Medical Licensure and the Federation of State Medical Boards

Abstract

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is the membership association of the nation’s licensing regulatory authorities. The 70 member boards consist of representatives from each of the 50 states, 14 of the states having a separate board for osteopathic physicians. The 4 territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands are also members. The final 2 members are Washington, DC, and a second board from New York. The state of New York is unique in that it has 2 seats in the House of Delegates of the FSMB because it has a board of discipline that reports to the Department of Health and a board of licensure that reports to the Department of Education. All other jurisdictions have a single reporting authority for licensing and regulation. The FSMB was formed in 1912 for the purpose of providing information to the various licensing authorities regarding disciplinary actions. The mission of the FSMB is to ensure continual improvement in the quality, safety, and integrity of health care through the development and promotion of high standards for physician licensure and practice. The FSMB is organized with a house of delegates that meets annually and establishes policy. The House of Delegates elects a 13-member board of directors from the membership, who have the responsibility of overseeing the work of the FSMB, including hiring the CEO who manages the organization and its 145 employees out of the offices in Dallas, Tex. The FSMB offers a number of services to the state medical boards and helps draft policy to improve the licensure and regulatory process in this country. Among those services is maintaining the nation’s largest database on disciplinary actions by physicians. In addition, the FSMB operates a disciplinary alert service in which state medical boards are notified any time a disciplinary action is taken against a licensee in that state. Approximately 80% of physicians who have disciplinary actions against them have licensure in multiple states. The disciplinary alert service provides notification to all the states in which a physician is licensed at the time of the disciplinary action. A data-sharing relationship with the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) provides for notification also to the ABMS any time a diplomate of one of the specialty boards has a medical board disciplinary action taken against him or her.