In October 2016, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf www.governor.pas.gov signed into law legislation that allows Pennsylvania to become the 18th state to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) www.licenseportability.org.
The IMLC offers a voluntary expedited licensing process for physicians interested in practicing medicine in multiple states and is expected to expand access to healthcare, especially in rural and underserved areas where telemedicine is used to deliver healthcare.
The IMLC Commission met in October to review the group’s significant progress now that 18 states have signed enabling physicians to seek expedited licensure in multiple states. The IMLC Commission which administers the initiative has set a target goal of January 2017 for qualified physicians to seek licensure in multiple states.
Last June, HRSA www.hrsa.gov part of HHS announced a $250,000 annual grant for three years to support state medical and osteopathic boards as they implement the administrative and technical infrastructure of the IMLC.
The State of Texas has not yet adopted the IMLC as reported in the Texas Medical Board’s Sunset Advisory Commission’s Staff report posted November 2, 2016. Issue 4. The report concludes with the key recommendation for the State of Texas to adopt the IMLC.
The report explains that the Texas medical board’s current process for licensing physicians from other states can take up to 42 days and is cumbersome. In fact, the complexity of applying for licenses in additional states often warrants physicians hiring third party companies to assist in completing medical licensure applications.
The report also suggests that if Texas would approve the medical licensure compact, this would help expedite and simplify licensing for physicians in the state seeking to practice medicine in multiple states. In addition, approving the IMLC would enable the exchange of investigative and disciplinary information among member states.
Increasing the administrative ease for a physician to be authorized to practice in Texas could improve access to care in the state’s critically underserved areas while also relieving the Medical Board’s increasing administrative workload.