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Medical board seeks deficit authority for $735,000 relocation and pitches AI tools for case management
Summary
Representatives for the Medical Board told senators they regulate about 15,431 licensees, are moving offices with a deficit appropriation request of about $735,000 (mostly furnishings), and are seeking IT upgrades including AI‑assisted case‑management tools to better target investigations.
"As of this morning, we were regulating and overseeing 15,431 licensees," Jay Ledbetter told the committee while introducing the Medical Board's presentation, noting a large share of those licensees are out‑of‑state physicians practicing by telemedicine. Ledbetter and Denise DeRosa outlined five agency priorities that drove the fiscal request, including an office relocation into Ridgeland and an IT upgrade to better match prescribing data and target investigations.
DeRosa said the relocation carries a one‑time cost of about $735,000 — roughly $670,000 of which is for furnishings — and that the board is asking for deficit spending authority in FY26 so those costs can be incurred when the lease requires the move. The board also described a proposed $50,000 tele‑IT upgrade to add AI tools for case matching and flagged vehicle purchases and contractual adjustments that require restoring $30,000 to contractual lines. Committee members questioned investigator qualifications (the board said investigators are law‑enforcement certified and receive physician oversight) and discussed whether the board's cash reserves (presented as about $11–12 million) could be used for targeted workforce or residency incentives if legislative authority were provided.
