The Federation of State Medical Boards’ interstate compact program is beginning to take shape. 
In a press release, the FSMB said a drafting team will use eight key consensus principles to shape the model compact, which include the provision that participation in the program is completely voluntary for both medical boards and physicians. Participating state medical boards will maintain the authority to approve applications and discipline physicians. The program will not infringe on each state medical board’s authority, but instead make the path to licensure easier for physicians by streamlining the licensing process. States will be able to share provider information essential to the licensing process across state lines. Physicians who practice in multiple states will still need to obtain a license in each state, but hopefully the process will be much easier once they are established in the system. Streamlining the licensure process would make life easier for locum tenens physicians, who typically hold multiple licenses, as well as physicians who provide telemedicine services. In fact, one of the principles included in the release has direct implications for telemedicine technology. It says:
In a press release, the FSMB said a drafting team will use eight key consensus principles to shape the model compact, which include the provision that participation in the program is completely voluntary for both medical boards and physicians. Participating state medical boards will maintain the authority to approve applications and discipline physicians. The program will not infringe on each state medical board’s authority, but instead make the path to licensure easier for physicians by streamlining the licensing process. States will be able to share provider information essential to the licensing process across state lines. Physicians who practice in multiple states will still need to obtain a license in each state, but hopefully the process will be much easier once they are established in the system. Streamlining the licensure process would make life easier for locum tenens physicians, who typically hold multiple licenses, as well as physicians who provide telemedicine services. In fact, one of the principles included in the release has direct implications for telemedicine technology. It says:
“The practice of medicine occurs where the patient is located at the time of the physician-patient encounter and, therefore, requires the physician to be under the jurisdiction of the state medical board where the patient is located.”
This confirms that physicians must be licensed in the state the patient is located in order to provide telemedicine services. It will be interesting to see what the final program turns out to be and how many physicians and medical boards participate. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
