The
Massachusetts Medical Society wishes to be recorded in support of H.1914/S.1282,
legislation that will help assure that patients have access to primary care
physicians in all parts of the Commonwealth.
Specifically,
these identical bills would establish and regulate the operation of the primary
care residency grant program; increases applicant funding eligibility
thresholds related to graduates entering primary care from 50 percent to 95
percent of graduates; requires applicants - including accredited teaching
community health centers and teaching health centers - to demonstrate either a
proven record of placing graduates in areas of unmet need, a record or written
plan of attracting and admitting underrepresented minorities and/or
economically disadvantaged groups; or a record of hosting their programs and/or
clinical training sites in areas of unmet need; increases the length of the
residency program from 9 to 12 months to 3 to 4 years; requires resident
trainees to work at least 40 hours a week per academic year; and requires
assignment of resident trainees as primary care providers.
The
Medical Society continues to believe that the best means by which to address
concerns of access to primary care is by training - and retaining - more physicians
in the Commonwealth. Primary care physicians not only provide exemplary primary
care but they can also lead teams of multiple layers of health care providers
to efficiently provide team-based health care. Community health centers have
long been settings of excellence of team-based care, so graduate medical
education programs in these settings allow family physicians and other primary
care physicians in training to learn primary care in models of the future. In
addition, non-hospital based residency programs help promote tomorrow’s
physicians to be trained in the community rather than at hospitals. Diversity
of residency settings is important to ensure that physicians continue to seek
primary care jobs across practice settings, especially in light of access to
care challenges for populations served by community health centers.
The
MMS urges the Joint Committee on Public Health to report H.1914/S.1282
out of Committee favorably.
