Healthcare Coalition Makes Progress in Removing Stigmatizing Questions from Employment Forms

More than 3 million US health workers now have safer access to mental health care following national progress to remove invasive and stigmatizing questions from licensure and credentialing applications, according to the ALL IN: Well-Being First for Healthcare coalition, led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. The ACS is a member of the ALL IN coalition and supports efforts to promote surgeon well-being and psychological safety across the healthcare workforce. 

The coalition’s Well-Being First Champion Challenge has verified that 70 state licensure boards and more than 2,100 hospitals, clinics, and care facilities no longer include intrusive mental health or substance use questions on their applications. 

It has been found that asking physicians about mental health care or behavioral health treatment received in the past discourages them from seeking out such support going forward, and these changes help protect clinicians’ privacy and reduce the fear that seeking mental health care could result in professional consequences. 

“The ACS recognizes that mental health is health,” said Halle Ellison, MD, MAS, PSHQ, FACS, an ACS representative to the ALL IN coalition. “Our participation in the ALL IN coalition reinforces this commitment and extends it to all health professionals. Eliminating barriers to mental health care is not only the right thing to do, but it also strengthens the healthcare workforce and advances our mission to improve the care of surgical patients, as well as our vision to foster an environment in which surgeons can thrive.” 

The Well-Being First Champion Challenge guides organizations through a four-step process—audit, revise, verify, and communicate—to ensure that licensure and credentialing applications focus on current impairment rather than past mental health treatment, aligning with best practices nationwide. 

Learn more at www.drlornabreen.org/removebarriers.