The Joint House and Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 24, 2025, heard performance audits and 24‑month follow‑ups from the Auditor General’s office for five health‑related licensing boards and then cast committee recommendations to the Legislature.

The committee voted to recommend continued authorization for four boards — the State Board of Dental Examiners, the Board of Respiratory Care Examiners, the Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery and the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners — each for six years. It voted to recommend consolidation of the State Board of Massage Therapy, directing staff to pursue statutory changes to restructure oversight.

Auditor General staff and contractors summarized the findings and follow‑up work for each board. Common themes across the reviews included: inconsistent recordkeeping, multi‑year complaint backlogs in some boards, trouble producing routine management reports because of database conversions, and gaps in conflict‑of‑interest and open‑meeting practices in specific instances.

Key takeaways from each presentation and the committee’s actions:

- Dental Examiners (continuation): Auditor Patrick Jenette reviewed prior 2022 findings and a recent 24‑month follow‑up. The dental board has implemented several recommendations — including clearer adjudication guidance and improved licensing controls — and is working on database and complaint‑timeliness improvements. The committee voted to recommend continuation for six years. (Committee recommendation: continue the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners through July 2031; committee tally reported by the clerk: 16 ayes, 0 nays, 3 not voting.)

- Massage Therapy Board (consolidation): Auditor Kyle Neff presented a 2022 performance audit and a 24‑month follow‑up showing the board struggled to investigate complaints within statutory time frames, answer public records requests consistently, and fully implement an e‑licensing system; the board reported ongoing database vendor challenges and a high number of licenses to manage. Executive Director Tom Otterton described the database migration issues, the board’s limited staffing, and program complexity, and urged care in how any consolidation would be structured. After discussion the committee voted to recommend consolidation (motion language: “make a recommendation to consolidate the State Board of Massage Therapy and that statutory changes be made to improve the board's ability to efficiently and accurately perform their duties as prescribed by law”). Committee tally: 8 ayes, 6 nays, 0 present; 5 not voting. The record shows committee members cited concerns about transparency and timeliness while others urged a structural change to improve operations and oversight.

- Respiratory Care Examiners (continuation): Auditor George Styles summarized findings including delayed issuance of some initial licenses beyond the board’s 105‑day target and inconsistent complaint timeliness tied to database and staffing turnover. Interim Executive Director Jack Confer told the committee the board has reduced average licensing time and implemented short‑term fixes; the committee voted to recommend continuation for six years (tally: 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present; 8 absent).

- Osteopathic Examiners (continuation): Walker & Armstrong’s report concluded that while the board processes many licensures timely and supports an expanding physician population, it also carried a persistent complaint backlog; the board said it has adopted a disciplinary guideline and is hiring additional staff as needed. The committee voted to recommend continuation for six years (tally: 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present; 8 absent).

- Behavioral Health Examiners (continuation): Walker & Armstrong’s review flagged complaint‑timeliness issues after a surge in licenses and complaints during and after the COVID‑era expansion of telehealth; the board told the committee it had requested and received additional investigators and expects timeliness to improve as new investigators onboard. The committee recommended continuation for six years (tally: 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present; 8 absent).

Committee members across both parties pressed boards on common operational problems: delays caused by legacy databases and incomplete data migration; the inability of some boards to run timely management reports; inconsistency in posting and removing disciplinary information from public websites; and how some boards handle subpoenas, referrals to law enforcement and open‑meeting law compliance. Several legislators asked for future comparative data to allow ranking of boards by complaint timeliness and for follow‑up reporting across the boards when the Auditor General completes six‑ and 36‑month follow‑ups.

The committee’s actions are recommendations to the Legislature and are not final legislation. Several board staff asked the committee for more time and assistance to complete database migrations and to clarify statutory authority on issues such as continuing‑education audits and temporary licensure during transitions.

Votes at a glance (committee recommendations):
- Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners — action: continue six years (committee recommendation), tally: 16 ayes, 0 nays, 3 not voting; notes: OAG follow‑up found partial implementation of prior recommendations and work on database/reporting.
- State Board of Massage Therapy — action: consolidate (committee recommendation), tally: 8 ayes, 6 nays, 0 present; 5 not voting; notes: OAG cited long complaint timeliness for some cases and incomplete e‑licensing implementation; the board described vendor delays and staffing constraints.
- Arizona Board of Respiratory Care Examiners — action: continue six years, tally: 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present; 8 absent; notes: OAG found licensing and complaint‑timeliness gaps tied to database conversion and turnover; board reported improvement after new hires.
- Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine & Surgery — action: continue six years, tally: 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present; 8 absent; notes: OAG found lengthy complaint backlogs in a minority of high‑priority cases; board said it has tightened adjudication policies and will pursue further staffing adjustments.
- Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners — action: continue six years, tally: 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present; 8 absent; notes: OAG found complaint timeliness issues after large caseload growth; board received appropriation for investigators and plans operational changes.

What happens next: committee recommendations will be compiled in a formal sunset report and transmitted to the Legislature for consideration; the Auditor General will perform follow‑up checks (six‑ and 36‑month where scheduled) and report implementation status for outstanding recommendations.