Iowa Board of Medicine Mandated CME
Chronic Pain and End-of-Life Training
Chronic Pain
Recently, the Iowa legislature passed a new law regarding the continuing medical education (CME) required for chronic pain management in Iowa. The new law eliminated the Board's current rules and requires physicians to complete CME that focuses on the CDC guideline for proper opioid prescribing. The Board is working on specific rules which will establish the credit hours required for renewal of your Iowa medical license. The new rules may take some time to enact and the Board will provide physicians sufficient time to complete the required CME. In the meantime, if you plan on taking CME for chronic pain management, you may want to find a course that focuses on the CDC guideline for appropriate opioid prescribing.
End of Life
Iowa-licensed physicians are required to complete 2 hours of Category 1 credits for end-of-life care every five years. These new requirements, which became effective August 17, 2011, are for physicians who provide primary care to patients (e.g., emergency physicians, family physicians, general practice physicians, internists, neurologists, pain medicine specialists, and psychiatrists.)
To get more information or to review a list of frequently asked questions, please click here to visit the Iowa Board of Medicine website.
Identifying and Reporting Abuse
On May 8, 2019 Governor Reynolds signed into law HF731, making changes on how mandatory reporting training is provided. Beginning July 1, 2019 the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) will take over the responsibilities for mandatory reporting training. There will be a two hour child abuse and a two hour dependent adult abuse available on the DHS website free of charge. There are changes in how often you need to take the training, instead of every five years it is now every three years. This will be the only approved training allowed in Iowa and the only way to receive the training. Any current approval/provider numbers issued through the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) will be void after June 30, 2019. IDPH will not be renewing any approval/provider numbers due to this change. If you recently have taken mandatory reporting training from an approved provider with a current curriculum your certificate is valid 5 years past the date of the training.