The mission of the Department of Health Professions is to ensure safe and competent patient care by licensing health professionals, enforcing standards of practice, and providing information to health care practitioners and the public. 

Department of Health Professions: Competent professionals providing healthcare services within the boundaries of their standards of practice to an informed public.

• Exceptional Customer Service


• Honesty, Fairness, and Transparency to the Public


• Competence


• Continuous Improvement


• Employee Accountability

The Department of Health Professions licenses, registers, certifies, authorizes, and permits individuals and entities seeking to practice professions and operate facilities regulated by Virginia’s health regulatory boards. The Department of Health Professions also inspects facilities, investigates and adjudicates allegations of practitioner misconduct, monitors impaired practitioners, maintains prescription drug data to deter diversion and abuse, conducts relevant policy and workforce research, and provides pertinent information to consumers, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and the general public.  Statutory authority is based in Code of Virginia §§ 54.1-100 through 117 and respective portions of §§54.1-2400 through 3813.

Virginia’s demand for safe and effective healthcare services continues to rise with its growing and aging population and healthcare reform measures aimed at increasing access. Health care is rapidly responding with efforts to avoid shortages resulting from the inevitable retirement of older practitioners and younger practitioners’ desire for work and home balance. In response, innovative team delivery approaches, new occupations, and practitioner employment status changes are emerging.

Along with increasing needs for access to healthcare, the methods of treatment are constantly evolving. One major evolution in healthcare in Virginia is the allowance of the use of medical cannabis, both botanical and concentrate products, as a treatment option to alleviate symptoms of diseases or diagnoses for qualified patients. The Board of Pharmacy has implemented a registration process for physicians to issue written certifications for the use of medical cannabis. As of July 1, 2022, patients, parents, and legal guardians are no longer required to register with the Board of Pharmacy before obtaining medical cannabis products from a licensed pharmaceutical processor or cannabis dispensing facility.  Patients, parents, and legal guardians do have the option to register with the Board if they wish to obtain a physical medical cannabis registration card.  Currently, there are four licensed pharmaceutical processors that cultivate, manufacture, and dispense medical cannabis products.  In addition, there are seven licensed cannabis dispensing facilities that dispense medical cannabis products.

The Department of Health Professions intends to continue to provide exemplary performance related to licensure and discipline. Patient and public health and well-being remains paramount and will continue to be promoted through efficient licensing and regulating of competent healthcare professionals and facilities, taking timely and appropriate disciplinary action in cases of misconduct, and providing relevant information to the public. The agency will continue to implement online licensing applications for all boards, expand online services to capture more transactions electronically, and reduce our use of paper through e-mail notifications and document management of disciplinary cases.

The Department of Health Professions through the Healthcare Workforce Data Center continues its efforts to provide objective data and research to guide key relevant health practices and workforce policies. The Department of Health Professions also endeavors to improve quality healthcare education through the approval and regulation of nursing education and continuing education requirements for healthcare professionals.

Finally, the Department of Health Professions intends to increase coordination with other agencies on healthcare workforce issues and to promote enhanced communication with licensees, the public, and the media. These efforts are designed to raise awareness statewide of the importance of the healthcare sector and the future needs for an expanded healthcare workforce.

The Department of Health Professions (DHP) continues to change and adapt as the underlying infrastructure and services provided by Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA) and its vendors change. The department is currently entering the planning stages of moving from the current Google Platform to the Microsoft platform provided by NTT Data. This will provide more services to the agency but at a higher cost. DHP is also evaluating and utilizing other services that will promote improved operational efficiencies and assist it in moving to a more digital environment. The agency is leveraging the Box Service provided by VITA to be used by the Enforcement Division as a Case Management System as well as board discipline staff and their Administrative Proceedings Division. DHP is also evaluating the cost and benefits of Verizon’s Verizon Virtual Contact Center (VCC) system to improve the public’s ability to contact and receive information from the agency. Another area of emphasis is Cybersecurity. DHP will continue to balance the advantages of technology versus the challenge of the increased costs that it will incur. 

The Department of Health Professions continues to attract and retain employees who possess considerable healthcare experience and have earned related advanced degrees. The percentage of official/administrator and professional occupation positions is 61%, well above the 42.2% state average. The current turnover rate for the agency is 8.7%, well below the turnover rate for the state which is 15.6%. Currently, 28 employees (of our 264 FTE positions) are able to retire immediately with benefits, and by 2023, 13 additional employees will be able to retire. The Agency has implemented a Workforce Succession Plan and is currently enacting an action plan to ensure business function continuity in the event of retirement, especially in key positions.

The agency routinely monitors pay, hiring, disciplinary, and grievance information to ensure that our practices support federal, state, and agency goals and objectives related to sound workforce management. Given retirement projections, the Department of Health Professions Salary Administration Plan includes exceptional recruitment and retention options. Agency efforts continue to diversify the overall employee population. Approximately 7% of the Department of Health Professions employees participate in an alternative work schedule and 73% are eligible to telecommute. Enforcement field staff are required to work from a home office.

In addition to the need to assess agency resources based on retirement risks, Agency management continues to review its organizational structure to ensure that appropriate resources are assigned to core activities.

The Agency leases non-state space at an annual cost of approximately $1.59 million.  The Agency's space consists of 71,847 square feet of office space and 2,722 square feet of storage space.  DHP also pays an annual amount of $36,940.20, for security and an annual amount of $21,835.92, for conference center management, which facilitates board meetings, hearings, and informal conferences.  An upgrade to audio-visual and teleconferencing systems has been purchased to optimize existing infrastructure use. 

Increasing Costs:

The Department of Health Professions receives no support from the General Fund; cost increases are absorbed entirely from licensure and renewal fees. The biggest cost-drivers are complaints against licensees and information technology services from VITA,

Complaints have increased 8.8% from the last biennium, and is likely to continue as demand for healthcare services increases, particularly as the population ages and the full effects of healthcare reform legislation begin to manifest.

To keep pace with societal changes and to minimize the need for additional program staff, additional resources may need to be devoted to Information Technology, including expanding online renewals, expanding agency electronic records management, and standardization of agency processes.

Occupations with Few Licensees:

Some regulated occupations lack a sufficient number of regulants to cover their regulatory costs. This is placing a strain on individual boards' cash resources.

Changing Face of Healthcare:

Healthcare reform is expected to bring significant changes to the nation’s healthcare system. Some of this will involve new professions, scopes of practice, and alternative approaches to patient care. These could have significant impacts on the licensure and regulation of health professionals.

Agency Workforce Succession Planning:

The Department of Health Professions has implemented an Agency Workforce Succession Plan, evaluating the Agency's current workforce, along with current and future needs. Current risk factors for the Agency include:

• A loss of Institutional knowledge through retirements


• The impact of turnover in key roles as related to retirement


• Limited diversity in leadership positions


• Heavy reliance on wage & temporary contract staff

As a result, the Agency has enacted Action Plans to address:  increasing our MEL to combat our heavy reliance on the use of temporary contract staff and wage employees, increasing diversity of executive/professional staff, developing Standard Operating procedures, sharing institutional and critical role knowledge. Each year, the Agency will re-evaluate its Succession Plan and any related Action Plans, to ensure continuity of Agency business functions.

The Department of Health Professions is a self-supporting, fee-based agency. For Fiscal Year 2022, total revenues were approximately $42.4 million, generated by:

• Licensure and renewal fees (97.1%);


• Penalty and late fees (2.5%);


• All other (0.4%)

The agency expended $41.8 million in FY22, devoting approximately 46% to licensing health professionals, disciplinary staff and DHP programs, 32% to the investigation and adjudication of complaints against healthcare providers, and the remaining 22% is for the agency’s centralized services, information technology, and legislative and regulatory activities. The agency’s FY22 major expenditure categories are as follows:

• Employee salaries, wages, and fringe benefits (70.1%);


• Contractual services (12.8%);


• Information technology (10.8%);


• Operating lease payments (4.5%), and


• All other (1.8%);

The Department of Health Professions receives no support from the General Fund; cost increases are absorbed entirely from licensure and renewal fees.  The biggest cost-drivers are from the investigation and adjudication of complaints against licensees, license count increases, and information technology services.

The Fiscal Year 2023 and FY 2024 appropriation increases from the FY 2022 adjusted base budget were due to the approval of a Decision Package to provide positions due to an increase in disciplinary caseloads and to reduce the reliance on wage employees

. For Fiscal Year 2022, total revenues were approximately $42.4 million, generated by:

• Licensure and renewal fees (97.1%);


• Penalty and late fees (2.5%);


• All other (0.4%)

The primary mission of the Department of Health Professions is to ensure a competent healthcare provider workforce through efficient licensure processing and enforcing standards of professional care and conduct. The following key statistics provide insight into the scope of that work:

As with virtually all states, demand for healthcare services is expected to increase for the foreseeable future as the population increases. Although shortages are already experienced in some areas of the state, by 2022 estimates indicate that the number and geographical distribution of healthcare professionals may be insufficient to cope with the increasing demand for healthcare services, especially in a growing and aging population. In addition, the systems of healthcare delivery are expected to develop new and innovative treatments that will also increase demand. It is likewise expected that this increased demand will result in increased numbers of applicants, licensees, and disciplinary cases as well as more emerging healthcare professions.

The current customer list identifies both the number of customers currently served annually as well as potential customers served. For the first three pre-defined groups, the number served annually reflects the number reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2022. The potential number of annual customers was calculated with the understanding that some recent laws that resulted in significant increase in the number of customers served, such as the pharmaceutical processing and certificates to physicians to provide cannabidiol (CBD) oil and THC-A oil as treatment options, are not likely to occur again within the next two years; thus previous changes such as percent change betwen FY 2016-2018 was applied and seem more reasonable.

Department of Health Professions provides administrative, communication, policy, technological, and research support for the boards. Information on practitioners, licensure requirements, practice standards, healthcare workforce, emerging professions, agency operations, and more is made available to the public and stakeholders. Additionally, the Department of Health Professions funds nursing student financial assistance to support healthcare practice in underserved areas of the state and approves and regulates education and training programs for the Boards of Nursing and Pharmacy.

The Department of Health Professions issues nearly 150 types of licenses, certifications, registrations, and permits to over 60 health professions and facilities. At the end of FY22, there were 518,191 regulants, up 12% over the previous year and up 18% over the last biennium.

The number of disciplinary cases received has increased 8.0% from FY21 to FY22, (6,727 in FY21 to 7,289 in FY22), but rose 1% over the last biennium. The average age (in days) of closed disciplinary cases has increased 7% from FY21 to FY22 (290.8 in FY17 to 310.7days in FY18) because of efforts to address very old cases. However, the age of closed cases remains significantly lower than the benchmark of 365 days.

The Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) is a confidential statewide electronic database containing information on dispensed Schedule II-V prescriptions, naloxone, and medical cannabis. The primary purpose of the PMP is to promote safe prescribing and dispensing of covered substances by providing timely and essential information to healthcare providers. Integration of the PMP into the electronic health record and pharmacy dispensing system workflow has resulted in a marked increase in overall database utilization. The first integration, a pharmacy chain, was completed in 2015 and accelerated in the years following. At the end of FY22, over 5,000 facilities were integrated with the PMP. In FY22, there were over 57.9 million requests for a patient's prescription history.   The Prescription Monitoring Program data on a specific patient's prescriptions and dispensing information may also be distributed to law enforcement and/or the Department of Health Professions Enforcement Division for a specific case investigation.  

The Department of Health Professions also includes the Health Practitioner Monitoring Program and the Healthcare Workforce Data Center. The Health Practitioners Monitoring Program oversees the safe return to practice of healthcare practitioners impaired by substance misuse, mental health, or physical disability.  The Healthcare Workforce Data Center collects and reports supply-side healthcare workforce availability data on 62 professions.

The Department of Health Professions services are affected by several forces, chief among these are:

• Federal and state legislative mandates and requests regarding requirements for regulating practitioners and facilities, the use and scope of the Prescription Monitoring Program, and policy analysis involving healthcare practice and workforce needs;


• The number of individuals and facilities who apply for licensure, registration, or certification in a covered healthcare profession;


• The number of individuals and facilities who renew their licenses each year;


• The number of new professions designated by the General Assembly as requiring licensure and regulation;


• The number and nature of reports and complaints alleging misconduct by a regulated individual or facility;


• The demand for information from the general public, employers, and insurers;


• Regulations adopted by health regulatory boards affecting the practice of their respective licensees and their scope of practice; and


• Increasing demand and associated costs for technology.


• Disease outbreaks and pandemics such as the Coronavirus Pandemic

As Virginia’s population continues to grow and age, and healthcare reform increases access to care, the demand for safe and effective health care and related information is expected to keep growing.

The Agency’s Key Performance Measures are calculated quarterly and utilized to gauge and monitor performance in relation to the Agency’s mission. The safety, health, and well-being of the general public are promoted by the prompt processing of qualified applications for initial licensure and the timely investigation and adjudication of individual and facility misconduct in relation to patient care. The Agency also provides information to health care practitioners and prescribers through the Prescription Monitoring Program, which assists in deterring the illegitimate use of prescription drugs.

Licensure efficiency is assessed through the percent of initial licenses processed within 30 days of receiving a complete application. This measure has remained consistently high, maintaining well above the goal of 97%.

Disciplinary efficiency is assessed through the percent of patient care cases closed within 415 business days, and the percent of patient care cases that have been open for longer than a business work year (415 days). The percent of patient care cases pending over one business work year has consistently remained below the goal of 20%. Over FY22, the percent of cases closed within a business work year was just 1.6% under the agency goal of 90%; in the last quarter of FY22 the measure was actually slightly above 90% at 90.5%.

The utilization of the Prescription Monitoring Program information is measured by the percentage of prescriber queries compared to prescriptions added.  This key performance measure is expected to increase as healthcare providers utilize the database to identify those seeking medications for illegitimate purposes.

The Department of Health Professions issues and renews licenses, registrations, certifications, and permits to healthcare practitioners that meet qualifications established by law and regulation.

Each health regulatory board is authorized under state law to enforce the laws and regulations.

• Use periodic reviews to ensure healthcare practitioners meet the guidelines.

Investigating and adjudicating reports of professional misconduct and enforcing standards of care addressed in governing statutes through disciplinary actions and agreements.

Health regulatory boards are authorized to institute and uphold regulations.

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Practitioners who meet certain criteria may receive approval for a stay of disciplinary action by entering into the program. This may facilitate safe return to practice.

• Ensure Health Practitioner Monitoring Program policies are aligned with best practices.

• Educate stakeholders to ensure knowledge of the Health Practitioner Monitoring Program opportunities.

The Department of Health Professions' Enforcement Division receives and investigates complaints of misconduct by licensees and regulated facilities. Based on the Administrative Process Act, administrative proceedings may commence if the board finds there is sufficient evidence to indicate a violation has occurred.

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Collect and analyze data pertaining to licensure, regulation, and the disciplinary processes and effectively communicate to licensees and stakeholders.

Collection and analysis of data is performed by the Department of Health Professions Healthcare Workforce Data Center. The Department is responsible for developing and implementing informational surveys concerning the Virginia's healthcare workforce.

• Collection of healthcare workforce data by the Department of Health Professions' Healthcare Workforce Data Center through the regular survey of key workforce-related factors including demographics, education, practice and patient characteristics, and future plans among the healthcare workforce upon licensure renewal.

• Provide timely information via the websites for the Agency, health regulatory boards, Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP), Health Practitioners' Monitoring Program (HPMP), and VaAware.

• Represent Virginia boards at regional and national regulatory and professional associations.

• Provide information for consumers about healthcare practitioners on the Department of Health Professions' website through "License Lookup", "Doctor's Profile", "Oral and Maxillofacial Profiles", and "Case Decisions".

• Provide statistical data regarding disciplinary action taken against licensees of respective health regulatory boards to national entities.

•  Provide information via the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) to licensees of health regulatory boards to serve as an early warning system for practitioners in the fight against prescription opioid abuse among their patients.

Promote quality nursing, nurse aide, and medication aide programs and facilitate competency of all Department of Health Professions' licensees to support the health and well-being of the population.

The Board of Pharmacy approves and regulates continuing education courses that meet the qualifications established by law and regulation.

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The Board of Nursing approves and regulates professional and practical nursing education programs that meet the qualifications established by law and regulation.

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The Board of Nursing approves and regulates nurse aide and medication aide education programs that meet the qualifications established by law and regulation.

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Integrate technology with business processes, promote an effective and knowledgeable Department of Health Professions' workforce, and maintain a culture of preparedness to provide services in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

Strengthen agency-wide improvement efforts to licensure, disciplinary, and retention processes through technological and procedural advancements.

• Develop and utilize best practices thorough collaboration, workgroups, and targeted teams.

• Maintain and strengthen internal communication channels through the use of the Intranet, agency-wide training, and project updates.

• Continue the digitalization of Agency records and standardization of internal and external forms.

• Continue to pursue technological innovations, such as Robotic Process Automation, to increase efficiency.

• Review and revise the Continuity of Operations and the Occupant Emergency Response Plan as needed following drills and actual continuity and emergency events. Provide training on the Continuity of Operations and the Occupant Emergency Response Plans.

• Continue the growth of the online renewal and application process.

• Coordinate technological advances with business processes.

• Review internal processes for efficiency.

• Review regulation requirements that impact time from application to licensure.

• Provide agency-wide training to board members and employees to include: updates, professional development, and new regulations.

• Provide a variety of resources for self-directed learning.

In 1991, the General Assembly created the Nursing Scholarship and Loan Repayment Fund. Funding for the scholarship fund is provided through a $1.00 surcharge assessed on the renewal of licenses for registered and licensed practical nurses. The purpose of the fund is to finance scholarships for part-time and full-time students enrolled in or accepted for enrollment by licensed practical or registered nursing programs. The program is administered jointly by the Department of Health Professions and the Virginia Department of Health. The Department of Health Professions collects the money and deposits it into the Scholarship Fund. The Virginia Department of Health determines the recipients and sends to the Department of Health Professions the names of the recipients and the schools they plan to attend. The Department of Health Professions, in turn, distributes the awards to the schools according to the list provided by the Virginia Department of Health. Any balances left in the fund at year-end automatically carry forward to the next fiscal year. For Fiscal Year 2022, revenue amounted to $66,913 and expenditures totaled $98,000 (Note: These numbers reflect Department of Health Professions’ revenue and expenditures only. They do not include Virginia Department of Health’s portion of the program.)

Although this service area is fiscally modest, it is an integral part of the Agency’s mission, especially in the nursing field.

Providing scholarships to nursing students through the Nursing Scholarship and Loan Repayment Fund.

All funding for this service area is derived from a legislatively mandated surcharge on renewal fees for licensed practical and registered nurses.

Virginia’s 13 health regulatory boards are responsible for the licensing and the discipline of health practitioners, and promulgating the regulations that govern health practitioners. Some boards have additional responsibilities, including regulating education programs and facilities. The Department of Health Professions’ employees support the boards in their activities, but the governor appointed Board members have the ultimate authority to promulgate regulations and make case decisions.

Licensure or certification in each profession typically requires the completion of a board-approved professional education program and the passage of an approved examination in the applicant’s chosen professional field. At the end of the 2020-2022 Biennium, the 13 health regulatory boards regulated more than 510,000 health professionals, facilities, and other designated entities. This represents a 17.9% increase over the prior biennium and a 50% increase over the last ten years.

A vital part of the Agency's mission is the investigation and adjudication of complaints and allegations of misconduct against licensees. During the 2020-2022 Biennium, the Agency received  over 13,500 disciplinary cases.

The health regulatory boards are also responsible for promulgating the regulations governing the professionals under their purview. These regulations establish initial licensure requirements, set fee rates and renewal requirements, and establish standards for practice.

The Board of Health Professions (BHP) was created in 1977 to assist the health regulatory boards develop guidelines governing health care professionals in Virginia. The Board of Health Professions is also responsible for reviewing the Agency’s budget and advising the Department of Health Professions Director, General Assembly, and the Governor on matters related to the regulation of health care professions. The Board of Health Professions is comprised of 18 members, one from each of the 13 health regulatory boards, and five citizens (consumers), all appointed by the Governor.

The primary activities included in the Agency's service area are:

• Licensing applicants who meet defined standards as determined by law and regulation


• Issuing licenses or permits to specified health related facilities that are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and inspecting to verify continued compliance


• Ensuring occupational competency by monitoring and enforcing continuing education or experience requirements, as required by law and/or regulation


• Enforcing compliance with legal policies and assuring professional accountability through diligent investigation of complaints, application of established standards, and objective disciplinary decisions


• Studying, evaluating and recommending the appropriate type and degree of regulation for health professions and occupations

Technical Assistance to Regulatory Boards Service Area supports the core mission of the Agency.

• Licensing, certifying, registering, and permitting individuals and entities that meet requirements to practice health care professions in Virginia


• Enforcing laws and regulations governing health care delivery


• Investigating and adjudicating reports and complaints against health care providers


• Reviewing, developing, and proposing regulations and legislation promoting the safe delivery of health care


• Approving educational programs that satisfy requirements for initial and ongoing licensure, certification, or registration


• Providing consumer information about health care providers, requirements, and standards


• Providing administrative services in support of the 14 health regulatory boards, the Agency’s mission, and its programs


• Collecting data and providing information through the Prescription Monitoring Program secure database to deter the misuse, abuse, and diversion of controlled substances


• Collecting and providing information relative to healthcare workforce through the Department of Health Professions Healthcare Workforce Data Center


• Monitoring impaired healthcare providers through the Healthcare Practitioners’ Monitoring Program

The Department of Health Professions is a self-supporting, fee-based agency. For Fiscal Year 2022, total revenues for the agency were approximately $42.4 million, generated by:

• Licensure and renewal fees (97.1%);


• Penalty and late fees (2.5%);


• All other (0.4%)

The agency expended $41.8 million in FY22, devoting approximately 46% to licensing health professionals, disciplinary staff and DHP programs, 32% to the investigation and adjudication of complaints against healthcare providers, and the remaining 22% is for the agency’s centralized services, information technology, and legislative and regulatory activities. The agency’s FY22 major expenditure categories are as follows:

• Employee salaries, wages, and fringe benefits (70.1%);


• Contractual services (12.8%);


• Information technology (10.8%);


• Operating lease payments (4.5%), and


• All other (1.8%);

The Department of Health Professions receives no support from the General Fund; cost increases are absorbed entirely from licensure and renewal fees.  The biggest cost-drivers are from the investigation and adjudication of complaints against licensees, license count increases, and information technology services.

The Fiscal Year 2023 and FY 2024 appropriation increases from the FY 2022 adjusted base budget were due to the approval of a Decision Package to provide positions due to an increase in disciplinary caseloads and to reduce the reliance on wage employees.