Liberating Telemedicine: Options to Eliminate the State-Licensing Roadblock

Aside from the ideal of eliminating government licensing of clinicians, or the second-best option of relying on states to open their borders to physicians licensed in other states, the most feasible option for expanding telemedicine is for Congress to define the location of the practice of telemedicine as that of the physician, treating digital patients like patients who physically make a trip across state or national borders to secure medical care.

Under such a law, a physician would need only one license to engage in the practice of telemedicine, and would be responsible for only one set of licensing rules—those of the state in which the physician practices. Existing telemedicine providers would be able to recruit physicians in greater numbers and to provide higher-quality and lower-cost services to far more patients. The ability of patients in emergent situations or with rare illnesses to obtain care from top specialists would expand dramatically. New entrants into a national market for telemedicine would drive down prices for both telemedicine and in-person medical services.

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