Licensing and Certification

To improve access to care and assure quality of care:

• Operate a responsive, uniform enforcement program in accordance with state licensing and federal certification requirements.
• Encourage provider-initiated compliance and quality of care improvement activities
• Act as a focal point for CDHS policy on elder health care.
• Initiate licensing and certification changes to improve the cost-effectiveness of programs, promote partnerships between public and private health care providers in order to improve the quality of care and access to new technologies, and respond to California's changing demographics.
• Promote the use of practice guidelines to improve the quality and effectiveness of medical and other interventions.

L&C conducts five major activities that impact health care and the financial climate in California. L&C authority to perform these functions and the standards it uses to evaluate health facility compliance are defined in state and federal law and regulations. They are:

1. Licensing 30 different types of health care facilities and providers (a total of over 6,000) so that they can legally do business in California.
2. Certifying to the federal government health care facilities and providers that are eligible for payments under the Medicare and Medicaid (Medi-Cal) programs.
   
3. Accepting and investigating over 11,000 Complaints each year regarding concerns expressed about care provided by these health facilities and providers.
   
4. Certifying that over 160,000 nurse assistants, home health aides and hemodialysis technicians can provide specific services; and Approving training programs for these health care worker categories; and Licensing over 3,000 Nursing Home Administrators and approving over 100 Continuing Education Providers.
   
5. Providing Consumer Education and Provider Education to improve the quality of health care.

Attention:
Adobe Acrobat Reader is required for viewing some documents at our site.