Skip to main content
H 7486Healthcare: Licensing & Accreditation

Health and Safety - Primary Care Training Sites Program

This bill allows more medical practices to qualify for state training funding by accepting a wider range of quality accreditations.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 4, 2026Committee House Health & Human Services

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the Rhode Island Primary Care Training Sites Program to broaden the eligibility requirements for medical practices seeking state training contracts. Previously, sites required specific distinction from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The bill expands this to include accreditation from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), the Joint Commission, or recognition by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner. Additionally, it modifies training requirements, changing the didactic training mandate from a minimum of five hours to "up to" five hours, and makes the creation of regulations by the Director of Health optional rather than mandatory.

For younger readers

The state has a program that gives money to doctors' offices to help them teach new doctors and nurses. Before this law, those offices needed a specific kind of "gold star" award to get the money. This new law says they can have different kinds of awards from other groups and still qualify. It also changes the rules so the teachers don't have to spend a minimum amount of time on classroom lessons, giving them a little more freedom in how they teach.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Primary Care PhysiciansMedical Students and ResidentsNurse PractitionersPhysician AssistantsDepartment of Health
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Expands the pool of eligible primary care training sites, potentially increasing the number of trained healthcare providers available to serve the community and reducing wait times for patients.
  • Maintains the requirement for integrated behavioral health services at funded sites, ensuring that mental health remains a priority in primary care settings.
  • Allows for more diverse accreditation bodies (like OHIC) to recognize quality care, potentially allowing smaller or community-based clinics that cannot afford expensive NCQA certification to participate in training programs.
  • Weakens regulatory oversight by changing the requirement for the Director to create rules from a mandatory "shall" to an optional "may," potentially leading to inconsistent program standards.
  • Reduces the mandatory educational standard by changing didactic training from "a minimum of" five hours to "up to" five hours, which could theoretically result in zero hours of formal instruction for trainees.
  • Accepting a wider range of accreditations could be viewed as a dilution of the strict quality standards previously ensured by the exclusive NCQA requirement.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces government bureaucracy by changing the mandate for the Director to create regulations from "shall" to "may," allowing for a leaner administrative approach.
  • Increases flexibility for private practices by removing the strict minimum hour requirement for didactic training, allowing businesses to manage their time and training methods more freely.
  • Breaks the monopoly of a single accrediting body (NCQA) by recognizing other entities like AAAHC and the Joint Commission, promoting competition and choice in the marketplace.
  • Continues to fund a government grant program that distributes taxpayer money (up to $90,000 per site) to private entities, rather than letting the free market handle medical training costs.
  • Maintains the government mandate that participating private practices must provide integrated behavioral health services, interfering with the business autonomy of the clinic owners.
  • Expands the authority of the "Office of Health Insurance Commissioner" by codifying their recognition as a valid standard, further entrenching bureaucratic agencies in the healthcare sector.

Votes

Loading votes...

Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 21 additions · 10 deletions

SECTION 1. Sections 23-17.30-2, 23-17.30-4 and 23-17.30-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17.30 entitled "Primary Care Training Sites Program" are hereby amended to read as follows: 23-17.30-2. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases are construed as follows:

(1) “Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care” or “AAAHC” means an organization that provides ambulatory health care accreditation. (1)(2) “Director” means the director of the department of health. (2)(3) “Grant” means a sum awarded pursuant to a contract executed pursuant to § 23- 17.30-4. (3)(4) “National Committee for Quality Assurance” or “NCQA” means the nonprofit organization headquartered in the District of Columbia working to improve healthcare quality through the administration of evidence-based standards, measures, programs, and accreditation. (4)(5) “Office” means the office of primary care training established pursuant to the provisions of § 23-17.30-3.

(6) “Office of health insurance commissioner” or “OHIC” means the state agency with the authority to designate patient-centered medical home (PCMH), in accordance with agencies regulations. (5)(7) “Patient-centered medical home” or “PCMH” means a model of health care that puts patients at the forefront of care by providing team-based healthcare delivery led by a healthcare provider to render comprehensive and continuous medical care to patients with a goal to obtain maximal health outcomes. (6)(8) “Primary care” means day-to-day health care provided by a healthcare professional. Typically, the healthcare professional acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care that the patient may require. (7)(9) “Primary care site” means a site, location, or medical practice that serves as the patient’s entry point into the healthcare system and acts as the continuing focal point for all required healthcare services. 23-17.30-4. Contracts. In compliance with the provisions of § 42-11-11, the director shall have the authority to enter into contracts, subject to appropriation, for medical education to be conducted at primary care practice sites. Any contract entered into shall not exceed ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) per primary care site contract recipient, per calendar year and shall contain, at a minimum, the following terms, conditions, and provisions:

(1) The primary care site shall serve as an enhanced interdisciplinary clinical training site;

(2) The primary care site shall have achieved and shall maintain NCQA PCMH distinction;, or have achieved and maintained NCQA case management accreditation, or be recognized as a PCMH by the office of the health insurance commissioner, or other appropriate entity, such as the joint commission on AAAHC, as determined by the department of health.

(3) The primary care site shall provide integrated behavioral health services;

(4) The primary care site shall provide an agreed curriculum of training for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants; and

(5) Training shall include a minimum of up to five (5) hours didactic training and shall introduce the trainees to the concept of PCMH and how the principles of the model have been operationalized in the primary care delivery setting. 23-17.30-5. Rules and regulations. The director shall may promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this chapter.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.