To the Editor:

Debbi McInteer’s letter (“Patient access to doctors threatened by proposed bill,” May 26) includes many inaccuracies and distortions about the proposed Interstate Medical Licensure Compact legislation, which, if enacted, will benefit Rhode Island’s patients and physicians.

First, and most importantly, Compact participation is voluntary. The Compact simply offers a new, more streamlined option for medical licensure, making it possible for physicians to receive a license to practice in Rhode Island, or in other Compact states, in a more expedited and simplified fashion. Any physician that wants to apply for a license using Rhode Island’s existing licensure process rather than through the proposed Compact may continue to do so.

Second, the Compact does not move legislative control, licensing or disciplinary power away from Rhode Island authorities. Under the Compact, the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline will have the same jurisdictional power it has always had, and it will continue to have total authority to ensure that physicians practicing in Rhode Island adhere to all of the state’s medical regulations.

Finally, while costs for the Compact will soon be determined, projections by experts from the Council of State Governments and others indicate that the Compact will have little, if any, impact on state budgets.

Sixteen states have joined the Compact since it was introduced in 2015, including four states in the last month alone. In many of these states, bipartisan votes by state legislators have been overwhelmingly in favor - driven by their understanding of the many benefits Compact participation brings to patients and physicians.

James F. Griffin, D.O.

Member

Rhode Island Board

of Medical Licensure and Discipline