19 credentialing management problems that keep executive directors up at night

19 problems that keep certification and licensing board Executive Directors up at night

5 minute read

We asked Executive Directors to list the most significant problems we solve for them. Here's what the told us! They are presented here in no particular order. Do any of these problems sound familiar? If yes, please let us explain how we can help.

We lost countless hours to missing, incomplete, and incomprehensible paperwork

"Paper submissions would get lost in the mail or, later, get misfiled in our office. When they did arrive, they were often missing important required forms. Or the applicant had used an old version of a form that was no longer valid. Quite often, we simply couldn't read their handwriting!"

Handling checks and money orders was a significant chore

"Checks and money orders would get lost in the mail. It was a real chore taking them to the bank for deposit, especially during the COVID lockdown. We would sometimes have to wait weeks or months for a payment to hit our bank account, which sometimes created cashflow issues."

We had way too many errors in our data

"Hard-to-read handwriting and rushed rekeying of data meant that our data had way too many errors. Simple things like a misspelled name or email address or phone number would take us hours to fix down the line."

Reconciling CE submissions to required hours and documentation was a major time sink

"Candidates would enter hours that didn't match our requirements or weren't supported by the evidence documentation we required to verify their hours. In some cases, there was no evidence documentation at all!"

Storing and locating documents was a nightmare

"We had an entire room full of filing cabinets. Locating files sometimes took a long time. If a file was misplaced, it became almost impossible to find again."

Our process was so slow and painful that candidates would simply give up

"We made it so difficult for our customers to work with us that many of them abandoned their application or renewal. We lost all the time we had invested in them plus the associated application or renewal fees."

Printing and postage costs ate up a significant portion of our budget

"Printing and mailing application forms, requests for additional information, and certificates of completion for successful candidates quickly added up to a major office expense."

We spent so much time answering routine questions by phone and email we could never get anything else done

"Every new applicant or renewing professional would ask us the same routine questions about how to complete a form, or where to find the additional information we needed, where to find CEs, or simply asking us about the status of their submission. We had no time left over to step back and find ways to improve and grow our program."

We had to manually print and mail receipts for fee payments

"Employees paying our fees to complete our credentials would often ask us to print and mail a physical receipt so they could get reimbursed by their employer."

We never had enough time to properly audit submissions, especially CE hours

"We were so busy processing applications and renewals that we had no time to audit the important details, especially CE hours and certificates of completion. As a result, we had no real idea of how many of our professionals were meeting all our requirements."

We were so busy managing our current programs that we had no time to add new ones

"We wanted to add more credentials to our program, and our professionals wanted them too, but we simply couldn't break away from servicing our current credentials long enough to build out the new ones."

We wasted hours manually responding to verification requests from employers

"With no automated registry, we had to manually research and respond to every new verification request from employers or other interested third parties. This took valuable time away from processing applications and renewals."

We lacked a clear picture of how many professionals were in our system and their current credential status

"With data scattered across filing cabinets and spreadsheets, we were unable to answer simple questions like how many professionals were active, inactive, and past-due for renewal for any of our credentials."

Having staff tied to our office was a severe problem during COVID-19 quarantine restrictions

"Everything we needed to review and approve, along with the checks and money orders we needed to fund our operations, was snail-mailed to our office. Our entire program ground to a halt when we couldn't get into the office to process submissions and payments."

Requesting additional or missing information added weeks to our processing time

"Many paper applications were incomplete. Some would be missing the required fee. It was difficult to track and manage the email and snail mail requests for additional or missing information and payment. People would call in asking why we hadn't approved their application, and it would take us way too long to answer their question."

We had no easy way to help our constituents complete our requirements

"Without seeing what they were seeing, it would take an hour or more to help someone fill out a complicated form."

Our CE provider accreditation program delivered little value

"We charged CE provider partners for access to our professionals, but we didn't have an easy way to close the loop between the professional's needs and our education provider's products. As a result, we experienced a lot of churn in our accreditation program."

Poor user experience caused unnecessary attrition and loss of revenue

"Our old system did not function well and had unclear navigation. As a result, users would get frustrated and abandon the process, leading to high attrition and revenue left on the table."

We lost too much time to system issues

"Our admins spent hours helping users with technical issues and system outages."

Our outdated system took too long to change, and each change was an expense we hadn't budgeted for

"Modifications and repairs of our old system required an outside developer's time at a high hourly rate. It would sometimes take weeks or months for us to make a simple change like a new requirement or a modified fee."

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