure that health care professionals meet certain minimum standards, the program administers professional testing and processes licensure applications and renewals.
• Enforcement. The program investigates complaints against health care professionals. When its investigation is complete and legally sufficient, the department shall prepare and submit to the probable cause panel of the appropriate regulatory board the investigative report of the department. The report shall contain the investigative findings and the recommendations of the department concerning the existence of probable cause.
• Public Information. To help people make more informed choices about their health care practitioners, the program provides current licensure information for all licensed health care providers. Practitioner profiles contain information about the practitioner's educational and professional background and any disciplinary action taken against the practitioner.

In Florida, health care practitioners are governed by professional licensing boards or councils. While board member are appointed by the Governor, council members are appointed by the State Surgeon General or the board under which the council operates. Members serve to conduct disciplinary hearings, promulgate rules, develop proposed legislation, approve continuing education providers and courses, and review licensure applications.

The boards and councils are housed within the Department of Health. The division of MQA coordinates, supports, and manages the programs and services of the regulatory boards and councils and department-administered healthcare professions. The program also directly regulates some health care facilities.

Currently, the program, in conjunction with 22 boards and four councils, regulates licenses in 59 professions and 10 types of health care facilities (dental laboratories, electrolysis facilities, massage establishments, office surgery facilities, pain management clinics, optical establishments, pharmacies, and resident and nonresident sterile compounding pharmacies.)

For professions regulated by boards and councils, information about the boards and councils, including minutes of board meetings and the board's meeting schedule, may be available via the MQA website by clicking on the appropriate profession in the list. Information on each profession's licensure and registration process and other requirements, such as continuing education and license renewal requirements, may also be available.

The program has 180 days from the receipt of a complaint to complete an initial investigation and make a recommendation concerning the existence of probable cause. In Fiscal Year 2021-2022, the program investigated 5,769 legally sufficient complaints and determined that probable cause for pressing charges against a licensee existed for 1,331 cases. For Fiscal Year 2021-2022, 97.34% of complaints were investigated for probable cause within 180 days, which was above the approved standard of 90%.

In addition, for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, the department received 1,064 complaints alleging unlicensed activity. During the same year, 1,106 unlicensed activity complaints were referred for investigation and the department made 607 referrals to law enforcement. Unlicensed activity is a criminal offense and requires coordination with law enforcement.

The 2023 Legislature enacted several laws related to the practice of health care in Florida.

• Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact. Chapter 2023-140, Laws of Florida, creates the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact and authorizes Florida to join as a member state. It requires the Florida Board of Psychology to appoint an individual to represent Florida on the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact Commission.
• Benefits, Training, and Employment for Veterans and Their Spouses. Chapter 2023-161, Laws of Florida, creates the Office of Veteran Licensure Services within the Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance, to provide information, guidance,  direction, and assistance with health care licensure processes for all veterans and their spouses.
• Protection From Discrimination Based on Health Care Choices. Chapter 2023-43, Laws of Florida, establishes requirements for mandating facial coverings in health care settings. It requires the Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to jointly develop standards for the use of facial coverings in such settings by July 1, 2023, and requires each health care provider and health care practitioner who owns or operates an office to establish policies and procedures for facial coverings by August 1, 2023, that are consistent with the standards adopted by the DOH and AHCA if they require any individual to wear a mask.
• Protections of Medical Conscience. Chapter 2023-57, Laws of Florida, provides that a health care provider or payor has the right to opt out of participation in or payment for a health care service on the basis of a conscience-based objection. It prohibits a board, or DOH if there is no board, from taking disciplinary action against a health care practitioner solely because he or she has spoken or written publicly about a health care service or public policy, including on a social media platform, as long as the speech or written communication does not provide advice or treatment to a specific patient or patients and does not separately violate any other applicable law or rule.
• Certified Nursing Assistants. Chapter 2023-250, Laws of Florida, creates a new designation of qualified medication aide (QMA) for certified nursing assistants who work in a nursing home and meet specified licensure and training requirements. It allows a nursing home to authorize a registered nurse (RN) working in the nursing home to delegate mediation administration to a QMA who is working under the direct supervision of the RN if certain requirements are met.

Other Reports
Reports and Publications, Division of Medical Quality Assurance
2022 Florida Physician Workforce Annual Report, Department of Health
Auditor General reports related to Medical Quality Assurance are available on its website

Websites of Interest
Federation of State Medical Boards
National Practitioner Data Bank

Performance Information

Jennifer L. Wenhold, Director, Medical Quality Assurance, 850-488-0595
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