Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia Selects Certemy

Certemy, a leading provider of certification management software for professional certification boards, announced today that the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia will use Certemy to automate applications and renewals for 2,400 certified addiction counselors statewide.

Certemy will help the Board reduce administrative costs, speed application processing times, and provide public access to real-time registry data. Most importantly, the new system will automate busy work and free up board staff to spend more time supporting counselors and growing the Board.

“With our manual system, we spent too much time chasing paper and reviewing submissions,” said Zac Talbott, President of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia. “We heard about Certemy from other IC&RC boards who were already using their software. After reviewing the platform ourselves, we believe that Certemy could help us process applications and renewals up to 90% faster with a 50-75% reduction in our administrative burden.”

What problems will Certemy solve for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia?

The Board needed to upgrade a manual system that created a significant administrative burden and delayed application review and approval times. In particular, Certemy will help the Board solve the following problems:

• • Reduce phone calls and emails so board staff can focus on more strategic activities.

• • Eliminate paper and lower postage costs.

• • Allow board staff to process applications and renewals from anywhere, including their home office.

• • Streamline continuing education (CE) tracking and reporting and help professionals quickly find Board-approved CE products.

• • Create a real-time registry of certified counselors that employers and members of the public can access 24×7.

• • Enable counselors to manage their certification applications and renewals online using their computer or smartphone.

Why did the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia choose Certemy?

The Board selected Certemy after reviewing several other certification management software vendors. The Board chose Certemy for the following reasons:

• • Automation — Certemy will automate every step of the Board’s application and renewal process for addiction counselors. The platform will automatically guide them through the process, step-by-step, with automatic reminders as they approach task deadlines. Certemy will allow them to complete every task on their computer or smartphone, including document uploads and online fee payments. Certemy will automatically alert board staff when a counselor’s application or renewal is ready for review and automatically generate electronic certificates for successful certificants. The system will also automatically populate a public registry on the Board’s website and send email alerts to counselors when it is time for them to renew their certification.
  • Flexibility — The Board found Certemy to be the simplest system to deploy, manage, and change over time. Certemy uses configurable building blocks for common certification management functions such as capturing professional data, uploading documents, collecting online payments, logging work experience, tracking exam registrations, and managing continuing education hours. The Board will assemble and configure these building blocks — without programming — to create personalized workflows that model and automate their real-world processes. These same building blocks will allow the Board to make simple changes — like adding new fields to an application, increasing a fee, or modifying CE requirements — in minutes and without programming.
  • Continuing Education (CE) management — The Board appreciated Certemy’s comprehensive approach to CE management. The platform makes it easy for professionals to submit CE hours or units against the Board’s requirements. A common source of counselor frustration (which drives a significant volume of inbound phone calls and emails to board staff) is knowing which CE classes are approved by the Board for a credential requirement. Certemy provides a CE Marketplace option that automatically presents counselors with a list of pre-approved CE classes for each CE requirement they must complete. The marketplace eliminates counselor frustration and saves countless hours for board staff who no longer have to provide this information by phone or email.

About the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia (ADACBGA) was formed in 1992 to offer certification to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors and supervisors in alcohol and drug counseling. The Board’s mission is to provide competency-based certification that will assure quality care for those affected by substance abuse. The Board uses the standards and methods offered by the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse IC&RC/AODA, an international credentialing body organized to promote uniform professional standards and quality for the substance abuse counseling profession throughout the U.S. and overseas. Learn more at adacbga.org.