GLMS Policy & Advocacy 2017 KMA Resolutions | Page 10

Adopted as Amended 2017-19 RESOLUTION Subject: Physician to Physician Opinions Submitted by: Greater Louisville Medical Society Referred to: Reference Committee WHEREAS, changing health care delivery systems and economic factors impact the availability of highly qualified physicians most notably in specialized fields; and WHEREAS, Kentucky is currently facing a significant shortage of physicians in the rural and underserved areas of the state; and WHEREAS, the need for efficient, cost-effective delivery of high quality medicine to rural and underserved patient populations in Kentucky is more important than ever; and WHEREAS, the requirement for any currently licensed out-of-state physician rendering a physician-to-physician consultation via telemedicine to have a license to practice medicine in Kentucky could curtail these types of consultations and, thus, limit rural and underserved patients access to high- quality specialty care; and WHEREAS, many states are now requiring physicians to have an interstate license, the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, in order to practice telemedicine in their states; and WHEREAS, telemedicine is seen as a possible solution to the access of care issues currently facing these patient populations; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Kentucky Medical Association support allowing physicians licensed in Kentucky to obtain opinions from physicians licensed in other jurisdictions without requiring the opining physician to obtain a Kentucky license. KMA House of Delegates August 2017