(a) The Department may investigate the actions of any applicant or any person holding or claiming to hold a license.
     (b) The Department shall, before refusing to issue or renew a license or disciplining a licensee under Section 80 of this Act, at least 30 days prior to the date set for the hearing, (i) notify the accused, in writing, of any charges made and the time and place for the hearing on the charges, (ii) direct him or her to file a written answer to the charges with the Board under oath within 20 days after the service of the notice, and (iii) inform the applicant or licensee that failure to file an answer shall result in default being taken against the applicant or licensee. At the time and place fixed in the notice, the Department shall proceed to hear the charges, and the parties or their counsel shall be accorded ample opportunity to present any pertinent statements, testimony, evidence, and arguments. The Department may continue the hearing from time to time. In case the person, after receiving the notice, fails to answer, his or her license, may, in the discretion of the Department, be revoked, suspended, placed on probationary status, or the Department may take whatever disciplinary action considered proper, including limiting the scope, nature, or extent of the person’s practice or the imposition of a fine, without a hearing, if the act or acts charged constitute sufficient grounds for that action under the Act. The written notice and any notice in the subsequent proceeding may be served by mail or email to the licensee’s address of record.