Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) has dramatically cut the amount of time it takes to issue licenses, the Wisconsin State Journal reports, but there are still lags for some key professions, according to a legislative audit released Tuesday.
The DSPS issued professional licenses in an average of 59 days during fiscal year 2023, a significant drop from an average of over 100 days in the three prior years. Earlier this year, the Legislature’s budget committee approved 17.75 more staff positions at the agency.
The audit attributed DSPS’ lower overall processing time in 2023 to having 11 additional staff members processing credentials in addition to the agency’s switch to using online, self-guided occupational license application platform LicensE.
That said, the audit found that physicians, massage therapists, registered nurses, advanced practice nurse prescribers, social workers, and pharmacists continue to wait up to 200 days or more to receive licenses. Roughly 25% of that wait time came from DSPS’ review of the applications; 35% was due to applicants’ need to submit additional information; and 40% was because the agency and applicants were waiting for each other to complete separate tasks.
The audit recommended DSPS leaders develop written policies for credential administration; report the number of applications it received and the processing time on the agency website; and track credentialing staff productivity.
