Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 195-20-.01 - General Definitions
(1) "Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce"
means the organization and its office created under O.C.G.A. §
49-10-1 and authorized to
administer the Georgia Physician Loan Repayment Program.
(2) "Georgia Physician Loan Repayment Program
(GPLRP)" refers to that program of the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce
authorized under O.C.G.A. §
31-34-1 et seq., and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) which awards financial loans to physicians who desire to
practice in medically underserved rural communities of Georgia.
(3) "Loan" refers to the service repayable
grant awarded by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to physicians who
are desirous of becoming practicing physicians in rural, underserved areas of
Georgia. Pursuant to matching GPLRP/HRSA federal grants.
(4) "Loan Repayment" refers to repayment of
all or a portion of the recipient's outstanding medical education and training
loan debt.
(5) "Qualifying debt" is
any debt held by a Government (Federal, State or Local) and/or commercial loans
from an established lending institution, identifiable as origination from the
debt incurred to obtain a medical education, fully disclosed at the time of
application, and is currently not in default even if the creditor now considers
the defaulted loan to be in good standing.
(6) "Medical Education and Training Loan
Debt" refers to loans incurred by the applicant to finance his/her medical
education and training that remain unpaid during the contract period.
(7) "Eligible and Qualified Applicant" refers
to, as minimum qualifications, a physician with outstanding medical educational
and training loan debt, holding a current, unrestricted license to practice
medicine in the State of Georgia and not having any outstanding contractual
obligation for health professional service to the Federal Government, a State,
or other entity, who desires to serve in a Board-approved, medically
underserved rural area of Georgia.
(8) "Graduate Medical Education Training
Program" means a graduate medical education program located in the United
States which has received accreditation or provisional accreditation by the
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American
Osteopathic Association designed to qualify the graduate for licensure by the
Georgia Composite Medical Board.
(9) "Recipient" means any person who receives
any amount of funding from the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce/Georgia
Physician Loan Repayment Program.
(10) "Service Repayment" means the period of
service earned by the physician as approved by the Board, toward repayment of
the service cancelable loan in professional medical services rendered by the
recipient and as required under the provisions of the loan contract.
(11) "Credit" means that amount of time
credited to the recipient for services rendered incompliance with the
provisions of the contract. Credit is typically applied one year of funding for
each year of service rendered in compliance with the repayment provisions of
the contract.
(12) "Rural and
Underserved Area" means a the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce approved
rural county in Georgia with a population of 50,000 or less according to the
United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census.
(13) "Health Professional Shortage Area," or
HPSA, means a geographic area designated by the federal Department of Health
and Human Services as requiring additional primary care or mental health
physicians to meet health care needs.
(14) "Contract Renewal" means the yearly
renewal of the loan repayment contract between the recipient and the Board. The
contract period shall be two years and may be renewed for two one-year periods
for a total not to exceed four (4) years and a total amount not exceeding
100,000.
(15) "Priority of
Specialty" refers to the priority of award consideration given to physician
applicants as determined on an annual basis by the Board and recorded in the
official minutes.
(16) "Award
Amount" refers to the annual amount obligated to a loan repayment recipient.
The Board shall determine the award amount. At its annual meeting, the Georgia
Board of Health Care Workforce may, within its discretion, set the award amount
for new loans within the limit of the appropriated funds for the budget year.
Said amount shall be set forth in the official minutes of the Board.
(17) "Targeted County" means any of those
counties targeted by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce as an area of
severe medical need that is also designated by the federal government as a
Health Professional Shortage Area.
(18) "Default" means breach of contract by
the recipient in failing to begin or failing to complete the contractual
service obligation of the Georgia Physician Loan Repayment Program.
(19) "Full Time" refers to 40 hours of work
required per week to fulfill service obligations. Full time is considered at
least 32 clinical hours providing direct patient care during normal clinic
hours at the approved practice site. Remaining eight hours must be spent
providing inpatient care to patients and/or in practice-related administrative
activities. On-call hours are not considered part of the full time requirement.
Full time hours for an OB/GYN or Family Medicine physicians who practice OB are
considered at least 21 of the minimum 40 hours work week must be spent
providing direct patient care during normal clinic hours at the approved
practice site. The remaining hours must be spent providing inpatient care to
patients of the approved site, and/or in practice related administrative
activities not to exceed 8 hours per week. 40 hours per week for General
Surgery is combined clinical/office hours and surgery/inpatient care with no
more than 8 hours per week devoted to practice related administrative duties.
For all specialties employed under state jurisdiction, the full time equivalent
as recognized by the respective state or federal agency is acceptable. No more
than 7 weeks (35 workdays) per year can be spent away from the practice for
vacation, holidays, continuing professional education, illness or any other
reason. Absences greater than 7 weeks in a service year will extend the service
commitment.
(20) "Practice" refers
to providing direct patient care in Board approved rural and underserved areas
located within the State of Georgia, which are also HPSAs designated as by
United States Department of Health and Human Service.
(21) "Direct Patient Care" refers to hands
on, face-to-face contact with patients for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment
and monitoring.
(22) "Non-Profit
Private Entity" means an entity which may not lawfully hold or use any part of
its net earnings to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and
which does not hold or use its net earnings for that purpose (42 C.F.R.
62.52).
(23) "For-Profit Health Facilities Operated
by Non-Profit Organizations" refers to those organizations that accept
reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance
Program, utilize a sliding fee scale, and see all patients regardless of their
ability to pay.
Notes
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