Will the doctor see me now?

Imagine you’re traveling out of state to visit family. When you’re 15 minutes from grandma’s house, you decide to let her know you’ll be arriving soon.

For some reason, your mobile phone doesn’t connect. So you stop at a payphone to call your phone provider. They tell you they shut off your service because you entered a new state.

This scenario may seem absurd. But it’s an apt analogy for the regulatory regime governing many U.S. doctors. Telemedicine technology made it easier for physicians to provide care from afar. But thanks to onerous medical licensing rules, a doctor’s ability to practic...