Source: Ohio Chapter of the American College of Emergency Medicine
In May, Senator Shannon Jones (R-Springboro, OH) joined forces with Senator Charleta Tavares (D-Columbus, OH) to introduce Senate Bill (SB) 332, a bill to address Ohio’s infant mortality crisis. The bill would implement many recommendations made by the Ohio Commission on Infant Mortality, which was created by the Ohio General Assembly in 2014.
Unfortunately, included with the many good provisions of SB 332, is a provision that would require all physicians to complete mandatory cultural competency continuing medical education (CME) as a condition of state licensure. 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 we applaud efforts to reduce Ohio’s unacceptably high infant mortality rate and we would support common sense, evidence-based measures to accomplish that goal, we cannot support mandated, subject-specific CME.
Ohio Senate leadership has indicated that SB 332 is high priority and on a fast-track in the upcoming lame duck session. Physicians’ organizations, including the OAFP, are working hard to get the cultural competency CME provision removed from the legislation. Watch future editions of the Weekly Family Medicine Update for more information as it becomes available.