The Board of Registration in Medicine has prepared new license applications for physicians renewing their licenses after January 1, 2005. The Board has made efforts to streamline the renewal process and to increase staffing to facilitate quick licensing-actions.

This year, the Board is particularly interested in ensuring timely renewals, thus preempting any physician from practicing after license expiration. Consequently, the Board is now mandating that it receive renewal applications four weeks prior to an expiration date.

Other key changes include the following:

• Renewal applications received less than four (4) weeks prior to the renewal date must include a $25 late fee or the application will not be processed.
• Physicians who fail to renew by their renewal date will be considered lapsed and barred from practicing. Reinstating a lapsed license will cost $600.
• Physicians who perform office-based surgery (OBS) must fill out a form detailing their compliance or noncompliance with MMS OBS guidelines. Responses to this question are for informational/research purposes and are not intended to affect an applicant's renewal status. The Board adopted the MMS guidelines, and they are available on the Board's website or at www.massmed.org/pages/offsurgery.asp.
• The Board now requires a statement of compliance regarding statutory reporting requirements for physicians. Elder-abuse reporting requirements, for example, now apply to virtually all professions who provide any type of care to the elderly in Massachusetts.

Additionally, the Board is asking physicians to review their online profile for accuracy, to submit any changes with the renewal application, and to submit e-mail addresses and fax numbers to facilitate communication.

If you are within 60 days of your birthday and your license is due to expire, you should have received a renewal packet. If not, call the Board at (617) 654-9810.

If you have comments or concerns about the changes to the license-renewal process, please contact Bill Ryder in the MMS Government Relations Department at wryder@mms.org or (781) 434-7219.

- Dana Cooper