The provision that would have required all physicians to complete mandatory cultural competency continuing medical education (CME) as a condition of state licensure has been removed from Senate Bill (SB) 332, a bill to address Ohio’s infant mortality crisis.
The mandate has been replaced with language that would require each state licensing board to evaluate the problems of race and gender-based disparities in health care treatment decisions and would require each licensing board to annually provide its licensees with a list of CME courses and learning opportunities that address cultural competency in health care.
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians has a long-standing policy opposing any subject-specific CME requirement as a condition of state licensure. So while the OAFP applauded efforts to reduce Ohio’s unacceptably high infant mortality rate, we made it clear to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and Senate leadership that we could not support mandated, subject-specific CME. We appreciate that the CME mandate has been removed from the bill.
Ohio Senate leadership has indicated that SB 332 is high priority and on a fast-track in the upcoming lame duck session.