Navigating Professional Licensing in Michigan

Learn how professional licensing works in Michigan and why it matters. Deputy Director Bryan Modelski from the Bureau of Professional Licensing explains the process, common mistakes, recent changes, and where to find help.

BPL Bureau website - https://www.michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/bpl

Professional Licensing Resources - https://www.michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/bpl/resources

BPL Contact - https://www.michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/bpl/resources/contact-the-bureau-of-professional-licensing

Transcript

Anastasha: 0:20

Welcome back to the LARA Living Room. I'm your host, Anastasha Osborn, and today we'll be talking about professional licensing here in Michigan. Now, you may not think about it every day, but licensing is what makes sure the people doing important work in our communities, whether those are nurses, contractors, or cosmetologists, that they are trained, qualified, and ready to go. And navigating the licensing process, oh, that's where things can get just a little bit tricky. So to help us make sense of it all, we're joined today by Brian Modelski, who is the Deputy Director of our Bureau of Professional Licensing, also known as BPL. As always, go ahead and fill up your cup of coffee, grab a seat, get comfortable, because you're now in the LAR living room. Thanks for being here, Brian. Can you give us just a quick overview of the Bureau Professional Licensing or BPL and then what your Bureau actually does?

Brian: 1:08

Happy to. So for those who are uninformed or want to know more about the Bureau of Professional Licensing, I think it's it's important to start with. We're responsible for licensing and regulating over 792,000 individuals and entities. And that falls into either the Michigan Occupational Code, which has 14 professions. Some examples include real estate salespersons, barbers, cosmetologists, and certified public accountants. And then kind of the other really big um law or code that we kind of have oversight over is the public health code. We've got 28 professions contained within that code. Examples include doctors, nurses, social workers, and just kind of individuals you expect to be licensed that deal with health, healthcare, things of that nature. In addition to oversight over those codes, we are responsible for maintaining the health professional recovery program. And for those that don't know, that's a confidential and it's also a non-disciplinary program designed to assist licensed or registered health professionals recover from substance abuse or chemical dependency problems or even mental health problems. And then we have oversight too over controlled substances. We we conduct that through our Michigan automated prescription system, otherwise known as MAPS. And there we we track drug prescriptions dispensed or administered in Michigan that are schedules two through five controlled substances. So that's a tool used by prescribers and dispensers to assess patient risk and also to use to prevent drug abuse and diversion at the prescriber, pharmacy, and patient levels. So that's kind of a general overview of what we do. We have 42 professions and 37 corresponding professional boards. Our newest profession was uh passed into law last year. That's dietitian, nutritionists, and we just got a board appointed by the Governor's Appointments Office in April this year. So we're we're excited to get to work regulating that profession as well as promulgating uh administrative rules. And then finally, just for some kind of background on the it's comprised of four divisions. We have a data services system that does kind of our IT stuff. Uh, we have an enforcement division that handles um kind of what happens uh when a licensee does something wrong, um, administrative actions, things of that nature. We have uh investigations and inspection division, they handle um inspecting facilities, but also investigating complaints we receive from the public. And then we've got a licensing division that um processes, receives, handles uh licensing applications, renewal applications, things of that nature.

Anastasha: 4:04

So now that we kind of have a little bit more of an understanding about what BPL does, let's talk about a little bit more about why that matters. So, why is professional licensing important specifically here in Michigan? And this could be both for the public and for the people working in these professions that you mentioned.

Brian: 4:19

Yeah, that's that's a great question. Um, I think it's it's maybe a question that a lot of people think about. Um and I think it's it's kind of important to answer this question from kind of a two-bucket approach or perspective, um, with one back in one bucket being the public benefit and the other being the benefit to licensed professionals. So if we look at the public side, um professional licensing helps to promote consumer protection. You can expect that if an individual is licensed, the public should expect and understand or have a feeling or knowledge that the licensee meets the minimum minimum standards of competence, uh, education, and ethical conduct. And this ultimately helps to foster public trust and confidence in the profession. Similarly, the public can expect that a licensed professional is a quality professional, meaning that the licensed individual meets the qualities and standards established by law and administrative rule. So there's the back end of that. And then finally, I think for this public side, um licensure provides for greater accountability of professionals as licensees are subject to oversight by the department and also our professional licensing board. So this oversight includes the investigation of complaints, the enforcement of disciplinary actions, and tools to protect the public from negligence. I think it's important to kind of have the perspective that a professional license embodies credibility in the eyes of others, as it is a designation that shows that the licensee has met the professional standards to be licensed. Um licensure also often provides the ability for greater mobility across states, as there are often similarities in licensure, excuse me, licensure requirements amongst states. And as a result of that, reciprocity is often easier for individuals if they're moving or they're going across and they want to practice across state lines. Um and then finally, I think licensure is um it not only establishes clear guidelines for ethical and competent practice, but it also, I think importantly, um or maybe most importantly to some individuals, it establishes a protected scope of practice and title protection. Um and when we talk about title protection, that's essentially laws that prevent individuals that are not properly trained or holding that that credential to um to practice within the scope of practice. Um so they can't they can't do the activities um that say a physician could do um unless unless they're qualified. And we don't obviously we don't want unqualified individuals to be practicing medicine. So that's an important one at BPL. Um I think we we do share in the department's mission to protect people and promote business in Michigan through transparent and accessible regulatory regulatory solutions.

Anastasha: 7:14

Brian, you mentioned the 42 professions and then the 37 corresponding professional boards. Can you kind of talk a little bit more about the boards and how and what their role is in terms of BPL's world?

Brian: 7:27

Um yeah, that's a great question. Um I think the administrative rules process that the board handles, but also just the work of the board, is um uh sometimes misunderstood, or maybe a better way to categorize it is just unknown. A lot of the board's work is evaluating rules, uh promulgating rules, working on the administrative rules process. Um and oftentimes those administrative rules deal with educational standards, um they deal with sometimes practice standards, but they don't generally, or they're not supposed to change or or kind of conflict with what the scope of statute is, or I'm sorry, the scope of practice is in statute. Um so I think the biggest component or one of the biggest components of our administrative boards is they they promulgate rules that complement the laws for licensure. And like I said, uh they are generally um covering things that typically need the expertise of professionals. So our our boards are made up of a majority of members who are actually licensed in the profession. Um and they can be subject matter experts on not just what educational standards or experience requirements are necessary or should be necessary to be licensed, but they also handle a lot of kind of the the administrative repercussions that arise from a lack of standard of care. So these individuals are often also um tasked with reviewing complaints um and the information from the corresponding complaints and then making a determination on how a license she licensee um should be handled if they violate the public health code or the administrative rules. So there's kind of a two two focused component there. You've got the rules and you also have a kind of a regulatory aspect that is unique to the board where they are handling that information um oftentimes.

Anastasha: 9:31

So many people I would say probably can agree that find that they would find the licensing process pretty confusing, you know, like where to start. So I kind of want to dig into that a little bit. Sure. So from your experience, what are some of really like the most common mistakes that you see applicants make when they're trying to get licensed?

Brian: 9:49

That's a great question. Um I think if I had to categorize the most common pitfalls for applicants, um I think the first one, first thing I think of individuals who wait until the last minute to apply for a new license or to renew their license. Um don't get me wrong, I've been known to procrastinate a time or two in my life. We do often see mistakes made by applicants when an individual does not afford themselves ample time to ensure that they submit a complete application to us. Um, while we can usually review an application within 48 hours of it being submitted to us, uh, if an application is for whatever reason submitted to us and it's not complete or it's incomplete, doesn't meet the licensure requirements, um, if it's missing required materials, it will cause delays in the administrative process and result in the applicant taking a much longer time to be licensed because we have to keep going back into the system, reviewing new or supplemental information from a licensee that um wasn't there the first time we we checked the application. Kind of continuing on this trend, applicants for initial licensure should also consider that certain materials that are required in the licensure process, whether that be from supervisors, um, examination providers, uh, educational programs, those can often only be provided or submitted to the department by the primary source, so from the educational program, um, from the supervisor that provided supervised supervision. Um and typically these cannot be provided by the applicant themselves in many cases. So I think another kind of interesting facet is depending on the time of the year in which an applicant applies for a licensure. Um and generally that's kind of like the spring or maybe early summer, as kind of graduation happens, graduation season happens at these institutions of higher learning. So um and then finally, um for this bucket, applicants applying for licensure under professions contained in the public health code should understand that a criminal background check is required by law for each applicant. Um we can't issue a license until an individual passes the background check, so individuals should kind of accordingly plan to take this into consideration. Sometimes there's just a general unfamiliarity with licensure requirements. Um happen both during the initial licensure renewal process and can it can come in a variety of forms. Um just thinking of some examples from issues related to required professional experience for some licenses, um, especially those that require obtaining clinical or supervised hours. Um, we see issues with with individuals who didn't get an individual to supervise them who was not the proper supervisor, and that can set an individual back in their licensure application. Um, we often see individuals applying for licensure that attended unaccredited or unapproved educational programs. That's that's a pretty big one. Um and even to a lesser extent, there are individuals that apply for a license with us, and they've they've passed an examination, but it is not an examination that's been approved by the department or the board. Further, licensees may not be familiar with or current with new continuing education requirements as a result of legislative changes or changes to the administrative rules related to the profession. When someone applies for renewal, they have to attest to completing their continuing education requirements if they have them. Um and if you get audited and you didn't you didn't meet the requirements, that can lead to administrative action against your license. So just something to be mindful of. Another big thing is individuals providing either wrong contact information or I think an even bigger issue actually is when they don't update a licensee or an applicant doesn't update their their My Plus contact information after like a move or getting a new phone number, a new email address. We like to remind the public that it is the responsibility of the licensee to make sure that their points of contact with us are up to date. Um because if they're not, um that could lead to missing important information from us, important updates like the ones we just discussed. Um and we also send out renewal reminders to individuals too. And and if if an individual is relying on that reminder from us to renew their license, um, they're probably gonna miss it if they they don't have the proper contact information in their account. So I think that's a big one. But ultimately, although the mistakes that I've kind of gone over or pitfalls are are made by applicants from time to time, you know, by and large, a vast majority of the tens of thousands of applications that the Bureau receives on an annual basis are done, so not just successfully, but really without any issues or delays.

Anastasha: 15:10

Okay, so finally I kind of just want to wrap things up here with one last question. Sure. Let's kind of talk about how licensing evolves over time. And have there been any recent changes or trends in professional licensing here in Michigan that the public and LARA staff should be aware of?

Brian: 15:26

For sure. Um, we we see I've I guess I've been with the department for um nine years. Wow. Uh so so uh things things have been trending. We've seen them, I guess I say all that to say um there's always things that are trending. Um they they chine, they they change over time, they're not static. Um and I think I can think of some immediate ones that have are kind of hot button issues of the day today. Um I'd like to touch upon the interstate professional licensure compacts. And someone may ask, you know, what is a licensure compact? Um and I think kind of a good way to summarize it is that they are identical or nearly identical professional licensure laws passed in multiple states. Um, the states that pass these laws that are pretty much the same from state to state that pass them, um, it allows professionals to practice with essentially a single professional credential across multiple state lines. Um, BPL is currently a member of two medical or rather interstate compacts. Um the first is the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact for Physicians, and then we're also a member of Psypacts, and that's deals specifically with psychology. But at this time, um I should point out that there are a number of compacts kind of pending or awaiting action in the state legislature. A lot of action on that front, very popular, not just in Michigan, but across the country. Another thing we see a lot of or a lot of discussion about, and generally every couple years, there are bills introduced to address it is universal licensure or just bills that make reciprocity between states easier. So basically making it easier for states to recognize another state's professional license as equivalent to their state's license or our state's license. We see this a lot with um active duty military veterans and their spouses' independence. And in recent years, it hasn't just been state governments that have been focused on this, but the federal government as well. Uh continuing education, another big one. Um in recent years, there are often legislative proposals from the Senate or the House of Representatives by various stakeholders to either create or change continuing education requirements. At this time, not every profession in BPL has continuing education requirements, but there have been a number of legislative mandates in recent years to create new continuing education requirements. So that's definitely kind of a popular trend amongst professions. We also see proposals that allow for more options in coup provides continuing education. So the licensee has more options who they can go to, um as well as we're kind of starting to see a trend now where stakeholders would prefer and licensees would prefer virtual opportunities for continuing education. So we're trying to provide more um opportunities for licensees through those bills and rule changes. As professions evolve over time, um their scopes tend to involve their scopes of practice. So their ability to perform more complex tasks, um more tasks while licensed is constantly evolving. So we often see legislative proposals every year focused just on expanding the scopes of an existing license. Um and when those scopes of practice expand, um, like I said, individuals generally can do more things under law.

Anastasha: 19:03

Yeah. I think this information's been extremely helpful, and I think our listeners are going to walk away with a lot of really good information. So I appreciate you being here today, Brian, and taking the time to kind of give us the lay of the land. Of course.

Brian: 19:16

Yeah, it was fun. Thanks for uh indulging me in my first uh podcast experience.

Anastasha: 19:21

Of course, thank you. So for everyone listening, of course, you can find more information about licensing in Michigan on the LARA website at Michigan.gov forward slash LARA. And as always, we'll include some links into the episode notes. All right, thank you.

Brian: 19:35

Yeah, thanks again.

Anastasha: 19:37

Getting licensed might seem like a lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through, but as Brian reminded us today, it's really about keeping people safe and making sure everyone can do their job well. From avoiding common mistakes to knowing where to find resources, a little guidance goes a long way. And that's exactly what the Bureau Professional Licensing is here for. So, as I mentioned, there will be some links and helpful information in our show notes from today's episode. So I hope that you find them valuable and that you get a moment to go through and look at our website and kind of see a little bit more information on there as well. From our living room to yours, we'll see you next time.