Important Issues

MSDC is asking all physicians to join a letter asking the Committee on Health to remove all scope of practice expansion provisions from the HORA reform bill.

B25-545 would update the DC law regulating healthcare licensing in the District. The bill includes numerous changes to the District's scope of practice laws that MSDC, AMA, and the healthcare community are concerned would endanger patients and raise the cost of healthcare in DC. You can see what many of these changes are here.

The Committee on Health is holding a "mark-up" (or vote of changes to the bill) in the coming weeks and if the scope language is not removed, it will be hard to prevent it from passing. Our letter (printed below) will allow you to show the committee how the physician community opposes these changes and how important it is to remove this language.

Join the letter here.

To become involved in this initiative, contact MSDC staff.


Chair Christina Henderson
DC Council Committee on Health
1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Chair Henderson:

We, the undersigned physicians, urge you to remove any language in B25-545 that expands the scope of practice of allied health providers.

A physician is the most highly trained provider on a patient’s care team. Physicians work closely with patients and other medical professionals to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries. We take the lead on patient care because physicians have the most extensive medical training of any healthcare professional. We have undergone 11-15 years of education and training after school, including four years of medical school, 3-7 years of residency/fellowship training, and up to 16,000 supervised patient care hours.

B25-545 is a bill to update the statute governing healthcare professionals, but it includes major scope of practice changes for other health professionals. In other states, removing the physician from the care team has led to poorer health outcomes and more expensive care.

As a physician licensed in the District, I urge you to remove all new scope of practice changes in B25-545 when you mark up the bill.

Sincerely,