Merit Launches ‘ReadyNow’ Medical License Reciprocity Program to Aid Nationwide COVID-19 Response

Digital licensing and verification for medical professionals cuts administrative barriers so medical personnel can respond to the crisis across state lines

PRESS RELEASE

Verified identity platform Merit today announced that it is offering every state the opportunity to digitally connect medical licensing systems, eliminating administrative barriers and allowing medical professionals greater freedom to assist COVID-19 response efforts, even across state lines. Merit ReadyNow is offered to all 50 states at no cost to states, medical professionals, or anyone that needs to verify credentials, and partners can be onboarded within days.

Over 1,000 public and private sector agencies and organizations currently use Merit for professional licensing, occupational regulation, workforce development, recreation, and other digital credentialing needs. Merit is actively engaged with emergency response organizations such as the University of Utah’s Online CERT training program, aimed at improving community preparedness and resilience.

“The rapid spread of COVID-19 has created an urgent need to ensure that medical professionals can quickly access licenses and be verified to work in order to maximize the capacity of our healthcare system,” said Tomer Kagan, CEO of Merit. “The time it takes to transfer and verify a medical license across state lines should be minutes, not days or weeks. Merit has the platform built and is ready now to support the entire healthcare industry from licensing to verification. Starting today, any participating state agency can instantly send verified credentials, allowing medical professionals to apply their skills where they’re needed most.”

On Friday, March 13, the Federation of State Medical Boards endorsed measures to aid states in verifying licenses for physicians responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. Merit’s initiative, which waives all fees associated with system integration, onboarding, deployment, and support during the entire course of a declared state of emergency and through the end of 2020, paves the way for states to take swift action.

“This pandemic has highlighted not only the immense need for a coordinated response to boost the capacity of our healthcare system,” said Jeff Colyer, Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. “The ability to enable nationwide medical reciprocity at an accelerated pace in light of COVID-19 will help us deploy health professionals to their highest and best use as quickly as possible.”

In addition to the ability to display a secure, digital credential on a mobile device, Merit is rolling out new tools to efficiently verify those digital credentials, including the ability to easily share a URL or QR code to view and check qualifications using a smartphone camera, as well as a web-based check-in tool to automate qualification and check-ins with limited person-to-person contact. For more information on Merit, and to get started licensing and verifying medical professionals, please visit www.merits.com/ReadyNow.