Several U.S. states relax medical licensing rules to address rural doctor shortage
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES — To solve the chronic deficiency of physicians in rural areas, several U.S. states have begun to make it easier for foreign-trained doctors to obtain a license.
This trend, which started in 2023, continues to grow and affects the licensing system of qualified medical professionals in the United States to invite doctors from other countries to practice in underserved areas across the country.
Changing landscape of medical licensing
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) reports that at least nine states have revised their laws and no longer require foreign-trained physicians to finish a U.S. residency to get a full medical license. This is a significant change from the past practice where doctors who trained or worked abroad had to retake the residency or similar training in the United States.
NPR reports that this trend is still on the rise, and more than a dozen other states have followed suit to review their laws on the same issue. Its proponents argue that with this strategy, it becomes easier to allow qualified doctors while also filling the huge need in rural areas that lack access to quality health care.
Opportunity and safety: The balance of power
Although the initiative is gaining support, some are worried that it may put patients at risk. Barbara Parker, a registered nurse and a former Republican lawmaker in Arizona, has opposed efforts to weaken the residency requirements for a license in her state.
“It’s a really poor answer to the doctor shortage,” Parker told NPR. “This is driven by corporate greed.”
She pointed out that this may lead to hospitals hiring incompetent doctors to reduce the overall costs of employment, which may compromise the quality of service to the patient.
In order to allay these fears, the states that have adopted the new regulations have made sure that there are certain restrictions. Internationally trained doctors can only get the licenses if they meet the following requirements:
- Several years of experience working as a physician
- Completion of residency programs comparable in rigor to U.S. programs
- A commitment to work in rural or underserved communities for several years
The above conditions are designed to ensure that only the best of the foreign-trained doctors are issued licenses while at the same time meeting the main objective of increasing the health care supply in the needy areas.
However, the effectiveness of these measures in solving the problem of rural doctor shortage is not known. For example, in the case of Tennessee, the new laws do not require foreign-trained doctors to practice in rural areas, which, according to medical researchers, may reduce the impact of the laws on the existing rural healthcare gaps in the state.
Offshore outsourcing in healthcare
In the meantime, as states try to solve the problem of a lack of physicians through the liberalization of licensing requirements, the healthcare industry is gradually employing offshore outsourcing as a solution to many problems.
Precedence Research projects the global healthcare BPO market to grow from $427.32 billion in 2024 to $1.03 trillion in 2034, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.2%.
To improve the quality of care and minimize the costs, healthcare providers are contracting non-clinical functions to offshore firms. This helps healthcare organizations to concentrate on their strengths and get expert support from around the globe for functions like medical billing, coding, and other administrative activities.
However, offshoring in healthcare is not without its issues, including the need to secure data, meet regulatory requirements, and avoid cultural and language differences. In the healthcare sector, the interaction between the strategies for domestic licensing changes and offshore outsourcing will likely define the future of healthcare delivery and the workforce.
