Journal of Medical Regulation Examines Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

Newswise — (Euless, Texas, Aug. 20, 2014) – The Summer 2014 edition of the Journal of Medical Regulation features an in-depth look at one of the most significant developments in medical regulation in decades – the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. The new interstate compact system is aimed at reducing barriers to the process of gaining licensure in multiple states, helping facilitate telemedicine while widening access to health care by physicians, particularly in underserved areas of the nation.

In his article titled, “The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact: Making the Business Case,” author Blake Maresh, MPA, Executive Director of the Washington Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, examines the history of state-based licensing and the dynamics that led to the formation of the Federation of State Medical Boards as a basis for consideration of interstate compacts as a constructive response to critiques of the present medical regulatory structure.

Mr. Maresh argues that the crossroads at which state medical boards find themselves provides an opportunity for an interstate compact as the best solution for adapting to the forces of current and future trends.

“An interstate compact offers the prospect of taking a giant leap forward in expedited licensure, a means to facilitate multistate practice within a state-based licensing framework, and a response to those who would bypass state-based regulation entirely through federal legislation,” Mr. Maresh writes. “An interstate compact would also represent a departure from how medical boards have operated, in many cases, for over a century.”

The article, “The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact: Making the Business Case,” is the free featured article in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Regulation. Also featured in the current issue:

• In “Medical Board Complaints against Physicians Due to Communication: Analysis of North Carolina Medical Board Data, 2002–2012,” authors Phil Davignon, PhD, Aaron Young, PhD, and David Johnson, MA, focus on complaints against physicians licensed by the North Carolina board to determine the extent to which communication issues contribute to complaints against physicians. The authors found that communication-based complaints account for more than one in five complaints made against North Carolina physicians. These results are discussed in light of their implications for the field of medicine as it seeks to improve patient care.

The Journal of Medical Regulation (JMR) is a peer-reviewed quarterly publication of the Federation of State Medical Boards. To learn more about the JMR or to subscribe, please visit http://jmr.fsmb.org. The JMR website includes an archive of articles dating to the 1960s that is available to researchers and individuals interested in medical regulation. Remaining volumes covering the years 1913-1966 will be added to the JMR archive in the near future.

###

About the Federation of State Medical BoardsThe FSMB is a national non-profit organization representing all medical boards within the United States and its territories that license and discipline allopathic and osteopathic physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other health care professionals. It assists these state and territorial medical boards as they go about their mandate of protecting the public’s health, safety and welfare. The FSMB leads by promoting excellence in medical practice, licensure, and regulation.