Record-Breaking Recertification Trends

Did you know that this year saw the highest number of EMS Clinicians recertify in over a decade? 

The National Registry is celebrating a landmark achievement as over 170,000 EMS Clinicians successfully completed their recertification this cycle. Kristina Esposito,  Director of Certification at the National Registry, sits down with Bill Seifarth and discusses how this 71% completion rate represents the highest engagement in over a decade. They credit this success to technical improvements, such as the tool that allows for the direct import of CAPCE-accredited education into an application. The episode also addresses the audit process, clarifying that selections are random and do not cause a certification to lapse while under review. Looking ahead, the National Registry is developing a visionary document to further advance the assurance of continued competence through technology and research. 

Listen to learn more.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome to the Registry Insider for another episode. And I'm Bill Seiferth from the Nash Registry EMTs. And joining me on today's episode is Christina Esposito. She's the director for certification here at the Nashville Registry of EMTs. So Christina, thanks for joining me. Yeah, thank you, Bill. And on today's episode, we're going to talk about recertification. We just hit a big milestone with uh uh March 31st, which is the day for um completing re-certification for EMTs, advanced EMTs, and paramedics. And uh we have some exciting um information to share with you uh about recertification season this year, as well as some improvements that were made and some stuff that we're maybe thinking about in the future that we'll talk a little bit about. Um as you may or may not know, Christine and I, you know, our mission at the National Registry is to serve the EMS profession through partnerships, research, and lifelong assessment of clinical competence. That last piece, lifelong assessment of clinical competence, is obviously where recertification comes in. We clearly are known for the examinations and the certification process, but the recertification uh is equally important because that helps to ensure currency as well as uh with with medical practices, but also continued confidence of the individual who is being recertified. So uh let's talk a little bit, if we can, Christina, about the recertification this year for EMTs, advanced ENTs, and paramedics. And again, that expires uh this cycle expires 331 uh 2026. Still, some have the opportunity to submit a late application as long as they have their education in. But as of today, how how are we doing and how does that compare to previous years uh research cycles?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, um, great question. We are having a stellar recertification season uh this year. Um, as you mentioned, the expiration date is 331. We've had over 170,000 EMS clinicians already recertified that were due this season. That goes well beyond anything we've done in the past. That's about 71% of our uh those due to recertify who have. Um actually looked at the data over the past 10 years, and it's our highest numbers yet. The closest year that came uh to that was 2020, and we're already 4% ahead of what we did at the end of cert season, which we take into account our EMRs as well through 930. So phenomenal season. We anticipate that uh percentage to go up about 2 to 3%, knowing that we have to close out. As you mentioned, people have until April 30th with the reinstatement period, as long as they have that education done before the expiration date. So, with those numbers, counting our recertification by examination numbers and the EMRs, we anticipate that number to increase, which is really good for our organization.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Yeah, historically we've only recertified about uh 63 to 65 percent of the eligible population in that recertification cycle. Um, and now we're 71% and potentially going to be likely to be higher because there are still some people submitting. So that's that's very good, especially given the workforce challenges ongoing in EMS right now.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Absolutely, absolutely. Some of the improvements that we've made over the past year, I think attribute to that. Um we stopped on more. Yeah. Uh so we worked with CAPC, we have an import function tool. So anybody who takes CAPC accredited education, they can import it directly into their recertification application and all kind of waterfall down to the different components. And uh we've, you know, just continuously make improvements on our processes. Um we've uh closed the time on audits, some for those CAPC, because we know it already is accredited, so those can get approved pretty uh fairly quickly. So, you know, we're and we'll we'll continue to make improvements as we move along.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Good. Um, you know, I I recertified this this season as well as a paramedic. And I uh I will say it's the easiest I've ever experienced. And I'm obviously I'm biased, slightly biased, uh, but I did complain quite a bit uh to you and others about how painful um the the recert application process was. I joked, but I wasn't I was dead serious. Uh a couple of years ago took me longer to do my national retrie research than it did for me to do my taxes. So um I think I think the improvements that we've made technically and for our process have uh made it a simpler process. And you know, our goal in the future is to make recertification and assurance of continued confidence, which is a systems approach, not just the national registry. But from our perspective, I want to make it a more meaningful process, and that's what we're looking to do. Certainly, we made some of those improvements by making it simpler from a technical perspective, but uh we are working um with others in the industry to soon hopefully be releasing a visionary document that talks about um continued competence in a different way. So more to come as we look to enhance, improve, um, and advance the uh the recertification process, but more broadly the assurance of continued competence of VMS clinicians. So more to come on that, but I'm I'm excited about it. Let's talk a little bit about the um the audits. That tends to uh scare the hell out of people if they hear they got audited, but um explain realistically what happens to 99.9% of the people that get audited uh and perhaps what they need to do should they fail an audit.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah, absolutely. So um one common misunderstanding about audits is people think that they're gonna lapse 331 if their audit hasn't been reviewed by then. That's absolutely not the case. We um people are selected by audits randomly. So it maintains a fair and unbiased uh review process. We're not cherry-picking people to do audits for. Um, but we have until May 31st to review those. Uh, with the uh increase in numbers this year, we've also seen an increase in audits this year. Just within April 1st to the 14th alone, we cleared out almost 460 audits. So we are really working hard to get to these audits in a timely manner. If someone fails an audit, we obviously have options to regain national registry, which are pretty simplistic. Um, you do have to provide continuing education, you will have to take the examination again. And we have two different pathways. If you're already state licensed, you would your requirement would be less continuing education. If you've lapsed your state license or national registry, you have to provide a little bit more education. Um, the great thing about it though is our public website's been updated. And we have this beautiful little box that says, How can we help you today? And we have included that information there. Just select the type of certification you're looking to regain, and then it actually states regain national registry, and it'll help guide you along which is the right pathway for you.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Awesome. Uh, and I was gonna say uh our website is obviously nrnt.org, uh is the only thing that I would add to that. But uh you're right, the process to regain your national certification, whether you were state licensed or you were just nationally certified, it's pretty straightforward and it's pretty clear on our website what needs to be done uh in order to do that. Um and also if someone is audited, I think before March uh 31st, they can still submit education after the audit, correct?

SPEAKER_00 8:28

If there was um a message, they can still yeah, they can still submit the education after the audit. However, based on our accepted education policy, it has to be acquired by the March 31st expiration date.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

It has to be uh finished by March 31st. Sometimes people will submit a wrong course um or submit a duplicate course accidentally, and that's um that's a common thing where it's caught in an audit and they can just submit another course that was completed as long as provided or completed by March 31st. So good. Um anything else as it relates to recertification? Anything gonna be happening in the upcoming research season that is has any significance? Uh nothing that I'm aware of, but I just wanted to ask the while run here to make sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

No, not that I'm aware of. Um, we're just gonna continue to try to make incremental changes for you know, to make the process as easy as possible. And um, as you mentioned, you know, we have some exciting things coming the way, but until then, we'll just continue making small improvements.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Yeah, the uh I was thinking back to the assessment committee, uh, which is the the body that really oversees cert and recertification for us, um, is is entertaining some some enhancements to some policies as far as education. So more to come on that in the coming months, but um all positive, as you said, incremental changements and enhancements and improvements. So we're excited about that. Uh and um I'm truly excited about some of the stuff that we're thinking about in the future, embracing some technology to think differently about recertification. Again, more to come about that uh in the coming months. So, Christina, thank you for joining me for another episode. This is not your first, I think this is your second or uh or third. So thanks for joining me and for sharing with our audience the uh this re-certification season highlights as well as some stuff that's up and coming as it relates to uh to future recertifications. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you as well for joining us, and as always, stay safe.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Thank you for joining us for this episode. If you wouldn't mind, please click the like and subscribe buttons as well as the notifications so you can get notifications of upcoming episodes. Also, for the latest and greatest happenings of the National Registry, feel free to go to nramt.org. Thank you very much, and again, stay safe.