Policy & Regulation News

Medical Professionals Acquire 60-Day Licensure with NV Bill

By Jacqueline DiChiara

- A new healthcare licensure bill to help streamline and expedite the process of acquiring Nevada licensing has been recently given the green light, confirms a press release. According to the Expedited Licensure Bill released by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, those medical professionals – including physicians, nurses, social workers, and therapists – in solid standing in another state can receive licensure within a 60 day window to practice in Nevada.

Nevada healthcare Legislature expedited licensure

Nevada has been in the midst of economic recovery and job creation efforts, according to a pair of press releases from Nevada’s Office of Economic Development. The state is perhaps also benefitting extensively by its billion-dollar bidding war victory regarding the highly buzzed luxury electric car company Tesla.

In light of Nevada’s progress, healthcare experts have been vocal about the licensure bill’s many long-term educational, professional, community, and economical benefits.

States Vance Farrow, Health and Medical Services Industry Specialist for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the passing of this law throughout legislature will hopefully generate jobs and promote growth opportunity within Nevada’s healthcare space.

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  • “The Nevada Legislature recognized the quality jobs that could be attracted to the State and unanimously approved this bill,” says Farrow. “As a result of the law, Nevada can actively begin to not only fill our healthcare shortage areas with the recruitment of medical professionals, but also create jobs that will bring money into Nevada’s economy and align industry needs with the state’s education and workforce training systems.”

    The new licensure bill will help guide the state of Nevada with new workforce development and recruitment opportunities, he adds, through an enhanced focus on both STEM and Graduate Medical Education.

    “Las Vegas will soon be able to boast that it has three medical schools and the framework to double or triple physician residencies,” states Doug Geinzer, Chief Executive Officer of Las Vegas Health, Education, Advocacy, and Leadership in Southern Nevada (HEALS). “This bill removed our biggest barrier for faculty recruitment, which was the timeliness to get physicians licensed in Nevada.  We can now move forward swiftly to attract faculty and highly trained specialists to develop future fellowship programs,” Geinzer says.

    Adds Larry Matheis, former Executive Director of the Nevada State Medical Association, “This need is critical for patient access as we experience unprecedented growth in the numbers of Nevadans covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance resulting from the federal Affordable Care Act.”

    Matheis additionally points to anticipated physician deficits as a challenge requiring immediate addressing. As RevCycleIntelligence.com reported, the number of physicians nationwide retiring due to ICD-10 implementation frustration may skyrocket in coming months.

    Says Matheis, effectively meeting Nevadans' medical care needs is indeed a primary goal of upcoming legislature.