Arizona Medical
Board /Arizona Board of Medicine
The process with Arizona can be one of the quickest in the
Nation. Why? Because they allow the Medical Schools, Hospitals,
and Employers to fax the Applications directly to the Arizona
Medical Board. The majority of the other Medical Boards require
that the Applications be mailed by the verifying source directly
to the Medical Board. Because of this MedLicense.com is able to
license physicians in Arizona as quickly as 45 days after the
submission of the application to the Arizona Medical Board. There
are two issues of concern with Arizona. The first concerns
Hospital Privileges. The second concerns Malpractice
Suits.
If the Physician has extensive privileging within the past 5
years and cannot remember every hospital then a domino
effect can occur thus delaying the process by 2 to 6 months. How
so? The Arizona Hospital certification form requests that each
hospital list all of the hospitals where they know the physician
has privileges. Here is an example of how this can delay the
process:
A physician lists on his application that he has had privileges
with 4 hospitals over the past 5 years. The 4 hospitals complete
the form and fax it to Arizona. The 4 hospitals report that they
are aware that the Physician has had privileges with 8 other
hospitals which are not mentioned by the physician on the
application. The Arizona Medical Board then notifies the Physician
that he/she has to have the 8 new hospitals verified. After the 8
new hospitals complete the form, Arizona is informed by the
Applications of 5 additional hospitals. The process repeats
itself thus delaying the licensing time by months.
If the physician has one or more malpractice suits, the Arizona
Medical Board requires that the physician provide a copy of the
patient records which are linked to the malpractice suit. Why is
this a problem? Well most facilities will not release these
records due to their interpretation of HIPPA laws. Our clients
have had to go to extensive means to obtain this requirement for
Arizona. We haven't been tharwted as of yet due to this
requirement but we do like to provide information as to what kind
of problems can present themself during the process.
Arizona does require the SPEX for applicants who have not
passed a National Board Examination in the past 10 years. Unlike
the other SPEX States, Arizona does not place a time limit on
being Board Certified in relation to the SPEX. If you are Board
Certified by a ABMS Board then you do not have to take the SPEX
examination.
