New Jersey-2012-S1336-Introduced

An Act concerning physicians, and supplementing Titles 26 and 45 of the Revised Statutes and Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Department of Health and Senior Services shall coordinate with the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals in collecting and evaluating information to optimize the recruitment, retention, and distribution of physicians in the State.

b. The department, in consultation with the State Board of Medical Examiners, the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, and the Medical Society of New Jersey, shall develop a survey to be administered to physicians as a condition of their licensure and licensure renewal. The data to be collected shall include, but not be limited to: age; gender; race and ethnicity; foreign language proficiency; educational background; practice specialty and subspecialty; time spent providing patient care; practice capacity; acceptance of Medicaid and other public health programs; plans to continue practicing; and use of computer technology.

c. The department, in consultation with the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, shall aggregate and analyze physician workforce data collected pursuant to this act, and monitor and forecast the supply and distribution of physicians in the State. The analysis shall identify factors that will aid in developing medical education programs to best meet physician workforce needs, and shall include, but not be limited to, analysis of: where the State's medical school and residency graduates ultimately practice; where, when and why physicians enter and leave practice; geographic distribution of physicians, by specialty and subspecialty; age of practicing physicians; and the identification of health professional shortage areas in the State.

d. The department shall issue a report each year following the year during which the physician surveys are administered to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), except that the report shall be in electronic form.

2. The State Board of Medical Examiners shall require each physician, as a condition of licensure, to complete the survey developed pursuant to section 2 of this act.

3. The Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council, in consultation with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, shall conduct annual exit surveys of the residents and fellows who complete training in programs in the State to determine how effective New Jersey is in retaining these graduates, and shall forward the survey results to the Department of Health and Senior Services.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes in the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) a central repository for data relevant to current and future physician workforce needs in the State. Although it is widely recognized that significant physician shortages will become even more critical within the next decade because of changing health care workforce demographics and increasing demand for health care services by an aging population, New Jersey lacks adequate State-specific information to facilitate effective physician workforce planning. This bill is intended to provide for an ongoing, coordinated collection and analysis of data about the State's current and future physician workforce.

Specifically, the bill requires that DHSS coordinate its efforts with the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals to aggregate and analyze physician workforce data.

DHSS, in consultation with the State Board of Medical Examiners, the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals and the Medical Society of New Jersey, is to develop a survey to be administered by the State Board of Medical Examiners as a condition for licensure and licensure renewal, which occurs every two years. The data to be collected shall include: age; gender; race and ethnicity; foreign language proficiency; educational background; practice specialty and subspecialty; time spent providing patient care; practice capacity; acceptance of Medicaid and other public health programs; plans to continue practicing; and use of computer technology.

Similarly, the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council, in consultation with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, is to conduct annual exit surveys of the residents and fellows who complete training in programs in the State to determine how effective New Jersey is in retaining these graduates.

The department, in consultation with the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, shall aggregate and analyze the data, and monitor and forecast the supply and distribution of physicians in the State. The analysis shall identify factors that will aid in developing medical education programs to best meet physician workforce needs, and shall include, but not be limited to, analysis of: where the State's medical school and residency graduates ultimately practice; where, when and why physicians enter and leave practice; geographic distribution of physicians, by specialty and subspecialty; age of practicing physicians; and the identification of health professional shortage areas in the State.

Every other year following the year during which the physician surveys are administered, DHSS is to issue a report to the Governor and the Legislature in electronic format.