As I begin my year as Chair of the FSMB, I am mindful that our organization is in the midst of one of the most challenging periods in our nation’s history. While we have made great progress in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, recent developments underscore the fact that we have a long way to go before we have truly gained the upper hand in our national and global fight against the virus. The social unrest that ensued after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 has left a lingering presence, intensifying the nation’s difficult reckoning with its history of racial injustice. And the specter of the increasingly bitter partisan divide in our politics — which impacts everything from conversations with our neighbors to the ability of our national leaders to govern — has created deep tensions.
It is a difficult environment, to say the least, and one that will continue to test the medical regulatory community as we begin another year in pursuit of our mission of protecting the public. Yet, I remain optimistic, after seeing U.S. medical regulators step up so admirably to meet the many challenges of the last year. At every turn, they responded to challenges with innovation, grace and determination — sharing resources and assisting the public health community to ensure stability at a time of great upheaval.
In the year to come, the FSMB will be fully committed to each of its member boards in order to help them continue their strong record of success — focusing on several key areas:
Addressing the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, despite the nation’s remarkable efforts at vaccine development and distribution — and the troubling Delta variant has illustrated that we simply can’t afford to let our guard down.
For the last year and a half, the FSMB has taken strong action to assist its member boards in the fight against COVID-19, including accelerating the efforts of its Workgroup on Emergency Preparedness and Response and launching ProviderBridge.org to help bolster the health care workforce in areas hard-hit by the pandemic. We also have provided multiple online educational sessions to help keep medical regulators apprised of pandemic developments impacting them, and more are planned during the year ahead.
Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Last year, the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police ignited a new national reckoning with racial injustice and inequality. The FSMB and other health care organizations all across the United States have recognized more than ever their responsibility to address issues of health equity, diversity and inclusion — to help put us on a path toward greater justice after four centuries of systemic racism that must be eradicated. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
Under the strong leadership of FSMB 2019–2020 Chair Cheryl Walker-McGill, MD, MBA, we hosted a major symposium on health equity last year, formed an ad hoc Task Force on Health Equity and Medical Regulation and later released a national statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medical Regulation.
During my term as Chair, we will continue to take action on this issue: As an example, we have just launched a full Workgroup on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medical Regulation, whose purpose will be to develop policy recommendations and best practices for state medical boards that will promote diversity, equity and inclusion for licensees, patients and the boards themselves. Our current FSMB Board of Directors is the most diverse in the history of the FSMB, and we must continue to remain committed to the principles of inclusion and equity in all we do.
Telemedicine
In annual FSMB surveys, state medical board leaders continue to rank telemedicine as one of the topics of greatest importance to them, and during the year to come, we will provide resources and information to help them stay up to date with developments in this fast-evolving area of medicine.
Our new Workgroup on Telemedicine, launched this year, includes representation from leading telehealth organizations and the federal government as well as national physician organizations — and we expect that this group will help us gain important new insights as we seek to establish effective telemedicine policies for medical regulators. Telemedicine’s growth during the pandemic suggests the coming of a new era for telehealth, and we must be prepared for it. We recently hosted a special virtual education session on telemedicine after the pandemic, and the FSMB’s Education Committee is hard at work on more content on this topic for medical regulators and the public.
Advocacy and Policy Leadership
Over the last decade, the FSMB has significantly expanded its advocacy efforts on behalf of its member boards, building a remarkably effective team headquartered in Washington, D.C. Every day, the team devotes itself to legislative and policy matters that impact the medical regulatory community, both on the federal and state level.
As we begin another year of advocacy for state medical boards, the team continues to be particularly focused on pandemic-related developments, and is closely monitoring legislative and policy formation to ensure the voice of medical regulators is represented. We will continue to vigorously advocate our positions on antitrust reform, the opioid epidemic, physician wellness and burnout, physician sexual misconduct and many other issues, and provide direct assistance to state medical boards when needed on their pressing legislative and policy issues at the state level as well.
The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact
As a former Chair of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, I have seen first-hand the many benefits the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) has brought to the U.S. health care system since it was introduced in 2015 — with the strong support and backing of the FSMB. Expediting the licensure process for physicians who want to practice in multiple states, the IMLC offers a timely resource that has been especially helpful during the upheavals of the pandemic.
The IMLC continues to steadily expand, and now includes 33 states, Guam and the District of Columbia. More than 21,000 licenses have now been issued using the IMLC licensure process, and during the pandemic ILMC-licensing increased substantially — doubling between March 2020 and February 2021. We expect more growth in 2021–2022, and are committed to assisting states interested in introducing Compact legislation. FSMB advocacy has been a critical component of the IMLC’s forward momentum.
State Medical Board Support
Undergirding all of our activities in the year to come will be the FSMB’s abiding commitment to the needs of its member boards. In our recently updated Strategic Plan, “State Medical Board Support” is the central pillar, driving all of our other strategic imperatives.
In the year ahead, the FSMB will introduce new services to benefit state medical boards, including exciting additions to our new Virtual Educational Program, featuring expert speakers and informative panels — many offered with continuing medical education (CME) credit. Our Data and Research team will continue its dedication to quality in all FSMB products and services, focusing on improvements to the Federation Credentials Verification Service (FCVS), Uniform Application (UA), DocInfo.org and many others; finding new and better ways to serve the needs of state medical boards and the public.
The FSMB’s commitment to excellence in the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) — which we administer with our partner, NBME — will continue unabated by the challenges we face in 2021. Last year, we made historic changes to the USMLE in order to meet the evolving needs of the medical community, and it is now up to us to ensure the success of the reconfigured USMLE, going forward.
Our Communications team will help raise awareness of the vital role state medical boards play, while helping our member boards communicate effectively with each other — using tools such as FSMB eNews, Advocacy Network News, FSMB.org and the Journal of Medical Regulation.
And we will also continue our collaborative efforts with the entire House of Medicine, including our work internationally with IAMRA — as we serve the national and global health care community.
I am deeply grateful to the FSMB’s House of Delegates for affording me the privilege of serving as FSMB Chair as we work together on behalf of our member boards and the public. I am humbled and honored to be in this position, and confident that, even in the midst of our national challenges, we will again fulfill our longstanding mission of public protection. With an outstanding FSMB staff, dedicated state-board leaders, and capable partners from other organizations, we are well-positioned for success in the year to come.
