CE Broker for Texas: What Changes on September 1, 2026
Beginning September 1, 2026, mandatory continuing education tracking applies to every Texas Medical Board licensee who has a CE requirement, which means an active CE Broker account and completed coursework reported there before a registration can be processed.
The requirement is lighter than the reaction to it suggests, because the account that satisfies it costs nothing. What deserves more attention is the quieter rule underneath it. Continuing education you already reported under another state's license does not currently carry into Texas, and those courses have to be resubmitted against your Texas license before TMB can count them. Multi-state physicians are the group most likely to arrive at renewal believing they are compliant when the Texas record is empty.
Key facts
Mandatory CE tracking for TMB licensees with CE requirements begins September 1, 2026.
Five license types are covered: physicians, physician assistants, acupuncturists, medical radiologic technologists, and respiratory care practitioners.
A Basic CE Broker account is free and satisfies the requirement.
Courses reported under another state's license do not transfer and must be resubmitted for Texas.
No other tracking platform is accepted, because TMB cannot verify CE reported elsewhere.
Registration will not go through if TMB cannot verify compliance through CE Broker.
Does Texas use CE Broker?
Yes, the Texas Medical Board has partnered with CE Broker as the platform where licensees report completed continuing education, and that reporting becomes mandatory on September 1, 2026 for everyone holding a license type that carries a CE requirement.
Until that date the platform remains optional, and licensees are required to use it only when they have been selected for an audit. That optional period is worth keeping in mind, because a licensee who has never been audited has had no reason to open an account or to look at what the platform holds, and nothing about the renewal process signaled that this was coming.
One point that removes a common workaround from the table is that no substitute is permitted. TMB licensees must report through CE Broker specifically, because the Board has no mechanism to verify coursework submitted by individuals directly or logged in any other platform.
Who needs a CE Broker account?
Five TMB license types are covered: physicians, physician assistants, acupuncturists, medical radiologic technologists, and respiratory care practitioners. License types that carry no CE requirement are not required to establish an account.
Most of the coverage this change has attracted speaks only to physicians, which leaves a real gap for the other four. Medical radiologic technologists and respiratory care practitioners are bound by the same September 1 date and the same reporting mechanics as any MD in the state, and they generally receive far less guidance about it. If you hold an MRT or RCP license, the requirement applies to you on the same terms.
Physicians holding a Physician in Training permit sit outside this. PIT permit holders are not required to complete CME, because the requirement begins only once a full physician license has been issued.
Should you pay for CE Broker?
You don't have to, a Basic CE Broker account is free, it remains free, and it is all that Texas compliance requires.
CE Broker does also offer Professional and Concierge plans on an annual fee, and those tiers add convenience features that make the entire process a lot smoother - rather than compliance capability. A seven day trial of the Professional plan is available for you to explore if its the right fit for you.
If you already hold a CE Broker account for a license in another state, adding your Texas license to that same account carries no additional fee. There is no reason to open a second account or to upgrade a tier in order to meet the Texas requirement.
What are the CME requirements for Texas physicians?
Texas physicians complete at least 48 CME credits every 24 months, and at least 24 of those credits must come from formal Category 1 or 1A courses. The 24 month window runs with the biennial registration period rather than the calendar year, which is a distinction that causes trouble for anyone counting hours from January.
Within the formal half, several topics are specified, and two of them carry timing rules that are easy to miss. At least 2 hours must address medical ethics and professional responsibility. At least 2 hours of formal CME must cover pain management and opioid prescribing, and those hours are due within one year of license issuance and again at the second renewal, then at least once every 8 years after that, which means they are not simply hours you can slot anywhere in a cycle. Human trafficking prevention requires at least 1 hour at first renewal and then once every third renewal period after that.
Newly licensed physicians are exempt from the CME requirement the first time they register, so the obligation begins with the second registration rather than the first.
Excess credit can be carried forward up to a maximum of 48 hours, subject to a two year limit, though the ethics and pain management hours are excluded from carry forward and have to be earned inside the period they satisfy. The full requirement sits in Texas Medical Board rule 161.35.
If you are assembling hours for this cycle, the Texas medical doctor CME package covers all 48 credits including the state mandated topics, and reports to CE Broker on completion. Physician assistants can review the Texas PA CME package and the Texas PA CE requirements for the hour counts that apply to that license. Full requirement detail by license type is available for Texas MDs, acupuncturists, and respiratory therapists.
Do CE & CME courses from another state count in Texas?
They do not transfer automatically, because courses reported in CE Broker under another state's license currently have to be resubmitted against your Texas license before TMB can see them.
This is the detail most likely to confuse someone during a renewal, and it is easy to see why. A physician licensed in Texas and Florida who has been diligently reporting hours in CE Broker for years may open the account, see a full record, and reasonably assume the Texas requirement is handled. The courses are in the system, but they are attached to the second license, and the Texas record might show nothing.
The fix is straightforward once you know to look, and the work is resubmission rather than retaking anything. The risk lies entirely in not checking. If you hold licenses in more than one state, open the account well before your registration comes due and confirm what is actually recorded against Texas. Additionally, CE & CME providers are able to retroactively report course completions to your Texas license number if you request it, however they are not required to do so. AchieveCE offers retroactive reporting to all CE & CME tracking systems upon request.
What happens if you cannot show compliance at renewal?
Registration will not go through, because TMB verifies continuing education compliance through CE Broker before processing a renewal, which leaves a licensee whose compliance cannot be verified unable to complete the registration at all.
Recent legislation is what drives this, requiring that continuing education compliance for health care practitioners be verified through a tracking system before renewal rather than attested to and audited afterward. The practical shift is one of sequence. Reporting used to be something you could address if the Board asked, and it now sits ahead of renewal as a precondition.
What happens if you are selected for an audit?
Licensees selected for audit receive a letter and an email with instructions, and the task is to ensure all coursework for the specified audit period is uploaded into the account. Audited licensees receive an automatic upgrade to a premium account at no cost for the duration of the audit.
Documentation of CE & CME courses is made available to the Board on request rather than submitted alongside a registration, and TMB conducts random audits to confirm compliance. That structure has not changed. What has changed is that the underlying record now lives in CE Broker by default, which tends to make an audit far less disruptive than assembling certificates from email archives. The guide on what to do when you are audited by the state board covers the documentation side in more detail.
When should you set up your account?
Before your renewal comes due, and preferably now rather than in the month you renew.
Texas registrations do not all fall on a single date, so the September 1 mandate reaches licensees gradually as their individual renewal dates arrive across the following months. That staggering makes it tempting to defer, and deferring is where the out of state reporting problem turns into a scheduling problem. Confirming what is recorded against your Texas license takes minutes when there is time to correct it and becomes a genuine obstacle in the week a registration is due.
For licensees who have never used the platform, the process for Texas works the same way it does in states that adopted tracking earlier. The walkthrough of how CE Broker works in Florida covers the account mechanics, which carry over directly.
Frequently asked questions
Does Texas require CE Broker?
Yes, beginning September 1, 2026, Texas Medical Board licensees who have continuing education requirements must have an active CE Broker account and report completed coursework there. Before that date the platform is optional and required only for licensees selected for an audit.
Is a CE Broker account free for Texas licensees?
Yes, a Basic CE Broker account is always free and satisfies the Texas requirement. Professional and Concierge plans carry annual fees and add convenience features rather than compliance capability.
Which Texas Medical Board license types need CE Broker?
Physicians, physician assistants, acupuncturists, medical radiologic technologists, and respiratory care practitioners. License types that carry no continuing education requirement do not need an account, and Physician in Training permit holders are not required to complete CME.
Do CE & CME courses reported in another state automatically count toward Texas?
No, courses reported under another state's license must be resubmitted against your Texas license. Adding a Texas license to an existing CE Broker account carries no additional fee, but the coursework attached to other licenses does not carry over on its own. Certain providers like AchieveCE will report retroactively on your behalf upon request.
How many CME hours do Texas physicians need?
At least 48 CME credits every 24 months, with at least 24 of those credits in formal Category 1 or 1A courses. The period follows the biennial registration cycle rather than the calendar year, and newly licensed physicians are exempt the first time they register.
What happens if a Texas licensee does not use CE Broker?
Renewal cannot be completed, because TMB verifies compliance through CE Broker before processing a registration and cannot verify continuing education reported through any other platform.
Sources
Continuing Education Requirements for Physicians, Texas Medical Board
Texas Medical Board rule 161.35, continuing medical education requirements
AchieveCE
AchieveCE is an ACCME-accredited CME provider that also holds special Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) approval for the State-wide Human Trafficking Prevention Training Requirement. We integrate and automatically report CME record completions to CE Broker on behalf of licensed professionals so that all records are appropriately stored for license renewal compliance and audit protection.
Complete AchieveCE's Complete Medical Doctor Package including HHSC Required Training or Physician Assistant Package including HHSC Required Training and AchieveCE will report all completions directly to CE Broker.
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