FSMB awarded HRSA grant to support establishment of Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) announced today an award from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support state medical and osteopathic boards in establishing a Commission to administer the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and to develop requirements for its technical infrastructure.

The Interstate Compact establishes a voluntary pathway that will significantly streamline the licensing process for physicians seeking to practice medicine in participating states, while expanding access to health care, especially to patients in underserved areas of the country. The Compact has been enacted in 10 states this year, and legislation has been introduced in an additional nine states.

The HRSA grant will support the establishment of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, which will create the bylaws, rules and processes that will be used by participating states when they begin expediting licensure for eligible physicians. The grant also will support development of specifications for a technical infrastructure and educational outreach to expand interest and participation in the Compact.

"We are all very pleased with the ongoing support of HRSA in our continued efforts to enhance expedited multistate medical licensure and increase access to quality health care through the Interstate Compact," said Robert Knittle, Executive Director of the West Virginia Board of Medicine, who will serve on the Interstate Compact Commission.

Work to date on the Interstate Compact initiative has been funded in part by the FSMB's existing grant under HRSA's Licensure Portability Grant Program, which has supported a variety of initiatives by FSMB and state medical boards to enhance physician mobility between the states and address statutory and regulatory barriers to multi-state practice and telemedicine.

The final model Interstate Medical Licensure Compact legislation was released in September 2014. Since then, 19 state legislatures have introduced the Compact legislation and nearly 30 state medical and osteopathic boards have publicly expressed support for the Compact. The Compact has been endorsed by a broad coalition of health care stakeholders, including the American Medical Association (AMA).