State License

A professional license issued by a state regulatory board that authorizes a healthcare provider to practice their discipline within that state, subject to the board's rules and renewal requirements.

A state license, in the context of credentialing, refers to any professional license issued by a state regulatory board that authorizes you to practice your profession. For physicians, it is a medical license from the state medical board. For dentists, a dental license. For psychologists, a psychology license. For nurses, a nursing license. The key thing to understand is that state licenses are state-specific. A medical license issued by Florida does not allow you to practice in Georgia. If you see patients in multiple states, you need a license in each state. This is especially relevant for telehealth providers who see patients across state lines. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact has made multi-state licensing somewhat easier for physicians. If your primary state of licensure is a member of the Compact, you can use an expedited process to get licenses in other Compact states. But not all states participate, and the process still requires a separate application and fee for each state. Every credentialing application asks for your state license information, and every payer verifies it through primary source verification with the state board. They check the license number, type, issue date, expiration date, status (active, inactive, suspended, etc.), and any disciplinary history. Practicing without a valid license is illegal and will result in exclusion from every payer network, potential criminal charges, and loss of all other credentials. This sounds obvious, but license lapses happen more often than you would think. A provider moves to a new state, starts seeing patients, and does not realize their old state license expired while they were focused on getting licensed in the new state. Meanwhile, they still have patients from the old state coming in for follow-ups. Track every license you hold, in every state, and know the renewal dates and CME requirements for each one.