Comment by hellotheretoday
7 days ago
One alleviating factor (potentially) to this is cross state compacts. This allows practitioners utilizing telehealth to practice across state lines which can mitigate issues with things like clients moving, going to college, going on vacation, etc but also can help alleviate underserved areas.
Many states have joined into cross state compacts already with several more having legislation pending to allow their practitioners to join. It is moving relatively fast, for legislation on a nationwide level, but still frustratingly slow. Prior to Covid it was essentially a niche issue as telehealth therapy was fairly uncommon whereas Covid made it suddenly commonplace. It will take a bit of time for some of the more stubborn states to adopt legislation and then even more for insurance companies to catch up with the new landscape that involves paneling out of state providers who can practice on across the country
Most states just outsource licensing to a professional organization and transfers are a simple matter of filing a form and paying a fee.
If practicing across state lines is lucrative there's not much stopping existing listened professionals from doing it.
the professional org handles certification exam and varying amounts of paperwork verification depending on state but every state has a licensing board to make the final determination and handle grievances
Further, transfers are not always as simple as you describe. Sometimes they are. It depends on the states