-ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 19, 2000-

Comments
We are beginning to move all of our licensing processes online (application, status, registration, judging, payment, approval and distribution and so on). I am interested in learning of the experiences of CLEAR members in working on such issues, in regards to both technical issues and (equally importantly) the consequences for the agency/board/college and the licensees themselves.

Thank you for any information you can provide.

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Gregory Harm
Date: 24 Jan 2001
Time: 09:16:40
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
http://www.e-texas.org/recommend/ch01/eg04.html

This link takes you to a paper I worked on for moving certain occupational and professional licensing online in Texas. It appears in the latest issue of Texas Performance Review. I did the research and writing (short of editing) for the above chapter. It is our hope that it will translate into legislation in the current session, but that has not yet evolved to anything firm.

Please note that I regard Harry Loleas, of Maryland's Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation to be the guru from all of the research I have done on the subject. You may already be familiar with Harry, but if not--he is a virtual gold mine of information on electronic licensing.

Best of luck and let me know if I can help in any way.

Greg,

Gregory P. Harm, M.A. Regulatory Reform Analyst (Planner II) Government Improvement Division Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts LBJ Office Building 117 E. 17th St., Rm. 509 Austin, Texas 78774 512-475-0910 Fax 512-475-4405

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Lin Falcon
Date: 24 Jan 2001
Time: 09:20:17
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
We have all of our information online for the Louisiana LPC Board, however, you must download all applications. Nothing is filled out on line. We still require notarized signatures and affivadit. All of our transcripts still come directly from the universities by mail. Licensees enjoy reading our newsletter on line and the availability of law/rules/license renewal etc.

As for time and money saved - it is amazing how much time is saved not having to mail out information. Of course, there are still some people who do not have access to the internet so for them we still mail. Approximately 80% of the applicants use our website for information. We have also saved a lot of money in postage.

Lin Falcon Administrative Assistant

From: Joe Cote
Date: 24 Jan 2001
Time: 15:01:46
Remote Name: 64.50.80.10


Comments
Our organization, Professional Credential Services, provides licensing/application-processing services to various organizations. Candidates retrieve information by accessing our Web site, by e-mail, by mail and by telephone. All work well. Many people still do not work effectively on the Web and have technical problems when they try. Fewer than 20% actually download or apply online.

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: John Swannack
Date: 25 Jan 2001
Time: 04:50:28
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
A critical person for you to work with is Dave Kirk at the Washington State Department of Information Services. He heads the Washington State Digital Academy. Recently, the academy has completed on line permitting applications that can be used by state and local agencies in Washington, an e-forms analysis and contract, digital signatures of recurring business transactions with the state and local governments, and several other initiatives.

Dave can be reached at DKirk@dis.wa.gov

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Gregory Harm
Date: 25 Jan 2001
Time: 04:54:54
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
LAO Report: "E-Government" in California: Providing Services to C itizens Through the Internet

The Legislative Analyst's Office has just issued the following report:

"E-Government" in California: Providing Services to Citizens Through the Internet

It appears that there are a number of potential benefits from e-government implementation. We raise, though, a number of concerns about the direction that the state is taking in this area. We also outline specific qualities to look for before approving future e-government proposals and identify policy issues to address. (20 pp.)

Available in the following formats:

HTML: http://www.lao.ca.gov/2001/012401_egovernment.html

Adobe Acrobat: http://www.lao.ca.gov/2001/012401_egovernment.pdf

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Mark Kinkade
Date: 25 Jan 2001
Time: 06:01:49
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation has been distributing our 154 profession applications from our web site for about one year. We develop all applications in Adobe Pagemaker and a pdf format. The pdf format is uploaded to our web server.

The number of telephone requests for application "packets" has been reduced to a very manageable number now. Making these available on the Internet to our constiuents was extremely satisfying to them as we are promoting the concept of self service. I hope this is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Mark Kinkade Chief Technology Officer Illinois Department of Professional Regulation (217)524-3742

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Robert Bentley
Date: 26 Jan 2001
Time: 07:12:51
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
New York State is planning for licensure transactions online , however NYS govt. centrally has not yet approved the method for individual agencies to accept credit card payment. We hope that will happen this year. While we do not now have the infrastructure to do online transactions, we do have our application forms on the web so applicants can print them out at home . They must then fill them out ( including a picture ) and submit the hard copy. The last time we sampled the % of applications that were returned that came off the web , it was in the area of 20% in our largest profession ( Nursing ). We do have a web site that lists all NYS licensees (www.op.nysed.gov/opsearches.htm) and is used extensively to verify licensure in the 38 professions we license. Last year we had 3,383,189 online verifications. Hope the above is helpful. Bob Bentley Dir. of Prof. Licensing Services (518) 474-3817 Ext. 340

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Dale.C.Blanchard@state.or.us
Date: 29 Jan 2001
Time: 11:06:59
Remote Name: 159.121.114.10


Comments
The Oregon Health Licensing Office offers information and printable application forms on our Web site, and is planning for expanded on-line services. The agency lacks the resources to provide an on-line payment process, so we are waiting for the central Department of Administrative Services to provide an "electronic commerce" service for state agencies. At that point we expect to offer on-line applications and renewal payments. There are many questions to consider when automating these services - how will the licensing database be updated? Is the "payment" system compatible with the "licensing" system? At what point does a HUMAN verify the data? And so on ...

Many of our licenses require the individual to pass an examination. Our exams are given on touch-screen computers, but security issues have prevented these exams from actually being offered "on-line," requiring applicants to travel to our office. In Oregon this can easily be a journey of 300 miles. We are exploring options for offering exams at "remote" locations linked via Internet, while maintaining the integrity and security of the examinations.

We currently allow licensees to submit address changes and certain other updates via e-mail. Public records inquiries (mailing lists) are also distributed as e-mail attachments, as one option.

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: John Swannack
Date: 02 Feb 2001
Time: 01:51:58
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
You may want to check this site for an on-line business application for Washington State It was implemented on 12/29/00. Thus far, it has been very successful.

https://wws2.wa.gov/dol/mls/

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Jim Guffey
Date: 02 Feb 2001
Time: 01:56:49
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
We are also in the beginning stages of moving our licensing processes online.Licensing status via the Regulant Look-up has been available for almost two years. From all the feedback that I have received, this has been a successful effort. The Look-up is being used internally by DPOR employees in their work processes as well as by the general public to obtain licensure status.Calls from building officials have decreased due to the availability of ths function. Because our data resides on a technologically aging database management system, we developed a front-end to our data using the ColdFusion web development product. This has meant that we do have have real-time updates to our web information. So far, this has not created any major concerns for us.

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Mark Speicher
Date: 02 Feb 2001
Time: 02:06:13
Remote Name: 213.48.120.242


Comments
We have done on-line license renewals for the Arizona Osteopathic Board of Examiners in Medicine and Surgery for the past two years. This year, we have had more than 950 licensees renew in the on-line system of 1600 total licensees (about 60 percent) and that does not count those who renew late, starting tomorrow February 1, 2001. The web site is at http://www.azosteoboard.org/. Last year, about 15 percent renews on-line. I believe that the osteopathic board has found that this method has saved them about .5 FTE (of their staff of six). The form is completed and submitted on-line. If you have questions about this or want to try a demo, please contact me at (602) 942-9530 or mark@optimedresources.com. Thank you. Mark Speicher

Re: Moving Towards an Online Licensure Process
From: Lisa McGrane
Date: 09 Feb 2001
Time: 04:24:34
Remote Name: 194.117.133.196


Comments
The Arizona Board of Medical Examiners (Board) started posting its applications and forms on-line in November 2000. To date, the Board has received favorable responses for its effort. In the past, because of the size and color of the application forms, all applications had to be mailed to applicants. This was a cumbersome process for staff and not a timely process for the licensees. Now, applicants can download and print all application materials from the website or staff can e-mail or fax applications upon request.

Currently, the Board scans and posts the applications on-line. However, the Board is preparing to make the entire application process on-line in the near future. It has also been difficult to track the number of applications downloaded from the website. To solve this problem, the Board is considering designating a mark on each type of application (i.e. mailed, e-mailed, downloaded) so that it can track the percentage of licensees using the website to obtain an application.

In the future, staff expects a reduction of staff time to fill application requests and a faster response to the applicants. Additionally, all information is updated on the website daily to reflect license status and changes in the application forms. The website can be viewed at www.bomex.org.