RDN Licensure Compact Exploration - Web Meeting

From the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

RDN Licensure Compact Exploration

 Providing nutrition care services in multiple states, either in person or through telehealth, requires Academy members to become licensed according to each state’s requirements which can be time consuming and costly. One potential solution that would facilitate cost-effective interstate practice for licensed registered dietitian nutritionists is the formation of a licensure compact.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics was selected through a competitive grant process for Department of Defense funding to work with The Council of State Governments’ National Center for Interstate Compacts and explore an interstate licensure compact for the dietetics profession. The National Center for Interstate Compacts has provided technical and legal assistance to all the professional and occupational licensing compacts which have been developed or are currently under development.

Register today and join your fellow practitioners to hear representatives from the Academy, the Council of State Governments and the Department of Defense on Wednesday, October 19 from 2-3 p.m. (Central time) for a conversation about the Academy’s exciting efforts to support the mobility of licensed registered dietitian nutritionists—and particularly RDN military spouses—through the development of a new licensure compact for RDNs.

What would a licensure compact mean for the nutrition and dietetics profession?

A licensure compact could be a significant benefit for licensed registered dietitians, creating more job opportunities for practitioners as it facilitates telehealth and working with clients across state lines with less time and expense than obtaining an individual license in each state in which one practices. In addition, military spouses would be able to transition more easily to working in their new community after relocating to a new state.

What is an occupational licensure compact?

An interstate compact is a legislatively enacted and constitutionally binding contract between two or more states. Examples of interstate compacts include the New York and New Jersey Port Authority and the Colorado River Compact, which have both been in effect for over a century. As of 2022, there are over 250 active interstate compacts, with every state in the country having enacted at least one.

Over the past years, occupational and professional licensure compacts have proliferated among throughout the country to revolutionize the ability of licensees to practice in multiple states through a streamlined and facilitated process. These licensure compacts have been especially popular amongst healthcare professions, including nursing, physicians, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, which have all developed compacts.

Licensure compacts typically work similarly to a driver’s license (another result of an interstate compact) as the license you are issued in one state can be used in other states that adopt the compact. To facilitate professional licensure mobility, states that enact the compact agree to follow certain disciplinary procedures related to multistate practice, while also outlining shared qualifications for compact licensure. Additionally, each state will appoint a delegate to the compact commission, a joint government agency formed by compact member states, to oversee the compact and maintain a shared database of licensees.

Register today and learn more about what the future holds for RDN interstate licensure!