Physician Assistant Education Public Health Initiatives Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3890 To amend the Public Health Service Act to address physician assistant training needs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Ms. BASS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to address physician assistant training needs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Physician Assistant 4 Education Public Health Initiatives Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPANDING CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES. 6 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 7 ing after section 749A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 293l–1) 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3890.IH H3890 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3890 IH ‘‘SEC. 749A–1. EXPANDING CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNI- 1 TIES. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 3 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 4 Administration, shall award grants to physician assistant 5 education programs to establish or expand clinical edu- 6 cation and training for physician assistants at underserved 7 sites including Federally qualified health centers, critical 8 access hospitals, and rural health clinics. 9 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION FOR RURAL SITES.—Of the 10 amount made available to carry out this section for a fiscal 11 year, the Secretary shall allocate 50 percent of such 12 amount for clinical education and training at underserved 13 sites that are located in rural areas. 14 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 15 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to physician assist- 16 ant education programs proposing to establish or expand 17 clinical rotations for physician assistants in pediatrics, 18 women’s health, or behavioral health. 19 ‘‘(d) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 20 shall— 21 ‘‘(1) not later than March 1, 2024, submit an 22 interim report to the Congress on the implementa- 23 tion of this section; and 24 ‘‘(2) not later than March 1, 2027, submit a 25 final report to the Congress on such implementation. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3890.IH H3890 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3890 IH ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 1 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 2 priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 3 2026.’’. 4 SEC. 3. PROMOTING TELEHEALTH EDUCATION FOR PHYSI- 5 CIAN ASSISTANT STUDENTS. 6 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 7 ing after section 749A–1 of such Act, as added by section 8 2, the following: 9 ‘‘SEC. 749A–2. PROMOTING TELEHEALTH EDUCATION FOR 10 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDENTS. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 12 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 13 Administration, shall award grants to physician assistant 14 education programs to develop and implement telehealth 15 curricula for students who are enrolled at such programs. 16 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Recipients of grants under 17 this section shall use the grants to develop and implement 18 curricula that improve student knowledge on telehealth de- 19 livery, including— 20 ‘‘(1) effective patient communication principles; 21 ‘‘(2) legal requirements pertaining to privacy 22 and security; 23 ‘‘(3) social, cultural, physical, and linguistic 24 barriers to the use of telehealth services; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3890.IH H3890 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3890 IH ‘‘(4) patient safety and criteria for care esca- 1 lation during a telehealth encounter. 2 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 3 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 4 priated $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 5 2026.’’. 6 SEC. 4. RESEARCH TO ENHANCE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT 7 EDUCATION. 8 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 9 ing after section 749A–2 of such Act, as added by section 10 3, the following: 11 ‘‘SEC. 749A–3. RESEARCH TO ENHANCE PHYSICIAN ASSIST- 12 ANT EDUCATION. 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 14 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 15 Administration, shall award grants to eligible entities to 16 fund research on physician assistant education enhance- 17 ment and innovation. 18 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Recipients of grants under 19 this section shall use the grants to fund research on physi- 20 cian assistant education enhancement and innovation, in- 21 cluding— 22 ‘‘(1) the use of simulation to mitigate clinical 23 training site shortages; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3890.IH H3890 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3890 IH ‘‘(2) barriers to integrating physician assistant 1 students into the delivery of telehealth services; or 2 ‘‘(3) recruitment and retention strategies for 3 faculty and students underrepresented in physician 4 assistant education programs and the physician as- 5 sistant profession. 6 ‘‘(c) REPORT REQUIREMENT.—Recipients of grants 7 under this section shall provide to the Secretary with re- 8 spect to each year covered by the grant a report on the 9 activities conducted using such funds, including— 10 ‘‘(1) the number of researchers supported dur- 11 ing such year by such recipient using such funds; 12 ‘‘(2) a list of the researchers counted under 13 paragraph (1), organized by researcher, including— 14 ‘‘(A) the research topic of each such re- 15 searcher; and 16 ‘‘(B) citations to published clinical and sci- 17 entific research by each such researcher that is 18 attributable to support under this section; 19 ‘‘(3) an evaluation of the benefits of grants 20 under this section; and 21 ‘‘(4) any other information the Secretary may 22 request. 23 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3890.IH H3890 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3890 IH ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 1 tity’ means an organization that has demonstrated 2 expertise in physician assistant education and is— 3 ‘‘(A) a nonprofit organization; or 4 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education. 5 ‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT EDUCATION.—The 6 term ‘physician assistant education’ means selecting, 7 educating, and graduating students in accredited 8 graduate physician assistant education programs. 9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 10 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 11 priated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 12 2026.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3890.IH H3890 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS