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. While we have been successful in educating the Council on why some provisions need to be removed, many onerous changes remain. You can see what many of these changes are here.

The Council will be holding a final vote in May unless we convince them to make changes now. Our letter (printed below) will allow you to show the Council 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, visit the Physician Voices for Patient Safety or contact MSDC.

Phil Mendelson
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Chairman Mendelson:

We, the undersigned physicians, urge you to remove any language in B25-545 that expands the scope of practice of allied health providers. 88% of DC physicians oppose the bill (according to a survey conducted by MSDC in March 2024 among physicians licensed to practice in Washington, DC).

Our patients deserve the safest care. 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. Unlike other healthcare professionals, physicians 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 worse health outcomes to patients and more expensive care for the communities where they live.

This bill is dangerous for patient care and DC residents will be harmed by expanding scope of practice to undertrained practitioners. 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,