Relocating doctors face licensing hassles

Headaches from licensure regulations and insurance credentialing are common for doctors who cross state lines. These barriers also may contribute to supply woes.

By Jay Greene, AMNews staff. Feb. 4, 2002.

Radiologist David Pennes, MD, wants to move someplace warmer than Indiana. Board-certified and without a malpractice history, Dr. Pennes thought getting a license in another state would be a walk in the park.

So far, that little walk is something more akin to a marathon in the jungle. Instead of lions and tigers and bears, there are licenses and credentials and insurance.

More than 55,000 allopathic and osteopathic physicians each year go through the medical licensing process -- 45% are seeking initial licenses and 55% are relocating to other states. Most vastly underestimate the hassles inherent in the process, staffing and relocation experts say.

But medical licensing is just the first step toward full practice in a new state. Gaining necessary managed care credentials for billing purposes, joining hospital medical staffs for admitting privileges and finding affordable professional liability insurance are other time-consuming tasks -- some of which discourage physicians from moving.

"Where I go will be determined to a certain extent by licensure requirements," Dr. Pennes said. "I am not going to take any tests that make me study stuff that's not pertinent to what I do now. I haven't relocated yet, but perusing the state licensure board Web sites told me what a god-awful hassle it's going to be."

The myriad array of rules, regulations and costs associated with moving may be adding to the growing physician shortage problem in certain states, say physician staffing and relocation experts. [...]