The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council on Oct. 14 heard a presentation from CE Broker and public comments from licensed clinicians who said the new continuing-education reporting platform is helpful but has usability issues for some users.

The most direct, practical news for licensees: CE Broker staff said the platform has already attracted roughly 15,000 registered users from BHEC's approximately 85,000 licensees and that integration with the council's licensing system is planned so that license renewals beginning in January will require CE Broker uploads for compliance. Jason Grubb, CE Broker's client success manager, told the council that the vendor and BHEC's staff moved from contract signature in January to a live platform in about eight months and that the vendor has scheduled large public webinars on Oct. 29 and Dec. 10 to answer user questions.

Why it matters: The platform will move BHEC from post-renewal audit of continuing education to a near real-time verification at renewal, increasing the implementation burden for both the agency and licensees but also changing how compliance is documented.

Council and staff said the vendor's outreach and the board's communication campaign helped drive early adoption: Grubb said a thousand participants attended the first webinar with about 2,000 additional viewers on YouTube.

Public commenters acknowledged the vendor's customer support and the program's potential but pressed the council on several operational concerns. Dr. Lori Hollingsworth, speaking as the Texas Counseling Association liaison to BHEC, thanked the council and described upcoming professional conferences where BHEC members will appear. Rhonda Kimball, a licensed professional counselor, told the council she found the CE Broker site difficult to use for audits and said the vendor's customer-facing messaging pushes a paid "premium" tier. "If you call me for an audit, I'd rather spend five minutes getting you my CE proof than spend two hours trying to figure out somebody else's system," she said.

CE Broker representatives and BHEC staff responded on usability and cost. Grubb said that the basic CE Broker account enables all functions required by regulators—including uploading CE, viewing board-specific requirements and responding to audits—and that roughly 85% of users nationwide use the free account. He acknowledged a prominent upsell prompt on the landing page, and council members urged staff and the vendor to make it clear in communications that licensees do not need to buy the premium subscription to comply.

The vendor said a back-end API integration will be used to verify CE compliance at renewal; staff said the January renewals will be the first group for which CE Broker compliance is effectively mandatory at the point of renewal. Grubb said dedicated US-based customer support is available weekdays and that recorded webinar materials and Q&A transcripts are on the BHEC website.

Council action and next steps: The council heard the presentation and accepted the update. Staff and the vendor agreed to continue outreach (additional webinars and association briefings) and to clarify messaging that the platform's free tier satisfies regulatory requirements. BHEC staff told licensees the agency plans to require CE Broker uploads for January renewals and encouraged early registration and webinar participation.

What's next: Licensees who are uncertain how to register or use the system are advised to consult the continuing education page on the BHEC website (which staff said lists webinar registration, Q&A transcripts and recordings). The council also asked staff to keep monitoring user feedback and return to the council if more policy adjustments are needed.