A growing number of physicians are working toward getting their license to practice in all 50 states in order to treat patients throughout the country virtually, according to CNBC.
Blake McKinney, MD, is among these physicians. Currently, Dr. McKinney is licensed to practice in 49 states.
Telehealth companies tend to follow two business strategies; either hire many physicians with one or two licenses or recruit a smaller team of physicians who can practice in many states, reports CNBC.
Dr. McKinney founded CirrusMD, a chat-first virtual primary care provider. His company takes the approach of hiring a few physicians who are licensed throughout most of the country. Currently, Dr. McKinney has three physicians on staff who have licenses in all 50 states.
"Licensing physicians in multiple states is incredibly beneficial for patients," Zachariah Reitano, CEO of Ro, an online pharmacy and telemedicine company, told CNBC. "It enables a physician to treat patients in care deserts and increases access to care where there aren't enough providers available."
However, there aren't many physicians who are licensed in all 50 states. Data from the Federation of State Medical Boards indicates there were 14 physicians licensed everywhere, including Washington, D.C., in 2018.