RECORD NUMBER OF LICENSURE BOARDS AND HOSPITALS TAKE ACTION TO PREVENT SUICIDE FOR THE HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE
This week, the ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare coalition, led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, announced significant progress made in effort to prevent suicide and better support the mental health of healthcare workers. A record number of licensure boards and hospitals have removed invasive mental health questions from licensing and credentialing applications that prevent health workers from seeking mental health support and increase the risk of suicide. This collective effort is positively benefiting more than 1.1 million licensed and 115,000 credentialed health workers nationwide. Read the full press release.
Wellbeing First Champions for Licensing
As of September 1, 2024, 1 dental licensure board, 29 medical licensure boards, and 4 nursing licensure boards verified their licensing applications do not include intrusive mental health questions—benefiting more than 1.1 million licensed health workers.
Wellbeing First Champions for Credentialing
As of September 1, 2024, 375 hospitals (up from 75 last year) verified their credentialing applications do not include intrusive mental health questions—benefiting more than 115,000 credentialed health workers. Also, 1 insurance company (PacificSource Health Plans) verified their credentialing applications. Additionally, Jackson and Coker Locums Tenens and Envision Healthcare verified their internal applications and forms—benefiting 17,300 health workers.
Click here to view the State-of-the-States interactive map.
North Carolina is contributing to this progress through ALL IN: Caring for North Carolina’s Caregivers, a statewide initiative with the North Carolina Clinician and Physician Retention and Well-being (NCCPRW) Consortium and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation (DLBHF). Most recently, the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) revised its Uniform Credentialing Application, ensuring it no longer includes intrusive mental health questions or stigmatizing language. This update enables hospitals and healthcare organizations across the state that use the NCDOI application to move forward with auditing and changing their applications, fostering a more supportive environment for those who care for us all.