Rule 4747-1-11 | Renewal procedures.
(A) Responsibility for filing and paying renewals shall rest with the licensee or permit holder.
(B) With respect to trainee permits and their renewal:
(1) Responsibility for renewing the trainee permit shall rest with the trainee and the trainee's supervisor or employer. Application for renewal of a trainee permit must be made to the board prior to the expiration date shown on the permit.
(2) There shall be a thirty-day period immediately following the expiration date shown on the trainee permit in which that permit may be renewed, which period applies to the time in which an application for trainee permit renewal may be made once. It does not authorize a trainee whose permit has expired to engage in any way in the fitting and sale of hearing aids after the expiration date shown on his permit. If renewal is not effected within this thirty-day period, the trainee shall submit a renewal application and statement attesting that the trainee has not engaged in the fitting and sale of hearing aids from the date of the expiration of the trainee permit to the present, and the prescribed fee to the board. The board shall not renew a trainee permit to an individual more than one time.
(C) Continuing education hours
(1) A licensee shall earn twenty hours of continuing education within the two-year licensure period immediately preceding the licensee's renewal application. One clock hour of continuing education is equal to sixty minutes of continuing education. Only actual hours of education activity shall be counted. Lunches, breaks and other interruptions of the education program shall not count toward the required hours. For a hearing aid fitter license, at least ten hours shall be specific to the measurement and testing of human hearing, the making of impressions for earmolds, or selecting and adapting of hearing aids. Continuing education clock hours must be acquired in subjects related to hearing aid fitting or audiology.
(2) At least two of the twenty hours of continuing education shall relate to ethics.
(3) A licensee is not required to obtain continuing education for the first renewal.
(4) Continuing education hours may not be carried over from one licensure period to the next.
(5) An individual who previously held an Ohio hearing aid fitters license shall as part of an application for relicensure submit documentation of completing the continuing education hours required, or as approved by the board.
(6) Upon fulfillment of all legal requirements for renewal, including the signed renewal application form or via the Ohio eLicense system attesting to the completion of required clock hours of continuing education, licensees shall receive renewal of licensure.
(7) All licensees shall complete the required clock hours of continuing education prior to the thirty-first day of December of the renewal year.
(8) At the discretion of the board, the continuing education requirements for an individual, may be reduced or waived, under unusual circumstances such as military service commitment, medical emergencies, natural disasters, or conditions outside the control of the licensee.
(D) Continuing education programs
Continuing education may be earned in the following continuing education experiences:
(1) Academic coursework in audiology, or related disciplines, taken at accredited colleges or universities;
(2) Any activity approved for continuing education in related disciplines by any licensure board of the state of Ohio.
(3) Any activity approved for continuing education by the international hearing society; any continuing education activity offered by an American speech-language-hearing association approved continuing education provider; or the American academy of audiology.
(E) Continuing education credit for provision of health care services:
In accordance with division (B) of section 4745.04 of the Revised Code, up to one-third of the continuing education requirements may be completed by providing volunteer services to indigent and uninsured persons. To qualify under this rule, volunteer services shall:
(1) Be provided at a free clinic or other non-profit organization that offers health care services based on eligibility screenings identifying the client as an "indigent and uninsured person" as that term is defined in division (A)(7) of section 2305.234 of the Revised Code;
(2) Be documented in writing in the form of a certificate or a written statement on letterhead from an administrative official at the organization where services were rendered, specifying at a minimum the license holder's name, license number, date(s) of qualifying volunteer services, and number of hours of services.
(3) Not be credited for license holders in a paid position at the organization at which the services are rendered;
(4) Be provided without receiving any compensation or other form of remuneration;
(5) Be specific to the licensee's area of license, such as specific to dealing in and/or fitting of hearing aids;
(6) Be credited as one hour of continuing education for each sixty minutes spent providing services as a volunteer, not to exceed three hours of the total annual continuing education requirement; and
(7) Not count toward the requirements of paragraph (C)(1) of this rule to complete one hour of continuing education in ethics or Ohio state law.
(F) Documentation of continuing education:
(1) The licensee shall sign and submit to the board a form or via the Ohio eLicense system attesting to completion of required hours of continuing education at the time of license renewal.
The licensee shall retain supporting documents for inspection by the board for four years after the date of renewal.
(2) Licensees to be audited shall receive notification of audit from the board. The licensee being audited shall submit to the board proof of completion of the required continuing education hours.
(3) Failure to meet continuing education requirements, or to comply with the audit, upon request of the board, may result in suspension, revocation, denial of licensure or renewal of licensure according to the provisions of Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(G) Continuing education audit:
(1) The board may audit the continuing education of any licensee.
(2) Licensee to be audited shall receive notification of the audit from the board. The licensee being audited shall submit to the board documentation of continuing education hours as defined by paragraph (F) of this rule.
(3) The board may disapprove continuing education hours and shall notify the licensee of this action according to the provisions of Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(4) The failure to comply with an audit notification may, for purposes of disciplinary action pursuant to section 4747.12 of the Revised Code, be considered to be unprofessional conduct in the practice of hearing aid dealing or hearing aid fitting and/or misrepresentation in obtaining or attempting to obtain a license.
(5) The board may disapprove continuing education hours for renewal, relicensure, audit, or ethical practice and shall notify the applicant or licensee of this action according to the provisions of Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(6) Submission of a false statement or documentation of continuing education shall result in reprimand, probation, suspension, revocation, or refusal to issue or renew a license according to the provisions of Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(7) Failure to meet continuing education requirements or failure to substantiate continuing education hours upon request of the board shall result in reprimand, probation, suspension, revocation, or refusal to issue or renew a license according to the provisions of Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(8) If a licensee submits the renewal form after the expiration date, the board shall assess a late fee and may audit the licensee. If the licensee attested yes on their renewal application to completing the continuing education requirements and is subsequently determined that the required continuing education hours were not completed prior to the renewal deadline, the licensee will be subject to a late fee.
(H) Continuing education audit procedures:
(1) At each renewal period, the board shall audit up to ten per cent of the renewal applications.
(2) The board members shall be audited for the required continuing education hours.
(3) The board shall send notification of audit to licensees to be audited.
(4) The licensee being audited shall submit to the board a report of the continuing education hours required for renewal along with the appropriate documentation.
(I) Late renewal requirements:
A hearing aid dealer or fitter may apply for renewal of an expired license if the license has been expired within ninety days from the date the license initially expired.
(J) Expired license requirements:
(1) A hearing aid dealer may apply for relicensure of an expired dealer's license by completing an application for relicensure and paying the fee charged for an initial dealer's application.
(2) A hearing aid fitter may apply for relicensure of an expired fitter's license, without an examination requirement, for two years or less by completing an application for relicensure and paying the fee charged for an initial hearing aid fitter's application. The board shall issue the hearing aid fitter's license if the hearing aid fitter:
Submits documentation of completion of continuing education hours required for the two-year period immediately preceding the year of the application for relicensure.
Last updated January 3, 2023 at 8:47 AM
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