A Quick Introduction to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact for Telehealth Providers

In this video, Edward Kaftarian, MD, executive chairman, Orbit Telepsychiatry, discusses the practicalities of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), aimed at simplifying the process of acquiring medical licenses across different states for telehealth providers. With the growing popularity of telehealth services for psychiatry and other medical care, the need for a streamlined licensing system has become evident. While the IMLC offers a promising solution by enabling practitioners to apply through a single process, challenges remain, particularly for those in states not participating in the compact. This underscores the importance of a unified approach to healthcare regulation.

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Read the Transcript:

Edward Kaftarian, MD: My name is Dr. Edward Kaftarian. I'm the executive chairman of Orbit Health Telepsychiatry and a member of the Psych Congress Steering Committee.

Psych Congress Network: What is the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, and what are the implications for telehealth practices?

Dr Kaftarian: The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact is an effort to unify the process of applying for a state license to practice medicine. Unlike a driver's license where I can just drive anywhere I want with my state license, I can't practice telemedicine anywhere I want.

With the advancement of telehealth, we have a lot of providers that want to practice across state lines. If you don't have a license to practice in a particular state, though, in some cases the state may be a member of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which allows one application to streamline the process.

Now each state still issues the license. So, it's going to be state-specific in that they issue the license, but the IMLC does streamline it. There are a couple of challenges with this process though, because if the state that you reside in does not participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, then you're not able to participate.One of the requirements is that your state of principal licensing must be a member. So for example, if I'm in California, which is not a member state--therefore I'm not able to participate.

There are all kinds of other rules around this, but I think it's a good starting point to develop a more national-based effort to practice across state lines, because practicing across state lines, in many cases, is just kind of an arbitrary barrier, especially for cases where somebody is moving around. For example, college students go to college in a different state oftentimes. You have to be considered about the state where they're actually residing in. One of the most important things to remember is that if the patient moves then you are now subject to the requirements for that state that the patient is now in, even temporarily.

Edward Kaftarian, MD, is a preeminent authority in the field of Telepsychiatry. He holds a distinguished seat on the Telepsychiatry Committee of the American Psychiatric Association and is a member of the Steering Committee for PsychCongress, the United States' largest independent mental health educational conference. Additionally, Dr. Kaftarian is a prominent speaker on the rules and regulations governing telehealth. Dr. Kaftarian completed his psychiatry training at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University and holds board certifications in Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.