ACEP, Others Ask Licensure Boards, Hospitals to Support Workers’ Mental Health

As part of Suicide Prevention Month in September, ACEP joined Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation and the ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare to encourage licensure board and hospitals to take action to prevent suicide in the health care workforce. Notable progress already has been made. The coalition’s Wellbeing First Champion Challenge has helped 34 licensure boards and 375 hospitals verify that their licensing or credentialing applications are free from intrusive mental health questions and stigmatizing language.

“This coalition is instrumental in the vital work to preserve and protect health care workers’ mental health,” said Aisha Terry, MD, MPH, FACEP, Immediate Past President of ACEP. “There are still too many physicians who avoid seeking mental health care out of legitimate fear they could lose their professional license or face career setbacks due to stigma surrounding treatment. Together, we are driving critical changes to reduce barriers to mental health care and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that those who manage our nation’s health care safety net are empowered to seek the mental health care they need and deserve.”

Licensure boards, hospitals, health systems, and insurance companies are encouraged to use the coalition’s licensing and credentialing toolkits to audit and change (as needed) their applications, forms, and addendums to be free of intrusive mental health questions and stigmatizing language. By then verifying the applications with the coalition, they can join the ranks of Wellbeing First Champions and further safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of health workers nationwide.

The coalition agreed that, like everyone, health workers deserve the right to pursue mental health care without fear of losing their job. However, overly invasive mental health questions in licensing and credentialing applications prevent health workers from seeking support and increases the risk of suicide. Such questioning tends to be broad or stigmatizing, such as asking about past mental health care and treatment, which has no bearing on a health worker’s ability to provide care and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Wellbeing First Champions for Licensing reports that:

• Twenty-nine state medical boards have been recognized as Wellbeing First Champions, representing a 16 percent increase from last year, with Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia now recognized.
• For the first time, a state dental board (Texas) and four state nursing boards (Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) are recognized as Wellbeing First Champions.
• Additionally, in collaboration with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, state pharmacy boards are actively auditing and verifying their applications to be recognized in the coming year.

The Wellbeing First Champions for Credentialing reports that: