Section 1200-20-11-.04 - ELIGIBILITY(1) The State Conrad J-1 Visa Waiver Program in Tennessee is limited to those primary care physicians who have completed a residency in one of the following medical specialties: Family Practice, General Pediatrics, Obstetrics, or General Internal Medicine. The State Conrad J-1 Visa Waiver Program is limited to those physician specialists who have completed a residency in Family Practice Adolescent Medicine or Geriatric Medicine; or Internal Medicine Adolescent Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism, Gastroenterology, Geriatric Medicine, Hematology, Hospitalists, Infectious Disease, Interventional Cardiology, Oncology, Nephrology, Neurology, Pulmonary Disease, Rheumatology; or Obstetrics & Gynecology, Critical Care Medicine or Gynecologic Oncology; or Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Hematology- Oncology, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Pediatric Nephrology, Pediatric Pulmonology, or Pediatric Critical Care Medicine; or Addiction Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, or Geriatric Psychiatry; or General Orthopedic Surgery or General Surgery.(2) Health care practitioners who are placed must provide medical care to underserved Tennesseans. Each applicant must be supported by a sponsoring employer. A sponsoring employer will be considered for a J-1 visa waiver placement if the primary purpose of the placement is the provision of health care services to those who live in underserved communities based on the criteria set forth herein.(3) J-1 primary care physicians are placed only in rural areas of the State. At the discretion of the Department, the Department will support and facilitate the placement of primary care physicians in at least seventy percent (70%) of the slots permitted by federal law each federal fiscal year in health care practice sites which are located in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and/or Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), either of which must also be located within the top thirty (30) State designated Health Resource Shortage Areas (HRSAs). Each primary care physician must agree to practice primary health care at that site for a minimum of forty (40) hours per week and for a minimum of three (3) years.(4) At the discretion of the Department, the Department will also support and facilitate the placement of one (1) physician specialist per hospital in up to thirty percent (30%) of the slots permitted by federal law between October 1 and June 30 of each federal fiscal year in affiliation with the following hospitals, as designated by the Department, that are located in a HPSA or MUA: one of the top twenty (20) non-psychiatric hospitals with the highest percentage of total adjusted patient days for TennCare patients; or a Rural Referral Center hospital; or a Sole Community hospital; or a Medicare dependent hospital; or a rural hospital meeting the requirements for placement of a primary care physician. The top twenty non-psychiatric hospital list will be updated on an annual basis. In addition, in accordance with 8 U.S.C.A. § 1184(l)(1)(D)(ii), the Department may also facilitate the placement of physician specialists in up to five (5) of the federally-permitted slots annually in affiliation with hospitals not located in a HPSA or MUA. A hospital requesting participation under 8 U.S.C.A. § 1184(l)(1)(D)(ii) must demonstrate that fifty percent (50%) or more of its patients served reside in a HPSA or MUA.
Each physician specialist must agree to practice his or her specialty in affiliation with the hospital for a minimum of forty (40) hours per week and for a minimum of three (3) years. If the full complement of thirty percent (30%) of the slots for physician specialists has not been committed by April 1, an additional application from a facility which has already received a physician specialist slot between October 1 and March 31 will be accepted and applications for a physician specialist will also be accepted from Critical Access Hospitals located in a HPSA or MUA from April 1 to June 30 of each federal fiscal year. No more than one-third of the specialist slots may be granted in an urban HPSA from October 1 to June 30 of each year.
If the full complement of slots permitted by the federal law has not been committed by June 30, the percentage limitations on the number of slots allocated to specialty physicians and on the placement of specialty physicians, set forth above, shall no longer be applicable. After June 30, all slots permitted by the federal law shall be opened to all eligible sponsoring employers for primary care physicians and specialist physicians as previously described, for the final quarter of the year. Additionally, if all slots permitted by federal law are not filled by June 30th of each year, at the Commissioner's discretion, a physician who has completed a residency in a medical specialty or subspecialty other than one listed in (1) may be considered eligible for placement if the specialty or subspecialty is among those recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties at the time the physician applies for placement through the J-1 visa waiver program. During the final quarter, priority for the specialist slots is given to specialists but primary care provider applications will be accepted if specialist slots are available and no other specialist provider application has been received and deemed eligible.
(5) A physician specialist who requests placement as a primary care physician under the State Conrad J-1 Visa Waiver Program will be required to adhere to all rules and regulations herein specific to primary care physicians.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-20-11-.04
Original rule filed May 30, 1997; effective September 28, 1997. Repeal and new rule filed April 28, 2000; effective July 12, 2000. Amendment filed January 31, 2003; effective May 30, 2003. Repeal and new rule filed December 12, 2003; effective February 25, 2004. Amendments filed January 12, 2005; effective May 31, 2005. Public necessity rules filed May 19, 2006; effective through October 31, 2006. Amendments filed May 31, 2006; effective September 28, 2006.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202, 4-5-204, 68-1-103, 68-1-121, Public Acts of 2003; Chapter 117, and Public Acts of 2004, Chapter 572.