Interstate compact for medical boards makes headway

Doctors' ability to treat patients across state lines has been an issue in medical regulation ever since the nineteenth century. Currently, just 6 percent of doctors are licensed to practice in three or more states. But 2015 was a turning point for physician mobility as a significant number of states joined an interstate compact to ease practice across state lines. In October, the inaugural meeting of the interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission (IMLC) took place, and 22 commissioners from 11 states participated in the first meeting. Coleman Elridge, Director of the National Center for Interstate Compacts, says 12 states have now signed on to the compact.

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