Annual Report and Long-Range Plan | Fiscal Year 2022-23 16 Figure 1: Total Number of Licensed Health Care Practitioners Figure 2: Largest Number of Licensed Health Care Practitioners Licensure Florida’s population has increased by 1.9 percent since 2021, which makes it the fastest-growing state in the nation. With a population that is expanding so rapidly, MQA is charged with ensuring that the 1.4 million Florida health care practitioners can get to work and stay working with little delay in licensing. In FY 2022-23, MQA licensed over 128,000 new health care practitioners with an average processing time of 0.09 days per license. Total licensure for practitioners has increased 3.4% over the past six years from 1,245,454 to 1,478,142 (Figure 1). This year, 152,581 initial applications were received, and 128,167 initial licenses were issued. Also, 610,818 renewal licenses were issued, which is the highest number of renewals for the reporting period. The professions with the greatest number of licensed practitioners are registered nurses, certified nursing assistants (CNAs), medical doctors, licensed practical nurses, and registered pharmacy technicians (Figure 2). Over the past five years, the number of registered nurses increased at a rate of 4.3%, making it the fastest-growing health care profession in Florida. Medical doctors and pharmacy technicians are also growing at fast rates, with six-year growth rates of 3.6% and 2.4%, respectively. While registered nurses and medical doctors are also two of the most popular professions among licensed military practitioners, certified nursing assistants and massage therapists accounted for the largest increase in military practitioners at 4.9% and 3.5%, respectively. By contrast, professions with the highest declines in practitioners are licensed practical nursing and certified nursing assistants, but the declines are marginal; the number of licensed practical nurses declined at a rate of 0.006% while the number of CNAs declined at a rate of 0.26%. Figure 3 illustrates the top 10 largest and smallest professions in Florida. In Thousands 1,245,454 1,299,305 1,345,417 1,417,072 1,431,063 1,478,142
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