American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine President Neal S. ElAttrache, MD, applauded the passage of the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act (H.R.302), which was signed into law as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018.
The new legislation clarifies how healthcare services and medical liability insurance are provided outside of physicians' primary state of licensure.
"The licensure clarity act will now officially recognize and permit the medical care of athletes by their team physicians when the teams travel out of state," said Dr. ElAttrache.
"This has been a great advocacy team effort among many of our members and between multiple societies, including the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and National Athletic Trainers' Association. There is no doubt that this piece of critical legislation will benefit our athletes and team physicians for years to come."