The Duluth New Tribune posts a column on health care and how to remove a barrier to make telehealth easier…

First, Minnesota should join the national Nurse Licensure Compact. When the pandemic hit, Minnesota needed all the qualified medical professionals it could get, but licensing proved to be an obstacle to qualified health care workers from outside the state putting their skills to use here. Gov. Tim Walz eventually signed an order allowing health care workers licensed in other states to work in our state, but a permanent solution would be for our state to join the national Nurse Licensure Compact.

The compact allows a nurse to have one license in their primary state of residence with authority to practice in person or via telehealth in other compact states, with the requirement that they follow the nurse practice act of each state. As the Minnesota Board of Nursing says, the compact “advances public protection and access to care through the mutual recognition of one state-based license that is enforced locally and recognized nationally.” At present, 34 states are members of the compact.