Recredentialing in the allied health professions

Credentialing of allied health professionals is used to assure the public that they are receiving care from competent individuals, and recredentialing is a means to demonstrate continuing competence. There is considerable variability in the requirements that allied health professions have for recredentialing. Of the 16 national credentials representing 14 allied health professions that were included in this study, 50% had no continuing education (CE) or retesting requirement in order to maintain the credential. The remaining 50% required CE in amounts ranging from 10 to 50 hours per year, with a mean of 18.5 hours. One credential requires both CE and retesting. A review of the literature reveals that CE requirements are not linked to improved patient outcomes, and evidence linking retesting to improved outcomes is lacking. Therefore, even though there is external pressure to implement recredentialing requirements for the allied health professions, care needs to be taken to assure that the tools used to ensure continued competence are valid and reliable.