When natural disasters occur, chiropractors can literally travel to the other side of the world to offer humanitarian relief in less than a day. The chiropractor's license to legally practice, however, can't make it past the state line.
A skilled chiropractic instructor may take their clinical experience wherever they would like and share it with whoever wishes to learn – but it has to be kept strictly theoretical, because the instructor's license doesn't travel, too.
No matter the desperate need, long-standing relationship or outstanding qualifications of the chiropractor, existing license standards tether practitioners to a limited practice area, prohibiting care in cross-jurisdictional environments.
The purpose of a chiropractic license is important – ensuring accountability, adequate standards for providing care and of course, patient protection. But in an increasingly mobile world, the basic practitioner license is proving to be a little too inflexible.
So, what can be done? Proposed U.S. federal legislation introduced two years ago that would allow sports team doctors and trainers to treat team players during road games seemed promising, but unfortunately, didn't pass by the end of the legislative session. The status of the legislation's possible refiling and likelihood of its passage is unknown.
According to a recent Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) poll, only 13 state chiropractic licensing boards currently have some sort of travel-to-treat and travel-to-teach "temporary" licensure available. The administrative processes, practice limitations and allowances vary greatly, with no single standard bringing clarity to temporary license holders.
The FCLB has developed a program to address this long-standing, desperate need for license portability, and aims to launch it at its upcoming annual conference in Orlando, Fla., in May 2017.
The FCLB's Passport Program is a multi-step license credentialing process that verifies a chiropractor's legal qualifications to engage in practice; history of any discipline; moral turpitude; and possession of any advanced specialty certification.
There are two features and intrinsic benefits to the Passport Program. First and foremost, the program will promote uniform regulatory standards to assist jurisdictions that license chiropractors in enacting temporary licensing.
Second, chiropractors with active Passport status will have accountability, via an international public registry, as they travel to unregulated foreign jurisdictions and bring the art, science and meaning of chiropractic to populations not yet exposed.
In advance of the May 2017 launch of the program, the FCLB is spreading awareness of this new initiative by offering a complimentary continuing-education / Caribbean cruise package for two. Chances and information about the cruise are available via the FCLB's website (www.fclb.org). The raffle will take place during the federation's May conference, and ticket holders are not required to be in attendance to win.
It is the vision of the FCLB that this new credentialing service and public registry will promote worldwide credibility for the chiropractic profession while enhancing global public protection. By offering credentialing for international sporting events, disaster-relief missions, or to simply provide chiropractic services on a temporary basis almost anywhere, the Passport Program will enhance mobility, practitioner opportunities, and most importantly – legal access to chiropractic services.
If you support having an expedited legal process to provide chiropractic services beyond your state boundary on a limited basis, via temporary licensing, please visit the FCLB website to learn how you can help get this long-needed ability enacted into every jurisdiction – and bring true practice mobility to the profession.
Dr. Maggie Colucci is vice president of the FCLB, a director of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and a member of the Chiropractic Physician's Board of Nevada. A 2009 recipient of the Nevada Chiropractic Association's Chiropractor of the Year award, Dr. Colucci holds sports injuries diplomates from NYCC and LACC. She currently chairs the FCLB PACE and Interjurisdictional Mobility committees for the FCLB.