Knocking Down Barriers to Telemedicine and Teleradiology
Briefing on State Medical Licensure Reform from Donald L Baker on Vimeo.
On January 31, ATA sponsored a briefing for members of Congress outlining issues related to the current system of licensing and regulating physicians in the United States. The briefing was the first time the issue had been addressed on Capitol Hill. Participating in the briefing were representatives from a number of institutions who shared their concerns and suggestions. The audience included key staff from both Senators and Representatives in Congress.
All physicians must be licensed in any state in which they practice, a requirement that can be time-consuming and costly for those wanting to practice telemedicine and teleradiology. But a bill expected to be introduced in Congress this year aims to make it easier to use medical licenses across state lines.
In addition to creating a comprehensive and interoperable database of verified physician credentials, the legislation being developed by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) calls for the creation of a tandem state/national license that would allow physicians to provide telehealth services in states accepting the tandem license, according to Fern Goodhart, Udall's legislative assistant. "We're exploring how to build in streamlined or automatic license portability across state lines," she said. Goodhart further commented,"...this would allow less delay, less redundancy, less cost, more patient care, and greater data sharing."
To learn more about telemedicine credentialing, please visit Excalibur's Credentialing Policy Page.