The D.O. Is In Now: Osteopathic Schools Turn Out Nearly a Third of All Med School Grads

From the New York Times - July 29, 2014

Getting into osteopathic school is still excruciatingly tough. Last fall, more than 144,000 students applied for some 6,400 spots. Touro this year received 6,000 applications for 270 first-year seats for the Manhattan school and a new campus opening this summer in Middletown, N.Y. (The average M.C.A.T. score for students entering this fall was just a point below the M.D. average.)

The boom in osteopathy is striking. In 1980, there were just 14 schools across the country and 4,940 students. Now there are 30 schools, including state universities in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Michigan, offering instruction at 40 different locations to more than 23,000 students. Today, osteopathic schools turn out 28 percent of the nation’s medical school graduates.

Read the full article at the New York Times website

Berger, Joseph. "The D.O. Is In Now: Osteopathic Schools Turn Out Nearly a Third of All Med School Grads." The New York Times 29 July 2014 Published: Web. 29 July 2014.

Interstate Medical Licensure: Major Reform of Licensing to Encourage Medical Practice in Multiple States

From the Journal of the American Medical Association - July 28, 2014

The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact is a streamlined process that would allow physicians to rapidly become licensed to practice medicine in multiple states. If the compact were to be approved by state legislators and incorporated into the laws of most, if not all, states, it could catalyze many substantial changes in medical practice. 

Read more at JAMA

Corresponding Author: Robert Steinbrook, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, I-456 SHM, PO Box 208008, New Haven, CT 06520 (robert.steinbrook@yale.edu).

Published Online: July 28, 2014. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.9809.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: The author has completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

AOA House of Delegates Approves Single GME

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) House of Delegates recently voted to approve the AOA Board of Trustees' decision to implement a single accreditation system for graduate medical education.  This movement stems from an agreement that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine reached earlier this year to collaborate to create a single GME accreditation program.  The new accreditation system will be fully implemented in July 2020. 

Read more about the new accreditation policy at osteopathic.org.

U.S. Supreme Court to Determine States' Authority to Set Scope of Practice

In early October, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear North Caroline Board of Dental Examiners v. the Federal Trade Commission to determine scope of practice regulation. The case stems from the North Carolina Dental Board's policy that prohibits non-licensed dentists from administering teeth-whitening treatments.  This issue came to light when the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners issued cease and desist letters to spas, mall kiosks, and other pedestrian locations that began to offer teeth-whitening services. 

State medical and dental boards in all 50 states currently regulate scope of practice.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserts that this facilitates monopolies and inhibits competitive pricing in many cases.  Medical and dental groups argue that the FTC doesn't have the authority to oversee state practice and that patient safety is a critical component to any medical or dental care.  Scope of practice is, thus, a critical component to ensuring that those administering such treatments are qualified, competent, and certified.   

What do you think? Does a federal agency have the right to interfere with state law? Should state medical and dental boards oversee scope of practice?

Read more about this case at scotusblog.com. 

Kentucky Law Allows Certain Nurse Practitioners to Prescibe Medications

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses practicing in Kentucky who have completed a designated four-year collaboration agreement with a physician will now be able to prescribe certain medications without a physician's supervision. This movement stems from the ongoing national discussion regarding nurse practitioner scope of practice. 

Read more about Kentucky's law from Kaiser Health News.

AOA's Single GME Accreditation System Gains Momentum

According to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), over 40 state, specialty, and national associations have formally declared support for a single General Medical Education accreditation system.  This extensive effort continues to be a professional collaboration that includes developing standards, establishing processes for education programs, and securing appointments to committees involved in planning and executing this initiative.  The AOA House of Delegates will further discuss this issue during its meeting in July. 

Read more about the initiative's progress at AOA.org

ACGME Voices Concern over Missouri's Assistant Physician Law

In an attempt to address the state's ongoing physician-shortage problems, Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon, recently signed into law a provision that would allow medical school graduates who haven't completed residency to practice in primary care settings. 

The law stipulates that these graduates, deemed assistant physicians, undergo a 30-day supervision period with a collaborating physician. Once completed, assistant physicians could begin seeing patients within 50 miles of the supervising physician. 

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's CEO, Dr. Thomas Nasca, voiced concern that without residency experience, assistant physicians may not be able to provide the level of care necessary to independently medically manage patients.

Read more about it in a HealthLeaders Media interview with Dr. Nasca. 

FSMB Continues Work on Medical Licensure Compact

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has begun work on the third draft of its medical licensure compact.  The compact will enable physicians who practice in multiple states to obtain licensure more efficiently in states participating in the compact.  This will prove particularly helpful for physicians who provide telemedicine services across multiple states.

The compact is gaining momentum, and in early 2014, 16 U.S. senators signed a letter supporting FSMB's initiative.  NAMSS continues to watch these developments and looks forward to continuing to work with FSMB and other industry partners to continue to advance the credentialing and licensing processes.

Read more about FSMB's Medical Licensure Compact here and here.

Physician Recertification Requirements Unpopular

Physician recertification continues to be a contentious topic as more and more physicians are voicing their concerns with the newly revised board-recertification requirements. Many physicians and physician groups state that the cost, time, and overall hassle associated with meeting these requirements takes physicians away from their patients.

Read more about recertification woes at HealthLeaders Media. 

Employed-Physician Model Continues to Grow

According to the 2014 Merritt Hawkins Survey, 90 percent of new physician jobs are employment-based.  The growing emphasis on team-based care, market-sharing opportunities, and the evolving healthcare delivery and payment systems are the driving forces behind this trend. 

Read more about it from HealthLeaders Media.