Keeping State Medical Boards Informed on the Latest Advancements in Medical Regulation
FSMB provides a wide range of educational events and resources to keep state medical boards informed and up to date on the latest advances in regulatory best practices. In the past year, we focused our efforts on expanding our continuing medical education (CME) accreditation services on behalf of state medical boards, and hosted webinars, workshops, and in-person events to provide state medical board members and staff with opportunities to learn and network with colleagues from across the country.
2024 Annual Meeting:
The Science of Sound Decisions
FSMB’s 112th Annual Meeting took place April 18-20, 2024, in Nashville, TN. Centered around the theme “The Science of Sound Decisions,” the meeting focused on providing best practices to regulators whose work regularly involves making high-stakes decisions impacting patient safety. A record-breaking 600 attendees from across the United States joined international regulators from Australia, Canada, Ghana, South Africa, and New Zealand, to learn and engage in live sessions, workshops and role-specific forums on a wide range of topics impacting the current and future work of medical regulators.
The program highlighted topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare workforce, pathways to licensure for international physicians, physician wellbeing, compassionate decision-making, addressing unregulated treatments such as IV-hydration and ketamine, and many other pressing issues. The meeting also hosted additional forums and workshops tailored specifically for investigators, executive directors and board attorneys to explore subjects pertinent to their daily work at their medical boards. Concluding the event, Katie L. Templeton, JD, was installed as Chair of the FSMB Board of Directors for 2024-2025.
Milestone Year for CME Activities and Online Learning
In early 2024, FSMB reached an important milestone with its continuing medical education (CME) accreditation service – more than 40,000 physician and non-physician learners have participated in CME activities through FSMB. As more learners look to participate in online CME activities, FSMB has increased its efforts to provide more web-based enduring activities and courses. Over the past year, we have accredited more than two-dozen activities for member boards such as the Washington Medical Commission and the North Carolina Medical Board, and for organizations including NBME and the American Parkinson Disease Association.
Symposium on Artificial Intelligence in Health Care and Medical Regulation
On January 17, 2024, FSMB brought together more than 100 individuals in Washington, DC to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on patient safety and quality of care. Attendees included members and staff of state medical boards and leaders in health tech, venture capital, government and law. Throughout the symposium, panelists and attendees discussed how to balance the immense benefits of AI in healthcare with its risks, and how to best develop guardrails for its use in clinical care.
The symposium also allowed the opportunity for the FSMB Ethics and Professionalism Committee, chaired by Mark Woodland, MS, MD, to share key themes from its draft report “Navigating the Responsible and Ethical Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence into Clinical Practice,” which provided recommendations for state medical boards in governing the use of AI. The event marked a significant step in advancing our understanding of the ethical and practical implications of AI in healthcare.
Annual Workshop: Supporting State Medical Board Attorneys
FSMB held its 15th annual fall Board Attorneys Workshop in November 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. This annual gathering is held to provide state medical board attorneys the opportunity to network with colleagues from across the country and learn about best practices in compliance, investigation and enforcement. Important topics covered in this year’s workshop included a federal and state legislative update, strategic development of sexual misconduct cases, the role of comprehensive independent evaluations in sexual misconduct cases, regulatory challenges and opportunities when navigating the use of AI in clinical care, the use of social media in medicine, and practical skills for litigators.
Seventy (70) attendees representing 26 state medical and osteopathic boards participated in this year’s event, and the workshop was accredited by the Kentucky Bar Association for 7.5 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) credit.