CME Requirements: The Complete Compliance Calendar
The Direct Answer
Florida physician licenses — MD under chapter 458 and DO under chapter 459, Florida Statutes — renew on a biennial cycle through the Department of Health’s MQA Online Services portal at flhealthsource.gov.
To renew, a physician must complete the continuing medical education required for the biennium: a total-hour requirement set by board rule that includes Florida’s mandated topic courses — in recent cycles, prevention of medical errors (every cycle), a controlled-substance prescribing course (every cycle, for DEA-registered prescribers), a one-time human trafficking course, and periodic domestic violence requirements — with first-renewal variations for new licensees.
DOs follow a parallel but not identical set of rules under their own board. All CME is tracked electronically through CE Broker, Florida’s designated reporting system, and your CE Broker record — not your certificate drawer — is what determines compliance at renewal and survives an audit. Exact hour counts, fees, and mandated topics are set by rule and change; the tables below are verified as of the date above. The full requirement tables, the deadline calendar, and the audit rules follow.
Renewal Basics: MD vs. DO
| Item | MD — Board of Medicine | DO — Board of Osteopathic Medicine |
|---|---|---|
| Governing law | Ch. 458, F.S.; Rule Ch. 64B8, F.A.C. | Ch. 459, F.S.; Rule Ch. 64B15, F.A.C. |
| Renewal cycle | Biennial (expiration dates assigned by group) | Biennial |
| Where to renew | flhealthsource.gov — MQA Online Services | Same portal |
| Renewal fee | $[X] | $[X] |
| Late renewal | Delinquency status and fee apply immediately; extended lapse requires reactivation and can trigger additional requirements | Parallel provisions |
| CME tracking | CE Broker (mandatory electronic reporting) | CE Broker |
The CE Broker rule of thumb: many national CME providers report your hours automatically — but “many” is not “all,” and reporting lag is common. Check your CE Broker compliance status directly well before your renewal window instead of assuming. At renewal you attest to compliance, and the attestation is measured against that record.
CME Requirements — MD
Verified against Rule Chapter 64B8, F.A.C., as of the date above. Hour counts and mandated topics are set by rule and do change; confirm against your own cycle’s requirements in CE Broker, which displays them license-specifically.
| Requirement | Hours | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total CME for the biennium | [X] | Every cycle | AMA PRA Category 1 or equivalent as specified by rule; mandated topics count toward the total |
| Prevention of medical errors | 2 | Every cycle | Must be a board-approved course |
| Controlled-substance prescribing | 2 | Every cycle | Required of physicians registered with the DEA; this Florida course is separate from the federal one-time DEA (MATE Act) training — the two are commonly confused and both must be satisfied |
| Human trafficking | 1 | One-time | Statutory mandate; retain the certificate permanently |
| Domestic violence | 2 | Periodic (every third renewal under longstanding rule) | Confirm your cycle |
| First-renewal provisions | — | — | Physicians licensed mid-cycle have modified requirements based on licensure date |
The Compliance Calendar
18–12 months before expiration. Log into MQA Online Services and confirm your actual expiration date — don’t work from memory. Pull your CE Broker transcript and inventory completed hours against your cycle’s requirements. Front-load the mandated-topic courses now; approved medical-errors and controlled-substance courses fill up near group deadlines.
6 months out. Close remaining hour gaps. If you hold a DEA registration, confirm both requirements in the controlled-substance pair are documented: the Florida biennial course in CE Broker, and your one-time federal MATE Act training attestation for DEA purposes.
90 days out. The renewal window is open — renew early. Portal congestion near group expiration dates is a recurring reality, and an early renewal leaves time to fix a CE Broker discrepancy before it becomes a deadline crisis. Verify CE Broker shows you compliant before you attest.
At renewal. Beyond the fee and attestation, update your practitioner profile — Florida requires the profile to be accurate, and material inaccuracies are independently disciplinable — along with your financial-responsibility election and any newly added attestations.
After renewal — the audit window. Florida audits CME compliance after renewal by checking attestations against CE Broker records. Keep course certificates at least four years. The critical point physicians miss: in an audit, the violation that gets prosecuted is usually the false attestation, not the missing hour itself. An attestation you cannot document is a discipline pathway; a documented shortfall addressed before attesting is a fixable problem.
If you miss the deadline. Delinquent status attaches immediately, with fees. Practicing on a delinquent license is exposure to unlicensed-practice consequences — clinical work should stop until status is restored. Address a lapse the day you discover it; extended lapses escalate into reactivation requirements.
Adjacent Renewals That Trip Physicians Up
Your Florida license renewal is one deadline in a cluster of independent ones:
- DEA registration — federal, on a three-year cycle that does not align with your state cycle, with the one-time MATE Act training requirement at registration or renewal.
- Dispensing-practitioner registration — a separate DOH registration if you dispense medications in-office.
- APRN supervisory protocols — protocol filings for supervised APRNs do not renew automatically with your license; calendar them separately.
- Practitioner profile updates — required within statutory windows after reportable changes (address, staff privileges, criminal or disciplinary events) at any time, not just at renewal.
- Board certification maintenance — specialty-board MOC runs on its own calendar and its own CME accounting; hours often overlap but the reporting does not.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CME hours do I need to renew my Florida medical license? The biennial total is set by board rule — see the tables above, verified as of the date at the top of this page — and includes Florida’s mandated-topic courses. Your license-specific requirements are displayed in CE Broker, which is the operative compliance record.
Does Florida require a controlled-substance CME course? Yes. DEA-registered prescribers must complete a board-approved controlled-substance prescribing course each biennium. This is in addition to — not instead of — the separate one-time federal DEA training requirement.
What is CE Broker and do I have to use it? CE Broker is Florida’s designated electronic CE tracking system, and yes — compliance is measured by what appears in it. Verify your transcript rather than trusting provider auto-reporting.
What happens if I renew my Florida license late? Delinquency status and fees apply immediately, and practicing while delinquent creates unlicensed-practice exposure. Extended lapses require formal reactivation.
Are Florida CME audits real? Yes. Post-renewal audits compare your attestation against CE Broker records. Keep certificates at least four years — the false attestation, not the missing hour, is what discipline cases are built on.
Do newly licensed physicians have the same requirements at their first renewal? Usually not — first-renewal CME obligations are modified based on where in the cycle you were licensed. Check the board’s first-renewal provisions and your CE Broker display rather than assuming the full biennial load applies.
Do my specialty-board MOC hours count toward Florida renewal? Often, if they carry qualifying credit designation — but they must be reported into CE Broker to count for Florida, and the mandated Florida topic courses must still be completed specifically.
Sources
- Florida DOH MQA Online Services — flhealthsource.gov
- Rule Chapter 64B8, F.A.C. (Board of Medicine) and 64B15, F.A.C. (Osteopathic Medicine) — flrules.org
- Chapters 456, 458, and 459, Florida Statutes — Online Sunshine, leg.state.fl.us
- CE Broker — cebroker.com
- DEA Diversion Control Division (federal training requirements) — deadiversion.usdoj.gov
This article is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Requirements are set by statute and board rule and change; the operative record for your license is your CE Broker account and the current rule text. Verified as of the date above.
