MQA Quarterly Performance Report

BUREAU OF OPERATIONS In August 2017, MQA hosted the Annual Strategic Planning Managers’ Retreat. Nearly 30 managers from throughout the division discussed MQA’s strategic focus for the new fiscal year. Attendees collaborated to perform a live SWOT analysis to evaluate MQA’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that affect the licensing, regulation and enforcement services MQA provides to Florida residents and health care professionals. Using the SWOT analysis, priorities were identified along with proposed actions that will allow MQA to make even more improvements to better serve its customers and stakeholders. BUREAU OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER REGULATION MQA received 29,673 applications for licensure in the first quarter of FY 2017-2018. Approximately 15% of those applications were incomplete, either missing documentation or waiting for passing scores on examinations. There were 25,042 applicants who had complete applications and were issued initial licenses. MQA conducted a survey of its initial licensing processes and applications to determine where it could remove barriers to licensure and improve its processes. In addition, MQA made efforts through rule reduction to eliminate unnecessary regulation. BUREAU OF ENFORCEMENT When Hurricane Irma struck Florida in mid-September, many MQA employees assisted in the Department of Health’s emergency preparedness and response efforts. In the Bureau of Enforcement, several employees from the Consumer Services Unit (CSU) and Investigative Services Unit (ISU) worked throughout the storm to coordinate and assist in the assessment of various facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Assessments consisted of documenting which facilities had power outages, generators, prescriptions, and the ability to prepare food. Several employees were deployed from headquarters and the Tampa and St. Petersburg field offices, while employees from the Jacksonville, Orlando and Jupiter field offices took day trips to coordinate assessments. Most involved averaged 15 hour workdays throughout the response, which began on Sunday, September 10, and ended on Friday, September 15. MQA Q1 2017-2018 5 BUREAU MESSAGES