JAOA sheds light on misperceptions of Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

Even though 11 states have adopted the necessary legislation to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and several more states are considering signing on, misperceptions abound regarding the measure that aims to simplify the multistate licensure process.

Blake T. Maresh, MPA, who served as the executive director of the Washington Board of Osteopathic Medicine during development of the compact, attempts to separate the myths from the facts through his commentary in the recent issue of The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association (JAOA). Here are a few examples:

• Myth – The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact will supersede a state’s autonomy and control over the practice of medicine. Fact – State medical boards, not the interstate commission, determine the eligibility of physicians to participate. Also, only state boards can issue licenses and discipline physicians under the compact.
• Myth – The interstate commission created by the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact will likely cause changes to state medical practice acts. Fact – The compact’s preamble clearly states that it creates another pathway for licensure but does not otherwise change any medical practice act.
• Myth – The cost of obtaining medical licenses will be dramatically increased and a state must protect its citizens from regulatory excesses. Fact – States retain the ability to set their licensing fees, and physicians seeking licensure via the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact will also pay those fees.

Read the JAOA commentary for more facts about the interstate compact.