Information
Regarding questions related to acceptance of Certifications.
- First it is important to understand that “Certification” and “Licensure” are NOT the same thing. They are in fact very different.
- Certification is an official recognition from a “Professional Organization” that one has met all of the established standards as determined by that professional organization to be conferred the specific “certification” by that professional organization. Certifications are most frequently established and conferred by “professional organizations.”
- “Licensure” is very different. Licensure is conferred /granted by the Government. In most all cases, licensure is the responsibility of the State Government. Every state has it’s own government agencies that oversee and confer licensure to professionals, i.e. the state boards of nursing. Licensure is established by “laws” and then specific rules and regulations which conform to the tenets of the state’s laws. Licensure is granted and over-seen by state agencies. Certification, on the other hand, is NOT licensure and is not established by any “laws.” Licensing agencies generally do not “oversee” professional certifications, unless their specific laws mandate a certain professional certification, in order to practice. An example of this would be: for a registered nurse to receive and be conferred a license as a “Nurse Practitioner” most states require that the RN also have Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. So, in order to be licensed as a nurse practitioner, the nurse must hold certification from one of those two professional organizations. The State Board of Nursing does not oversee the certification, but rather requires it for nurse practitioner license.
- All of our Certifications are developed and administered with approval of our governing body and our clinical specialty advisory boards. We are a professional organization and we offer professional certification- Certification that a professional has met our established standards that have been defined, including knowledge and skill attainment in a particular health care related specialty practice area. The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. confers “Certifications” and NOT any type of license which grants one the legal status to practice. We are not, for example, licensing any nurse to practice, lets say, Case Management. We are however, providing a Certification that our professional organization has developed “standards and requirements” for the recognition of such, in the specialty area of case management and we confer Certification to the individual professionals who have met our defined standards.
- If you are asking if your “state” will or does or does not recognize our certifications, then our response is: We do not believe that any States do or don’t recognize any professional certification from any professional organization UNLESS a state’s particular law or laws requires a particular certification in order for a professional to practice in a certain capacity, as in the example provided regarding Nurse Practitioners. Other than those particular defined issues under the “law” we are not aware of any official statements or policies where a state makes a list of whose professional certifications they do or do not accept ( again, other than the nurse practitioner example, etc.).
- If your own State requires you to have a particular “professional certification” from a particular professional organization in order to be conferred a LICENSE by the state, then, the issue of which professional organizations are recognized by your own licensing board becomes a significant issue.
- Also note that States DO NOT “Certify” health care professionals ( a rare exception would be that some states now do “certify” nurses aides within their own state borers). For example, in the USA, none of the states require a specific state license to practice “case management.” Many health care professionals may practice “case management.” Today, nurses, social workers, and other health care professionals, practice the specialty of case management. The states do not require any other type of licensure. Employers however, may require that their employee’s receive and maintain a professional “certification” in case management, in order to practice the specialty within their own organization.
- Many employers sponsor their employees for our particular continuing education/certification programs. Many other approve reimbursements for our continuing education courses and certifications.
- If you have any concerns about “acceptability” of any of our certification programs, we encourage you to contact which ever state licensing board you are licensed by and seek out their response and/or advice.
We also encourage you to read more detailed information on Wikipedia, regarding Professional Certifications. Some of the information is what has been discussed in this response to you. Other information expounds on the subject of professional certifications.
We hope this response to you has been useful. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.