Renewing Professional Licenses Online in Hawaii Grows in Popularity

The Aloha State's online professional license renewal services are growing in popularity. The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer affairs recently announced that more than 62 percent of the state's nurses and acupuncturists chose to renew their professional licenses online during the last renewal period that just ended, nearly double the figure from the previous renewal period. Professional license renewals are available online through www.eHawaii.gov, the state's official Web site.

"We think it's great that more of Hawaii's nurses and acupuncturists are taking advantage of the convenience of our online services," said Mark Recktenwald, Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. "We are proud of this program, which is a part of a major effort within the department to implement more online services for businesses and professionals."

Nurses and acupuncturists are required by state law to renew their licenses every two years. During the 2003 renewal cycle, approximately 36 percent of the state's nurses renewed their professional licenses online. In the cycle that just ended, nearly 63 percent of the state's nearly 16,000 nurses and 41 percent of all acupuncturists renewed online. "This cycle's remarkable adoption is proof that we are responding appropriately to requests for streamlined access to government services," said Recktenwald.

"The effort put forth by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the state's official Web site was well worth it," said Dan Morrison, General Manager of eHawaii.gov. "Our online renewal adoption rate makes us the envy of other states."

According to the 2004 Digital States Survey report from the Center for Digital Government, 37 percent of nursing licenses are typically renewed online. The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government.

Hawaii's online professional license renewals are part of Governor Linda Lingle's statewide campaign to improve efficiencies by building and promoting the use of electronic government. eHawaii.gov offers more than 30 online services to help residents, businesses, and visitors interact more effectively with state government via the Internet.