Governing Boards of Tri-Regulator Collaborative Meet for the First Time

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Apr 7, 2014) - An historic meeting of the governing boards of the three organizations representing the state boards that license physicians, nurses and pharmacists -- the Tri-Regulator Collaborative -- the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), and National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) occurred recently in Dallas.

NABP President Karen M. Ryle, MS, RPh, noted, "The convening of the governing leadership of the state boards of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing was monumental and continued the unique partnership forged with the Tri-Regulator Collaborative, which supports an interprofessional approach to patient care and regulation."

The meeting covered a range of agenda items and continued ongoing efforts supporting greater cooperation and dialogue among state boards of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. Two important initiatives that came out of the meeting are the "Tri-Regulator Collaborative Position Statement on Interprofessional, Team-based Patient Care" and the "Tri-Regulator Collaborative Position Statement on Practice Location for Consumer Protection."

The position statement on interprofessional, team-based patient care is a guidance document which affirms that all members of a health care team must place the best interests of the patient first and endorse "a team-based approach to patient care that utilizes the education, training, expertise and abilities of individual team members in order to deliver health care that is efficient, interprofessional, cost-effective, and evidence-based."

The practice location for consumer protection position statement affirms that in a consumer protection model, "health care practice occurs where the recipient of health care services is located" and "patients not residing in the location of the provider deserve the same quality of regulated practice regardless of where the provider is located."

"There is an intriguing symmetry between the cooperation involved in the governing boards of the Tri-Regulator Collaborative coming together to work on this key statement on interprofessional, team-based patient care," commented NCSBN Board of Directors President Myra A. Broadway, JD, MS, RN, executive director, Maine State Board of Nursing. 

Remarking on the collaborative outcome of the meeting, FSMB Chair Jon V. Thomas, MD, MBA, said, "At a time of great change in health care, trends are pointing increasingly to the need for a much more team-based approach to caring for patients. It makes sense for the physician community to work in close cooperation with our colleagues in pharmacy and nursing to help move a team-based care model forward."

The FSMB, NABP and NCSBN formalized their advocacy partnership in 2011 with the creation of the Collaborative. Together, their various state member boards regulate a combined 5 million physicians, pharmacists and nurses in the U.S.

About the organizations
The Federation of State Medical Boards, www.fsmb.org, is a non-profit organization representing all medical boards within the United States and its territories that license and discipline allopathic and osteopathic physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other health care professionals. It assists these state and territorial medical boards as they go about their mandate of protecting the public's health, safety and welfare. The FSMB leads by promoting excellence in medical practice, licensure, and regulation.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, www.nabp.net, supports the state boards of pharmacy in creating uniform regulations to protect public health. Founded in 1904, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is the impartial professional organization that supports the state boards of pharmacy in protecting public health. NABP aims to ensure the public's health and safety through its pharmacist license transfer and pharmacist competence assessment programs, as well as through its VIPPS, Vet-VIPPS, VAWD, and DMEPOS accreditation programs.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), www.ncsbn.org, is a not-for-profit organization whose members include the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories -- American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. There are also 16 associate members. Mission: NCSBN provides education, service and research through collaborative leadership to promote evidence-based regulatory excellence for patient safety and public protection.

National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.
111 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2900
Chicago, IL 60601-4277