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Click on the appropriate tab below to see the Renewal Requirements, Process, Fees and Continuing Medical Education (CME) for Physician Assistants.
Florida passed House Bill 975 following the 2024 legislative session, which requires this profession to complete electronic fingerprinting. Your application cannot be approved until this requirement, along with all other licensure criteria, has been met. For more information on background screening, visit MQA's Background Screening website.
Licensees requesting to reactivate their license from inactive or retired status are required to pay additional fees and comply with specific continuing education requirements. Please contact the board office at BOM_PostLicensure@flhealth.gov to request your reactivation requirements.
The department will renew your license upon receipt of:
*Required by section 456.0135(6)(1), Florida Statutes, a $43.25 fee is required for FDLE to retain your fingerprint for background screening during this licensure cycle. This fee is collected at the time of license renewal if your fingerprint retention is expiring this licensure period. If your fingerprint retention expires in the next 60 days, you will need to pay separately through the Clearinghouse Applicant Initiated (CHAI) System.
To ensure you receive notification from the department regarding the renewal, you must have on file with the department your current mailing address. Failure to renew an active or inactive license by the expiration date will result in the license being placed in delinquent status. Failure by a delinquent licensee to become active or inactive before the expiration of the current licensure cycle renders the license null and void without any further action by the board or the department.
A licensee who remains on inactive status for more than two consecutive biennial licensure cycles and who wishes to reactivate, must:
Applicants for initial licensure must use a LiveScan service provider to submit a set of fingerprints to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for the purpose of conducting a search for any Florida and national criminal history records that may pertain to applicant. The results of the search will be returned to the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse and made available to the Department for consideration during the licensure process. The fingerprints submitted by the applicant will be retained by FDLE and the Clearinghouse. All costs for conducting a criminal history background screening are borne by the applicant.
It is important to use the correct Originating Agency Identification (ORI) when submitting fingerprints. If you do not provide an ORI number or if you provide an incorrect ORI number to the service provider, the board office will not receive your fingerprint results, so it is extremely important to use the correct ORI when having your fingerprints scanned.
Applicants can use any FDLE approved LiveScan service provider to submit their fingerprints. The applicant is fully responsible for selecting the service provider and ensuring the results are reported to the Department. If you are applying for initial licensure after December 15, 2012, You must print this form and take it with you to a Livescan service provider. For more information, FAQs, and a list of all approved Livescan service providers please visit the Department’s website at: https://www.flhealthsource.gov/background-screening and click on the Livescan Service Providers tab.
Continuing Education (CE/CME) Requirements
To locate board approved CE Courses for this profession, please click here
| REQUIRED SUBJECT AREA | REQUIRED NUMBER OF HOURS | IMPORTANT INFORMATION |
| General Hours | 98 | |
| Medical Error | 2 | |
| Domestic Violence | 2 | Required every third biennium – Included in the 100 total hours required |
First Biennium Renewal: If you are renewing your license for the first time you are required to complete two hours in Medical Errors, One hour of HIV/AIDS and 97 hours of general CME. A current NCCPA certification can substitute for the 97 general CME hours. The HIV/AIDS course must be Category I.
NOTE:
The Prevention of Medical Errors course must be approved by any state or federal government agency, or nationally affiliated professional association, or any provider of Category I or II American Medical Association Continuing Education. One hour of a two hour course which is provided by a facility licensed under Chapter 395, Florida Statutes, for its employees may be used to partially meet this requirement.
Board Rule Approved Providers
Prescribing Physician Assistants
Other Methods of Obtaining Continuing Medical Education per Biennium
If you are a member of the Armed Forces of the United States on active duty who was in good standing with the board at the time of becoming active and was entitled to practice or engage in the practice of medicine in Florida, you may be eligible to be exempted from renewal requirements for the duration of active duty, and for a period of six months after discharge, but not practicing the profession in the private sector for profit.
If you are the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, you may be eligible to be exempted from licensure renewal requirements, but only in cases of absence from the state because your spouses’ duties with the Armed Forces.
To receive an exemption from the renewal requirements, please provide a copy of your orders which provides the beginning and end date of your current enlistment or a copy of your spouse’s orders. If you are a Commissioned Officer, you may provide a letter from your commanding officer that reflects the length of your contract with a beginning and end date to fulfill this requirement.
If you volunteer 160 hours of medical services to the indigent residents of Florida with incomes at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level during the previous biennium, or 800 hours if you are fully retired from compensated practice, you may be eligible for a waiver of your biennial renewal fee and up to 25% of the continuing education hours required for license renewal. Mandatory continuing education requirements for domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, medical errors and prescribing cannot be waived.
To receive an exemption from the biennial renewal fee and some of the continuing education hours (no more than 25%), you will be required to submit a letter certifying the total number of uncompensated health care service hours volunteered during the renewal cycle along with your renewal application. Online renewal is available if you provide the Certification of Hours letter to the Board at least 30 days prior to renewal of license.
All physician assistant licenses expire at midnight, Eastern Time, January 31, of each even year, unless renewed. At least 90 days before your license expires, the department will mail you a renewal notice to your last known address of record. You will have until midnight on the day your license expires to renew. Failure to renew your active or inactive license by midnight of the expiration date will result in the license being placed in delinquent status and a delinquent fee will be assessed in addition to the renewal fees. Failure by a delinquent licensee to become active or inactive before the expiration of the current licensure cycle renders the license null and void without any further action by the board or the department.
You may RENEW ONLINE your license if:
Renewal Instructions:
*** If the “PII Failed” screen displays, click the “Other Login Option” button and enter your existing User ID and password to access your account.***
If you lose your user identification and password you may recover it by clicking the button at the right of the screen titled “Login Help.” After logging in to the renewal system, licensees will be prompted to answer a series of questions and required to provide certain information, if appropriate. The renewal process typically takes 10-15 minutes and licensees pay their renewal fee by Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover when they are done.
You may RENEW BY MAIL if:
If your license is Delinquent/Active or Delinquent/Inactive you may still renew prior to the renewal deadline. The following actions must be taken prior to renewing your license:
Please note, when renewing your license, a delinquent fee will be assessed in addition to all applicable renewal fees.
Failure to renew an active or inactive license by the expiration date will result in the license being placed in delinquent status and a delinquent fee will be assessed in addition to the renewal fees. Failure by a delinquent licensee to become active or inactive before the expiration of the current licensure cycle renders the license null and void without any further action by the board or the department.
Our professions have a minimum licensure period of 5 months. Due to the fact that physician assistant licenses only expire in even years, some licensees end up with a much shorter licensure period, while others have a much longer licensure period, depending on when the licenses are issued. PA licenses that are issued before September in an odd year will have a renewal date of January 31 of the following year. Those issued after September of an odd year will have a longer initial licensure period before having to renew for the first time.
Name changes require legal documentation showing the name change. Please submit a request including your full name as it appears on your license, profession, license number, your new name, your date of birth, the last four digits of your social security number, and your signature. Attach supporting documents, which must be one of the following:
Any one of these will be accepted unless the department has a question about the authenticity of the document. A social security card is not considered legal documentation.
Please Note: The last four digits of the SSN are requested as required by DOH Policy Number DOHP 385-LS05-12 Name Changes for Existing Licensees, which was established for security purposes due to past instances of fraudulent activity.
If renewing BEFORE your license expires, your fees will be:
| Active to Active | $280.00* |
| Inactive to Inactive | $280.00 |
| Active to Inactive | $280.00 |
| Inactive to Active | $380.00* |
| Active to Retired | $55.00 |
| Inactive to Retired | $55.00 |
| Prescribing Registration* | $10.00 |
If renewing AFTER your license expires, your fees will be:
| Active to Active | $380.00* |
| Inactive to Inactive | $380.00 |
| Active to Inactive | $480.00 |
| Inactive to Active | $580.00* |
| Active to Retired | $255.00 |
| Inactive to Retired | $255.00 |
| Prescribing Registration* | $10.00 |
If renewing 120 day Notified Delinquent, your fees will be:
| Active to Active | $660.00* |
| Inactive to Inactive | $660.00 |
| Active to Inactive | $660.00 |
| Inactive to Active | $760.00 |
| Active to Retired | $435.00 |
| Inactive to Retired | $435.00 |
| Prescribing Registration* | $10.00 |
*If you are not currently authorized to prescribe medicinal drugs and would like to obtain a prescribing license number at the time you are renewing your license you may do so by checking the appropriate box on the renewal application. No fee is required for the initial prescribing license number; however, once you obtain your prescribing license number, there is an additional fee of $10.00 added to the license renewal fee for the current renewal cycle.
**Required by section 456.0135(6)(1), Florida Statutes, a $43.25 fee is required for FDLE to retain your fingerprint for background screening during this licensure cycle. This fee is collected at the time of license renewal if your fingerprint retention is expiring this licensure period. If your fingerprint retention expires in the next 60 days, you will need to pay separately through the Clearinghouse Applicant Initiated (CHAI) System.
Click on Chapter or Section Number to View
Florida Statutes
458.347 Physician Assistants
456.013 Department; general licensing provisions
456.024 Members of Armed Forces in good standing with administrative boards or the department; spouses
456.031 Requirement for instruction on domestic violence
456.033 FS Requirement for instruction for certain licensees on HIV and AIDS
456.035 FS Address of record
456.036 FS Licenses; active and inactive status; delinquency
456.038 FS Renewal and cancellation notices
456.0635 FS Medicaid fraud; disqualification for license, certification, or registration
458.347 FS Physician Assistant Licensure
766.1115 FS Health care providers; creation of agency relationship with governmental contractors.
766.1116 FS Health care practitioner; waiver of license renewal fees and continuing education
Florida Administrative Code
64B8-30.005 Continuing Education for Biennial Renewal
64B-9.001 Biennial Licensing
64B8-30.005 Physician Assistant Licensure Renewal and Reactivation, Delinquent
64B8-30.019 Fees
