The survey, published in the journal Telemedicine and eHealth, found that 58 percent of professionals submit more than 100 applications per year to state medical licensing boards for telemedicine, and the average duration of time for obtaining a license ranges from one month to 10 more months in some states. More than half of the applications took more than 12 hours to complete from start to finish, according to a news release.
Although the respondents said they expected responsiveness from an ideal licensing board, only 29 percent were responsive, 50 percent were cooperative, 67 percent were knowledgeable and 12.5 percent were willing to expedite. Moreover, 79 percent of applicants have had to resubmit applications because of lost paperwork.
The difficulty varied by state. Indiana, Oregon, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Montana were ranked as the most reasonable. California, Texas, Arkansas and Massachusetts were ranked as the most difficult to deal with.
“This survey confirms the difficulties we face in the timely establishment of telemedicine programs to areas in need of physicians,” said Herb Rogove, DO, president and CEO of C3O Telemedicine and the lead researcher, in the news release. “Obtaining a state medical license along with hospital credentialing is a time consuming process in which patients are penalized by delays in access to medical care. Healthcare is not keeping up with the potential benefits of disruptive technologies.”
