Our world is evolving quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ProviderTrust will continue to respond to the changing needs of healthcare so our clients can focus on what really matters: keeping patients safe. 

Now more than ever,  we are committed to our clients and partners. We know you rely on the alerts and insights you receive in Passport to keep your organization moving forward. Rest assured, we are updating our processes to adapt to the most recent regulatory requirements, updates, and exceptions and will inform our clients as those changes are made. 

License Verification Changes in Passport
With the ever-changing medical board waivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, many state licensing boards are making rapid changes regarding who is eligible to provide care. Boards are extending license expiration dates, allowing work across state lines, and generally reducing the administrative barriers for healthcare workers providing care.  

 Here’s where it can get confusing: If a licensed provider has fallen into a grace period for exceptions made in response to COVID-19 from state medical boards, you will need to track and verify these new extension dates and adjust accordingly given certain license renewal dates are extended, or until emergency declarations have been lifted. 

In order to provide the most accurate primary source result to our clients, all license expiration dates will be updated according to COVID-19 state emergency declarations and changes will be reflected within Passport.

For Example:

• The primary source board shows an expiration date of 4/30/2020 for Suzie Smith.
• The same board has a declaration that licenses expiring on 4/30/2020 have been extended to the end of July.
• ProviderTrust will take a screenshot of the online result and expiration date of 4/30/2020 and will attach a banner to the screenshot referencing the directive and extended expiration date of 7/31/2020.
• Passport will report this license as Active, Green, with an expiration date of  7/31/2020.

Here is a screenshot from the state board of Pennsylvania. The board shows a license expiration date of 4/30/2020. This date does not reflect the directive from the Pennsylvania Department of State to extend all Registered Nurse licenses set to expire on 4/30/2020 to  now be valid through 7/31/20.

Enhanced Primary Source Records in Passport
Below is a screenshot of the primary source after the Passport update. The yellow banner at the top of the image has been added by our team and reflects the updated board directive to extend the expiration date for this license.

Automatic Passport Record Updates for Emergency Declarations 
The updated License Expiration Date is reflected in the Passport primary source record, ensuring you don’t experience unnecessary noise about these licenses during an emergency declaration from each state board.

How Does this Help Passport Users? 
As a result of these updates, clients can be assured that they will no longer receive license expiration alerts for those licenses that have now been extended by COVID-19 state emergency declarations, and all Passport primary source screenshots will include the most up-to-date declarations governing that particular license in a banner across the top.

As always, we are here to support you. Nothing is more important to us than empowering our clients and partners to deliver the safest healthcare experience possible. Please feel free to chat or reach out to our Client Success team if you have any questions. We are so grateful for you and the work you are doing every day to protect patients and respond to COVID-19. 

See your state's license portability updates