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Board of Medical Examiners

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About the Board of Medical Examiners

The Board of Medical Examiners was created in 1901 by an act of the State Legislature. Its mission is to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of Tennesseans by requiring those who practice medicine and surgery within this state be qualified. The Board awards licenses to qualified candidates who have graduated from approved medical schools and who have completed appropriate postgraduate work. The Board interprets the laws, rules, and regulations to determine the appropriate standards of practice in an effort to ensure the highest degree of professional conduct. The Board is responsible for the investigation of alleged violations of the Practice Act and rules and is responsible for the discipline of licensees who are found guilty of such violations.

The administrative staff of the Division of Health Related Boards supports the Board by issuing licenses. Renewal notices are mailed from Board’s administrative office forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration of the license to the current address on record. Licensees are responsible for renewing their license on time and keeping the Board apprised of current information. Licenses can be renewed on-line one hundred twenty (120) days prior to expiration at Tennessee.gov/health.  Click on the "License Renewal" link and follow the prompts. It is a violation of the law and of the board’s rules to practice on an expired license.

Licenses awarded by the Board include:

  • Full Licensure
  • Locum Tenens Licensure
  • Single Purpose Licensure
  • Visiting Faculty Licensure
  • Special Training Licensure
  • Telemedicine License
  • Distinguished Faculty Licensure
  • Inactive Volunteer Licensure
  • Visiting Faculty/Private Practice Licensure

    • The Board is also vested with the responsibility of ratifying all licenses or certificates for physicians’ assistants, athletic trainers, and x-ray operators in medical doctor’s offices.

    All members of the Board are appointed by the Governor and serve five (5) year terms. The twelve (12) member board consists of nine (9) licensed physicians with at lest six (6) years of experience in the practice of medicine and surgery and three (3) members who are health care consumers.

    Contact the Board of Medical Examiners

    To contact the Board, call
    (615) 532-3202 local or 1-800-778-4123 nationwide
    or write
      227 French Landing, Suite 300
      Nashville, TN  37243

    NOTICE TO ALL LICENSED PHYSICIANS REGARDING CHAPTER NUMBER 804 OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF 2006 AND CHAPTER NUMBER 446 OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF 2007:

    Effective July 1, 2007, all physicians licensed by the State of Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners shall post a sign(s) in their main public entrance containing the following information:

    1. The statewide toll-free number of the Tennessee Division of Adult Protective Services (APS), 1-888-APS-TENN (1-888-277-8366), the number for the local district attorney’s office and a statement that a person of advanced age who may be the victim of abuse, neglect, or exploitation may seek assistance or file a complaint with the APS Division concerning such; and,
    1. A statement that any person, regardless of age, who may be a victim of domestic violence may call the nationwide domestic violence hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY), or the Tennessee Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-356-6767, for immediate assistance, with the hotline number printed in boldface type; and,
    1. A statement that a teen involved in a relationship that includes dating violence may also call the national toll-free domestic violence hotline or the national teen dating abuse helpline, 1-866-331-9474, for immediate assistance.

    You may choose to post this information on separate signs or combine it into one sign.  Should you choose to post separate signs, the information in Item one (1) must be on a sign no smaller than eleven inches (11”) in width and seventeen inches (17”) in height.  The information in Items two (2) and three (3) must be on signs no smaller than eight and one-half inches (8½”) in width and eleven inches (11”) in height

    Should you choose to combine all of this information into one sign, it must be at least eight and one half inches (8½”) in width and fourteen inches (14”) in height.

    Toll-Free Hotline Numbers Sign.  If you wish to have a copy of this statement mailed to you, please contact the State of Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners toll-free at 1-800-778-4123 or 1-615-532-4384 to request the Toll-Free Hotline Numbers Notice.

    Members


    Board Members

    Member Position Representation Term Expires
    Michael D. Zanolli, M.D. President Dermatology 04-30-2014
    Subhi D. Ali, M.D. Vice President General Surgery 04-30-2014
    Dennis Higdon, MD Secretary Anesthesiology 04-30-2017
    Michael John Baron, M.D. Board Member Psychiatry 04-30-2015
    Jeff P. Lawrence, MD
    		 Board Member Orthopedic Surgery 06-30-2017
    Neal Beckford, M.D. Board Member Otholaryngology 06-30-2016
    Keith Lovelady, M.D. Board Member Pulmonary Diseases 06-30-2015
    Clinton A. Musil, Jr., MD Board Member Pediatrician 04-30-2012
    Patricia Eller Board Member Citizen 06-30-2016
    Barbara Outhier
    		 Board Member Citizen 06-30-2017
    Nina Yeiser Board Member Citizen 06-30-2016
    vacant Board Member    

    Meeting Schedule


    Meeting Schedule

    Public Notices will remain online until the minutes are ratified and posted on the Meeting Minutes Tab. Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at 227 French Landing, MetroCenter.

    Board of Medical Examiners Meeting Schedule
    Date Time Event and Location Public Notice
    July 23-24, 2013 8:30 a.m. Board Meeting, Iris Room
    Health Related Boards Conference Center
    September 17-18, 2013 8:30 a.m. Board Meeting, Iris Room
    Health Related Boards Conference Center
    November 19-20, 2013 8:30 a.m. Board Meeting, Iris Room
    Health Related Boards Conference Center

    Meeting Minutes


    Meeting Minutes

    Copies of all minutes are maintained in the official record section of the administrative office. Please contact the board administrator to make arrangements to review minutes of meetings held prior to 2004.

    Practitioner Profiles

    Information Required to be Reported on Practitioner Profiles

    To view your current profile, please go to http://health.state.tn.us/Licensure/Default.aspx and enter your license number and profession, then click on the Practitioner Profile link.

    To make changes to your profile, you can go to http://health.state.tn.us/Downloads/PH-3585.pdf and fill in the changes, print the document and mail to the appropriate board.

    The professions required to submit and maintain a practitioner profile questionnaire are:

    Advanced Practice Nurses
    Alcohol and Drug Counselors
    Audiologists
    Chiropractic Physicians
    Clinical Pastoral Therapists
    Dentists
    Dietitian/Nutritionists
    Dispensing Opticians
    Electrologists
    Licensed Registered Respiratory Therapists
    Licensed Certified Respiratory Therapists
    Licensed Laboratory Personnel
    Marital & Family Therapists
    Massage Therapists
    Medical Doctors

    Nursing Home Administrators
    Occupational Therapists
    Optometrists
    Orthopedic Physician Assistants
    Osteopathic Physicians
    Pharmacists
    Physician Assistants
    Physical Therapists
    Podiatrists
    Professional Counselors
    Psychologists
    Respiratory Care Assistants
    Social Workers
    Speech Language Pathologists
    Veterinarians

    Tennessee Code Annotated Title 63 Chapter 51 requires the following information to be reported to the Board for dissemination to the public on practitioner profiles:

    • The location of the licensee's primary practice setting;
    • A description of any criminal convictions for felonies and, as determined by the board, serious misdemeanors, within the most recent ten (10) years. For the purposes of this subsection (a), a person shall be deemed to be convicted of a crime if such person was found or adjudged guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Misdemeanor convictions later expunged by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be stricken from the provider's profile;
    • A description of any final board disciplinary actions within the most recent ten (10) years, which actions shall include final board action as defined by § 4-5-314, and reprimand action taken pursuant to a board practice act;
    • A description of any final disciplinary actions of licensing boards in other states within the most recent ten (10) years;
    • A description of revocation or involuntary restrictions of hospital privileges for reasons related to competence or character that has been taken by the hospital’s governing body or any other official action of the hospital after procedural due process has been afforded, or the resignation from or nonrenewal of medical staff membership or the restriction orf privileges as a hospital taken in lieu of or in settlement or a pending disciplinary case related to competence or character in that hospital, all as taken pursuant to procedures promulgated by the board for licensing health care facilities.  Only cases that have occurred within the most recent ten (10) years shall be disclosed by the department to the public;
    • All medical malpractice court judgments, all medical malpractice arbitration awards in which a payment is awarded to a complaining party and all settlements of medical malpractice claims in which a payment is made to a complaining party beginning with reports for 1998 and each subsequent year; provided, such reports shall not be disseminated beyond the most recent ten-year period, but shall include the most recent ten-year period for which reports have been filed. Each provider licensing board shall set by rule adopted pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, a threshold amount below which judgments or settlements shall not be reportable; provided, such threshold shall, for chapter 6 or 9 of this title licensees, be set at seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000), for doctors of chiropractic, regulated pursuant to chapter 4 of this title, be set at fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), for dentists, regulated pursuant to chapter 5 of this title, be set at twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), and for all other licensees under this title be set at ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Dispositions of paid claims shall be reported in a minimum of three (3) graduated categories indicating the level of significance of the award or settlement. Information concerning paid medical malpractice claims shall be put in context by comparing an individual licensee's medical malpractice judgment awards and settlements to the experience of other providers within the same specialty. Information concerning the existence of a court-sealed settlement shall be reported in cases involving such a settlement. Information concerning all settlements shall be accompanied by the following statement: “Settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons which do not necessarily reflect negatively on the professional competence or conduct of the provider. A payment in settlement of a medical malpractice action or claim should not be construed as creating a presumption that medical malpractice has occurred.” (Pending malpractice claims shall not be disclosed by a board to the public.);
    • Names of medical schools or professional and training schools and dates of graduation;    
    • Graduate medical education or other graduate-level training;
    • Specialty board certification as determined by the relevant board;
    • Names of the hospitals where the licensee has privileges;
    • The location of the licensee's primary practice setting;
    • The identification of any translating services that may be available at the licensee's primary practice location;
    • An indication of which managed care plans in which the licensee participates;
    • An indication of TennCare plans in which the licensee participates;
    • Appointments to medical school faculties and indication as to whether a licensee has a responsibility for graduate medical education within the most recent ten (10) years; (optional)
    • Information regarding publications in peer-reviewed medical literature; (optional) and
    • Information regarding professional or community service associations, activities and awards; (optional)

    National Organization


    National Organizations of State Boards

    Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc.
    Federation Place
    400 Fuller Wiser Road, Suite 300
    Euless, Texas 76039-3855
    Phone: (817) 868-4000
    Fax: (817) 868-4098
    www.fsmb.org

    Information on theAmerican Registry of Radiologic Technologists may be obtained by phone, fax, Internet, or writing to:

    American Registry of Radiologic Technologists
    1255 Northland Drive
    St. Paul, MN 55120-1155
    Phone: (651) 687-0048
    www.arrt.org