Iowa’s top medical officials are exploring changes to its licensing process that advocates say could encourage more doctors to seek treatment for mental health and substance use disorders.
The Iowa Board of Medicine is currently reviewing its licensing applications for doctors, making Iowa one of nearly a dozen states working to determine whether the questions asked may stigmatize those seeking treatment, according to the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, a group that advocates for better mental health support for healthcare workers.
“In an effort to reduce any stigma or fear associated with licensees seeking mental health treatment, our team has participated in a number of conversations over the last year regarding questions about license applications,” according to a news release from the Iowa Board of Medicine. .
The board reviews quality control questions on its license application, which include inquiries about medical conditions that may “impair or limit” an individual’s ability to practice medicine. The application also includes questions about participation in treatment programs or monitoring their health or their alcohol or drug use.
The Iowa Board of Medicine received comments on these issues, according to the foundation. However, it’s unclear what changes might be made because officials were unwilling to share comments received by the licensing board.
“Iowa is adopting best practices in medical licensing,” said Corey Feist, co-founder and CEO of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation.
How does reducing stigma for doctors affect their patients?
The foundation was founded by the family of Dr. Lorna Breen, a prominent Manhattan emergency room doctor who died by suicide early in the coronavirus pandemic.
Since 2020, the organization has led efforts to change state accreditation documents nationwide.
When credentialing health professionals, Feist said the foundation found that most state licensing boards asked questions that “create a structural stigma that prevents and, in some ways, penalizes licensed health care workers from obtaining the same mental health treatment that they can prescribe to their patients.”
Any untreated condition, whether a physical condition or a mental health issue, in a doctor can have a direct impact on the care they provide to patients, Feist said.
“If a health care worker has untreated diabetes or eye conditions and operates on a patient, there is a risk of medical error,” Feist said. “And it’s the same thing with an untreated mental health issue. The idea is we want your care team taken care of so they can take care of you.”
The move could also help rural states like Iowa, which have long struggled with a doctor shortage, better recruit and retain providers. Feist argued that if potential applicants see that the health system supports the overall well-being of their employees, they may be more likely to apply for positions there.
Results of a survey released earlier this year by The Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for practicing physicians, found that a majority of doctors, residents and medical students nationwide believe there is a stigma around those seeking mental health care among their peers.
Additionally, according to the survey, about four in 10 doctors were afraid to seek help for burnout or depression because of the questions asked on medical licensure or medical degree applications. ‘hospital.
According to experts, this in turn increases the risk of suicide among these healthcare workers.
“The biggest driver of health care worker suicide is structural stigma and concerns about losing your license,” Feist said.
The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation said the next step would be to encourage individual hospitals and health systems to change the questions on their documents so that doctors are authorized to provide care within their facilities.
According to Feist, this will help expand support for mental health treatment locally and have a greater impact on individual providers.
“Iowa has a model accreditation form for all Iowa hospitals, and their form looks great, but each organization can ask their own reference questions,” Feist said. “There is a lot of variability across Iowa hospitals on what they asked of their peer referrals, and many of them ask questions that are too intrusive.”
Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at atmramm@registermedia.com, (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at@Michaela_Ramm
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