Florida to post licensee records on Google

Tallahassee, Fla. — A deal between Florida officials and Google Inc. soon will allow the public easy access to licensee records in all state-regulated professions, including veterinary medicine.

The agreement will allow a Google search to disclose disciplinary actions and other records pertaining to Florida's 6,200 veterinarians, among others. Such information previously was stored only on state agency Web sites.

The initiative is part of Gov. Charlie Crist's effort to deliver "open government" and greater consumer access to state-agency information, according to a government-issued news release.

Florida Veterinary Medical Association officials were unaware of the partnership at press time. But Alexis Antonacci, a spokeswoman for the Florida Board of Veterinary Medicine, confirms that the process to add pages and index them in Google's search engine is ongoing.

"This is a great way for the public to access public records," Antonacci says. "As long as the licensee is in our system, their information will be posted. We're working to get this up and running as quickly as we can."