Licensed practitioners have a formal license issued by their State or Country. It usually requires completion of an education program from an accredited institution, and sitting and passing a licensure examination. Unlicensed practitioners are what we call Qualified professionals. These practitioners do not have a license issued by their State or Country, but may have completed formal training or a program in their specialization, and received certification issued by the school or professional organization. Compared to licensed practitioners, qualified professionals are less restricted on several things: 1.) Where they can accept and see clients. This allows them to have a broader client reach compared to licensed practitioners who are bound to practice with their license in a particular county and state. 2.) How they receive payments. Due to state law and professional ethics, there are limitations on how licensed practitioners can collect and process payments. With this limitation, licensed practitioners are not allowed to sign up under the Starter plan to keep all parties in conservative compliance with all laws and regulations. 3.) Client health data protection. In the United States, most unlicensed practitioners are not considered covered entities, and therefore are not required to abide by HIPAA when handling health sensitive information. This gives unlicensed practitioners more options on the Nexia Wellness platform when it comes to client data storage and communication. Note: It’s still recommended for all unlicensed practitioners to ensure that all client health data are safe and secure. The Nexia Wellness platform will be sufficient for most practitioners with this.