You may have seen information about a New Background Screening Requirement from the FL Department of Health. This has raised questions among many LMTs unsure if they need to get fingerprinted again.
According to the FL Board of Massage Therapy website:
“Beginning July 1, 2025, all health care practitioners in Florida must comply with new background screening requirements when applying for an initial license or renewing an existing license. Compliance with this new law is essential to maintain licensure and continue practicing.”
If you submitted fingerprints for background screening successfully when you applied for your Massage Therapy license and if you have effectively managed your fingerprint retention at the 5 year interval(s), you are most likely in compliance and do not need to submit a new background screening. It is important that you know if you are in compliance.
We recommend that you visit Florida’s Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse (referred to as CHAI) to access your account, make sure your information is up-to-date and note your retention renewal date. It is a good idea to download and save this information for future reference and have documentation. LMTs licensed less than 5 years should create their CHAI account and become familiar with their fingerprint/background screening information and note when they will need to retain their information.
For more information, visit the FL DOH MQA Background Screening page(s) for all the facts. The images below are screenshots from the Fingerprint Retention pages.
