Medical professionals and experts have come up with various ways to improve the healthcare services to the community. Telemarketing is one of the major aspects through which healthcare provision to the community has improved and made convenient enough without physically going to the hospital. However, legislatures in some seven states are considering joining hands in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC). The primary course of this compact is to increase the number of physicians and improve technological advancement and usage in telemedicine industry.
There are different views and perspective that telemedicine industry professionals and analysts have if the IMLC is enacted. Renowned economists such as Michael L Marlow, Ph.D. put a light on the matter and advice that the compact will keep the medical fees at higher levels and create an obstacle for other medical physicians. Additionally, the competition will be kept at bay, and the telemedicine healthcare services provision will be at the hand of few licensed practitioners.
Marlow feels that the Federation of State Medical Board (FSMB) which is the main strategists behind this legislative and their agenda has little to do with quality healthcare provision. He explains that FSMB is primarily focused on controlling the telemedicine industry.
In a normal supply and demand aspect in healthcare service provision, the community in these states should not expect the fees to be cheaper because the number of physicians will be limited. However, the quality will be of higher standard because of the measures that will be applied for physicians to acquire the licenses. Additionally, the compact will maximize on patient protection practices that will ensure the patient will be on the hands of the most qualified and candid physicians.
There will be minimal cases of improper healthcare such as prescription of poor medication or incorrect diagnosis.
Licensing physicians is purely a good idea as long as all the necessary issues such as the quality and convenient healthcare provision to the community are addressed. Failure to address these issues and to focus on different agenda such as control and creation of a monopolistic system in offering telemedicine healthcare services will hurt the industry. However, telemedicine healthcare system can be very beneficial to the community when timely and efficiently provided with affordable fees despite the enactment of Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.