Regents 2008 Board Report
"Licensed professionals in New York diagnose and treat physical and mental conditions, fill prescriptions, ensure the structural safety of buildings, give nursing care to loved ones, and protect our financial investments – to name just a few of the many critical functions they perform. The consequences can be life-threatening when these activities are performed by unlicensed or unqualified individuals. And that's why the Board, in overseeing the professions, continues to focus on two related areas –protecting the public while ensuring professional integrity."
Regent Harry Phillips, 3rd
Co- Chair, Professional Practice Committee
Regents 2008 Board Report: The Professions
Protecting the Public
In 2008, the Regents continued its mission of protecting the public by fostering high standards of professional licensure, practice and discipline. Specifically, the Office of Professions (OP) licensed 50,000 new applicants, re-registered 250,000 professional licensees, investigated over 7,000 complaints of professional misconduct, and took disciplinary action where warranted.
Here are details of 2008's accomplishments:
- Online registration renewal is now available for 250,000 licensees each year.
- Process improvements, the integration of technology, increased use of scanning, and implementation of web-based tools will enable OP to better provide information to the public and licensees in response to the hundreds of thousands of questions asked and answered each year.
- Fully implemented the licensed clinical laboratory technology professions. By the end of 2008, approximately 17,000 people were licensed, with additional licensees in restricted practice areas.
- Implemented new authority of pharmacists to administer influenza and pneumococcal immunizations.
