83R1962 KEL-F

By: Branch H.B. No. 3692

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the support of certain resident physicians and physician residency programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 58.007, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (e), and (g) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(a) Nothing in this section or Section 58.006 or 58.008 shall diminish or abolish the activities of the Family Practice Residency Advisory Committee established under Section 61.505. It is not the intent of this section to combine or assimilate advisory programs but only to add to and enhance the residency training of [primary care] physicians in Texas.

(b)[(1)] The Graduate Medical Education [Primary Care] Residency Expansion Grant Program Advisory Committee is created and shall consist of 13 [12] members as follows:

(1) eight [(A) seven] members shall be licensed physicians, one appointed by each of the following:

(A) [(i)] the Texas Medical Association;

(B) [(ii)] the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association;

(C) [(iii)] the Texas Academy of Family Physicians;

(D) [(iv)] the Texas Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians;

(E) [(v)] the Texas Society of Internal Medicine;

(F) [(vi)] the Texas Pediatric Society; [and]

(G) [(vii)] the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and

(H) the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians;

(2) [(B)] one member shall be appointed by the Office [Texas Department] of Rural Affairs in the Department of Agriculture;

(3) [(C)] one member shall be appointed by [the Bureau of Community Oriented Primary Care at] the Department of State Health Services; and

(4) [(D)] three members shall be members of the public, one appointed by each of the following:

(A) [(i)] the governor;

(B) [(ii)] the lieutenant governor; and

(C) [(iii)] the speaker of the house of representatives.

(b-1) [(2)] No individual who has a direct financial interest in [primary care] residency training programs shall be appointed to serve as a member of the advisory committee.

(e) The committee shall meet at least annually, and so often as requested by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board or called into meeting by the committee chair.

(g) The committee shall review for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board applications for approval and funding of the expansion of existing [primary care] residency programs or the establishment of new Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or American Osteopathic Association nationally accredited residency programs [training program expansion] as described in Section 58.008 [and related support programs], make recommendations to the board relating to program funding [the standards and criteria for approval of residency training and related support programs], and perform such other duties as may be directed by the board.

SECTION 2. Section 58.008, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 58.008. GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION [PRIMARY CARE] RESIDENCY EXPANSION GRANT PROGRAM [EXPANSION]. (a) Only accredited residency programs that offer first-year entering residency positions, including programs [positions] in family practice, [general] internal medicine, [general] pediatrics, [and] obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and surgery, shall be eligible for [these] funds under this section.

(b) The advisory committee created under Section 58.007 shall recommend to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board an allocation of new [primary care] residency positions by residency program that are to receive state support in order to increase the number of residents in training in this state.

(b-1) In [The committee shall take into consideration in] recommending an allocation among residency programs [the four primary care specialties] designated for expansion, the committee shall consider the following factors:

(1) the current number [primary care specialties mix] of Texas physicians in direct practice and the types of their practices;

(2) [projections for the primary care specialties mix of Texas physicians in direct practice;

[(3) the current state-supported primary care positions;

[(4)] geographic need [shortages] for [primary care] physicians;

(3) [(5)] federally designated and state-designated [state designated] medically underserved areas, and counties that are health professional shortage areas;

(4) [(6)] the demographics of the Texas population; [and]

(5) [(7)] the infrastructure of existing residency programs;

(6) the residency program's history of retention and the program's success rate in placing physicians in communities in this state following completion of residency training, with an emphasis on the program's success rate in placing physicians in underserved communities; and

(7) the amount of matching funds a residency program receives or will receive from community collaborative groups.

(c) Once funds are awarded to support a residency program's expansion efforts or the establishment of a new [resident position of a particular] residency program, the board shall continue to award grant funds to support that residency program to ensure the successful expansion or establishment of the program [position for all three or four postgraduate years of the residency training curriculum until the resident physician appointed to that position has completed or left the program. The position would then be eligible for reallocation by the Primary Care Residency Advisory Committee].

(d) A grant awarded under this section to an existing or new residency program may be used to support the salaries of resident physicians in an amount not to exceed $15,000 per resident physician.

(e) The board shall adopt rules for the administration of this section.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.