Wisconsin nurses, other professionals getting licenses quicker, audit shows

MADISON — The average wait to receive professional credentials in Wisconsin dropped significantly last year, with the most dramatic improvement in the health care sector.

That’s according to a new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, which includes a list of recommendations to further improve the credentialing process within the state Department of Safety and Professional Services.

Republican lawmakers authorized the audit in February, following reports of backlogs that left professionals in limbo for months as they waited to receive the licenses they needed in order to do their jobs.

According to the audit, the average number of days it took the department to issue a credential in the health care industry was 59.1 in fiscal year 2022-23 — down from 122.7 in the previous fiscal year and a high of 125.4 in fiscal year 2020-21.

In the business sector, the average wait time went down from 47.6 days to 27.9 in the last year, and in the trades it went from 38.4 to 17.2.

The considerable improvement in health care credential processing is in part attributed to the agency switching in May 2022 to an online credentialing system called LicensE. A review of 100 applications submitted through the LicensE system with the longest wait times found that about a quarter of the applications faced lag time due to DSPS reviewing information, while 35% of the time it was attributed to applicants needing to submit additional information. In about 40% of cases, the timing was a result of applicants and the agency simultaneously waiting on each other.

The audit found that, among the 100 health care professional applications facing the longest wait times, the average wait was 189.6 days. Credentials for pharmacists and social workers faced the longest delays, followed by advanced practice nurse prescribers and registered nurses.

Elected officials have steadily increased the amount of funding available to DSPS for credentialing over the last decade, most recently with an $8 million increase in the 2023-25 budget cycle.

Auditors recommended the agency develop “comprehensive written policies” for administering credentials, along with written policies requiring that application fees be refunded to people who’d used an incorrect application method. The agency should also develop written policies prohibiting staff from requesting that applicants provide any portion of their Social Security numbers via email, the audit bureau recommended.

Other recommendations include regularly reporting information on the agency’s website, regularly assessing the agency’s productivity and using that information to improve practices, as well as to justify any future requests for additional staffing, funding or resources.

The LAB recommended an update from DSPS to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on its implementation of those recommendations by March 15, 2024.

DSPS was created in 2011 and issues more than 240 unique credentials for occupations ranging from physicians and social workers to barbers and funeral directors. The department also regulates the construction industry, adjudicates complaints against credential holders, and administers more than 75 boards, councils and committees.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.