On October 13, 2011, HRSA’s Office of Rural Health Policy, the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, issued a funding announcement for the “Licensure Portability Grant Program” (LPGP). The deadline for applications is January 17, 2012. The primary purpose for the grant program is to support State professional licensing boards to enable them to carry out their programs and help develop and implement policies to reduce statutory and regulatory barriers to the use of telemedicine.
The program is designed to leverage the experience of State licensing boards that have a strong record in implementing cross-border activities to help the states overcome licensure barriers that exist that still prevent telemedicine services from being provided across many states.
The grant competition will seek projects that can serve as national models. Contingent upon reauthorization, this program will provide funds for FY 2012 to 2014. Approximately $700,000 is expected to be available annually to fund up to two grantees limited to State professional licensing boards. The estimated average size of awards is expected to be $350,000.
Previously funded LPGP projects have worked to reduce the redundancies that complicate and delay obtaining medical licensure in multiple jurisdictions. Nineteen state medical boards have been involved so far and include Connecticut, Idaho. Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming.
These states are now using multiple models and tools developed under the LPGP to promote physician licensure portability, including an online uniform application, participation in a centralized credentialing verification program, and states are being helped to endorse physicians outside of their own state.
To view the grant announcement (HRSA-12-091), go to http://grants.hrsa.gov then click on New Grants. For more details, email Carlos Mena, Program Coordinator for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, in the Office of Rural Health Policy at cmena@hrsa.gov or call (301) 443-3198.
