Important Issues

MSDC is asking its members to join its joint letter to DC Health asking for an expedited healthcare provider licensure process for local providers.

The pandemic has shown that physicians, practices, and other healthcare providers treat patients throughout the area. As people and practices change, the ability to retain patients or treat new ones is critical. Maryland and Virginia have expedited processes for physicians who are licensed in the other state or DC, and meet licensure requirements. Unfortunately, since Virginia has not joined the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, another avenue is needed to fully realize regional licensure.

If your practice would like to join the letter, email hay@msdc.org with your practice name as you would like it spelled on the letter. MSDC is also soliciting local healthcare association signatures. Please send signatures by Tuesday, June 1 by 5 PM.

___________________________________________________

LaQuandra Nesbitt, MD
Director, DC Department of Health (DC Health)
899 North Capitol Street NE
Washington, DC 20002

Dear Dr. Nesbitt – 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the value of regional licensure to address the District’s health needs. During the public health emergency, the Mayor and your department waived some licensure requirements that allowed our practices and facilities to operate flexibly to address the pandemic and keep the District safe.

The licensure waivers have helped us staff our practices and see our patients regardless of location. The pandemic has shown that expedited licensure processes for local providers is essential for keeping the District safe and healthy. A return to rigid licensure requirements for local healthcare providers would burden our community at a time when residents expect the highest standard of care.

Both Maryland and Virginia have statutory language permitting physicians in the other state to apply for an expedited license. This process requires the applicant to meet licensure requirements in their state and creates a separate application process that allows them to receive a license more quickly. We urge DC Health to create an expedited regional license process to permit physicians and other healthcare providers in good standing in our area to receive a District license more quickly. Such a process would permit Maryland and Virginia healthcare providers who meet DC licensure requirements already to submit a separate, smaller application with a faster approval timeline.

We have attached language from Virginia and Maryland as a guide on how such regulations or legislation could be constructed.

As practices who provide care for a large percentage of the District population, we urge you to take this step now or in tandem with the Council to bring the District in line with Maryland and Virginia.

Sincerely,
Medical Society of the District of Columbia


CC: The Honorable Phil Mendelson, Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia
The Honorable Vincent C. Gray, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Health


Maryland
17 Initial Licensure by Reciprocity.
A. Requirements. An applicant for initial licensure by reciprocity shall:
(1) Have an active, unrestricted license to practice medicine in another jurisdiction that:
(a) At the time the applicant was licensed, had licensure requirements substantially equivalent to the Board’s current licensure requirements as set forth in Regulation .03 of this chapter; and
(b) Offers a similar reciprocal licensure process to physicians licensed by the Board;
(2) Be in good standing under the laws of every jurisdiction where the individual is licensed; and
(3) Submit to a State and national criminal history records check in accordance with Health Occupations Article, §14-308.1, Annotated Code of Maryland.
B. Documentation. An applicant for initial licensure by reciprocity shall submit:
(1) An application for reciprocity on a form provided by the Board;
(2) The application fee as set by the Board;
(3) Evidence of compliance with §A of this regulation; and
(4) Any additional documentation set forth in Regulation .04 of this chapter that is needed for the Board to evaluate an application.
C. On receipt of the documentation required in §B of this regulation, the Board shall process the application for initial license by reciprocity in an expedited manner.
D. The Board may not issue a license if the criminal history records information, pursuant to §A of this regulation, has not been received.
E. After a license is issued, the licensee is subject to the Board’s jurisdiction and shall comply with all laws and regulations governing the practice of medicine in the State.

Virginia 
 
54.1-2927. Applicants from other states without reciprocity; temporary licenses or certificates for certain practitioners of the healing arts.
 
A. The Board, in its discretion, may issue certificates or licenses to applicants upon endorsement by boards or other appropriate authorities of other states or territories or the District of Columbia with which reciprocal relations have not been established if the credentials of such applicants are satisfactory and the examinations and passing grades required by such other boards are fully equal to those required by the Virginia Board.
The Board may issue certificates or licenses to applicants holding certificates from the national boards of their respective branches of the healing arts if their credentials, schools of graduation and national board examinations and results are acceptable to the Board. The Board shall promulgate regulations in order to carry out the provisions of this section.
The Board of Medicine shall prioritize applicants for licensure as a doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine, a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner from such states that are contiguous with the Commonwealth in processing their applications for licensure by endorsement through a streamlined process, with a final determination regarding qualification to be made within 20 days of the receipt of a completed application.
B. The Board may issue authorization to practice valid for a period not to exceed three months to a practitioner of the healing arts licensed or certified and in good standing with the applicable regulatory agency in the state, District of Columbia, or Canada where the practitioner resides when the practitioner is in Virginia temporarily to practice the healing arts (i) in a summer camp or in conjunction with patients who are participating in recreational activities, (ii) in continuing education programs, or (iii) by rendering at any site any health care services within the limits of his license or certificate, voluntarily and without compensation, to any patient of any clinic that is organized in whole or in part for the delivery of health care services without charge as provided in § 54.1-106. A fee not to exceed $25 may be charged by the Board for the issuance of authorization to practice pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.
Code 1950, §§ 54-276.5, 54-310; 1954, c. 626; 1958, c. 161; 1960, cc. 333, 334; 1970, c. 69; 1972, c. 15; 1973, c. 529; 1975, c. 508; 1981, c. 300; 1985, c. 303; 1988, c. 765; 1992, c. 414; 1993, c. 784; 2016, c. 494; 2020, cc. 236, 368.