A few of the key reasons providers are drawn to the locum tenens practice alternative are flexibility, independence, and a change of scenery. Many locum tenens assignments offer the opportunity to work in different areas of the country, and experience new patient populations and a change of pace. Unless a physician already holds medical licenses in multiple states, rigorous eligibility requirements and the number of active applications can delay—reaching and sometimes exceeding 6 months in some cases—opportunities to practice in other states.
A recent announcement by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB)—a national, non-profit organization representing all medical boards within the United States and its territories—indicates the licensure process could soon speed up, thanks to a newly appointed drafting team tasked with composing an “interstate compact.” Under the compact, physicians practicing in multiple states would receive a license in each state and be under the jurisdiction of the state medical board where a patient is located at the time of medical interaction.
The development of the compact will include eight, key consensus principles, such as voluntary participation for states and physicians, upheld individual licensing and disciplinary authority for each of the state medical boards, and a requirement of the boards to share complaints and investigate information with each other.
Aside from the convenience of shorter licensure turnaround, this new compact is poised to enact impactful change on some of today’s healthcare challenges, like the physician shortage, reduced medical care in underserved and remote areas of the country, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
FSMB President and CEO Humayun J. Chaudhry, DO, MACP stated, “Interstate compacts have proven to be effective in addressing a wide variety of circumstances and issues that have multi-state impact, and we are very confident in the model the state boards are developing. The FSMB is delighted to be supporting this effort.”
State medical board representatives are expected to reconvene later this year to further develop and structure the compact, which will then be shared for review and comment by state boards in early 2014.
