To streamline Wisconsin’s health care professional licensure process, WHA developed and championed 2021 Act 10 which enables most health care providers licensed in another state to immediately begin practice in Wisconsin while they seek approval of their regular Wisconsin license. This Wisconsin “super-compact” license applies to a broad range of health care professions, but unlike traditional compact licenses, applies to licenses in good standing in all states.
Importantly, with only a narrow exception, this new licensure process and the license granted under 2021 Act 10 does NOT end with the end of the federal emergency related to COVID-19. Only those health care providers who have NOT concurrently applied for a regular Wisconsin license will see their Act 10 license expire at the end of the federal emergency related to COVID-19. Further, health care providers with a license in good standing in another state may continue to apply for and practice under a 2021 Act 10 license even after the end of the federal emergency related to COVID-19, if the health care provider has concurrently applied for a regular Wisconsin license.
The Legislature’s
official summary of 2021 Act 10 makes these distinctions clear:
- “2021 Wisconsin Act 10 creates a temporary credential for a health care provider from out-of-state to begin practicing in Wisconsin, pending an application for a permanent credential OR during the declared national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [emphasis added]”
- “The temporary credential under the act provides preliminary credentialing pending an application for a permanent credential, and temporary credentialing for practice that is limited to the declared national emergency related to COVID-19. [emphasis added].”
- “A temporary credential is effective from the date that services are first provided in the state, as identified in the provider’s application for the temporary credential, and expires on the date that DSPS or a credentialing board grants or denies the application for a permanent credential. A temporary credential for a health care provider who is providing services only during the declared national emergency expires 30 days after the end of the declared national emergency.”
WHA also has additional resources regarding 2021 Act 10 licenses. A recording of the May 5, 2022, WHA webinar on the 2021 Act 10 licensure reform is available
here in
WHA’s On-Demand Learning Center. Additionally, a written summary of the 2021 Act 10 licensure reform is available
here, including links to the relevant DSPS Act 10 licensure application forms. An additional information sheet regarding newly required electronic application via LicensE for Act 10 licenses can be found at
https://dsps.wi.gov/Documents/info2021-A101.pdf.
For more information regarding using 2021 Act 10 to expedite Wisconsin licensure, contact WHA Senior Vice President of Workforce and Clinical Practice
Ann Zenk or WHA General Counsel
Matthew Stanford.