Mail Loss: the #1 Issue Delaying Medical Licensure

Today I had a client who called me about the status of his application with the State of Florida. His medical school had sent the forms from overseas to the Florida Medical Board via DHL. DHL provided proof that the Florida Board signed for the package. The analyst at the Florida Medical Board claimed that he never received the package from the Medical School. After 17 phone calls over 2 days, the Florida Medical Board located the DHL package in their Centralized Mail Room which handles the entire mail for the Department of Health. During one of the 17 phone calls, the Florida Board Manager admitted that the loss rate of the Mail room was 22%. Twenty Two Percent! More than 1 in 5 verifications disappear in the Florida Department of Health's mail room. She admitted that this was a big problem and she was trying to have it addressed. Am I picking on the Florida Board of Medicine? No, not at all. This is just the most recent example of the problem which many physicians face in obtaining a medical license. Florida is not the worst by no means. The Mississippi Medical Board's mail loss rate is higher than Florida's. Their mail room is absolutely unaccountable for any delivery which requires a signature. The District of Columbia's Medical Board isn't much better. Many of these States have a Centralized Mail System. Any package or delivery is required to go through their Centralized Processing Center before it is routed to the proper Department. This is especially true for the Illinois Medical Board. What are the chances of verifications being lost as it is routed internally? Very high. So what can you do?

One - Ship all verifications signature required.

Two- If you believe that it could be lost, then send two or more requests that are spaced out over a 7-14 day period.

Three - keep all shipping receipts and tracking information. This does add to the cost of the process but it does provide insurance against this issue. Some times the Board will make an effort to locate these verifications if you can provide proof of delivery.