Board licensing staff told the California Acupuncture Board on March 7 that its system previously misreported counts of active and renewable licenses and that staff are working with Department of Consumer Affairs reporting teams to correct the figures.

"The California Acupuncture Board and its staff discovered a miscalculation reporting active and total renewable license counts recently," Licensing Manager Jay Hurdett reported. He said the system had separated multiple primary statuses and the board is clarifying the correct counts and developing new reporting tools.

Quarterly snapshot: For Q2 the board reported 10,122 active licenses, 1,451 inactive, 1,688 delinquent, and 12,261 total renewable licenses. Initial license approvals in the quarter were 73; initial denials were 0. Hurdett said new continuing education provider approvals numbered 11 and the board approved 13 new tutorial training programs in the quarter.

Retired status and WAL license rollout: Hurdett told the board a regulatory package establishing a retired license status is on the agency’s rulemaking calendar and is with DCA and the Office of Administrative Law. Multiple board members and members of the public pressed staff about the board’s wall license requirement (often discussed in the meeting as "wall license" or "WAL license"). Hurdett said the board requires licensees to register locations (a separate wall license for each practice address) and that each wall license costs $50; the board is complaint-driven for enforcement but is pursuing outreach and education.

Public and board concerns: Public commenters, including practitioners and association representatives, said many licensees still do not display wall licenses or have not registered multiple practice addresses. During licensing and enforcement discussions board members urged targeted outreach and suggested postcards, email reminders and updates to consumer brochures describing the requirement. Licensing staff reported about 75% adoption of the board’s online system and said the board holds contact emails for roughly 98% of licensees across legacy and new systems.

Why it matters: The miscalculation undermined prior public reporting on counts; license-count accuracy is essential for fee-setting and workforce analysis. The wall-license rollout affects consumers’ ability to verify a practitioner’s registration at a particular location and is central to the board’s consumer-protection strategy.

Ending: Licensing staff will continue to correct and clarify the counts, advance the retired-status rulemaking, and work with the board on outreach plans to increase wall-license compliance and ensure public-facing materials reflect current requirements.