Section 246-562-085. Eligibility for primary care and specialist waivers.

(1) Primary care waivers.

(a) Primary care waivers are available to the following physician specialties:

(i) Family medicine;

(ii) General internal medicine;

(iii) Pediatrics;

(iv) Geriatric medicine;

(v) Obstetrics and gynecology; or

(vi) Psychiatry and its subspecialties.

(b) Physicians who have completed any additional subspecialty training are not eligible for a primary care waiver, with the exception of geriatric medicine and psychiatry. Continuing medical education (CME) will not be considered subspecialty training for the purposes of this rule.

(2) Specialist waivers. Specialist waivers are available to nonprimary care physician specialties. Applicants submitting an application for a specialist physician must:

(a) Demonstrate a need for the nonprimary care specialty by using data to show how the physician specialty is needed to address a major health problem in the practice location service area, address a population to provider ratio imbalance, or meet government requirements such as trauma designation regulations.

(b) Describe how this specialty will link to primary care.

(c) Describe how the demand for the specialty has been handled in the past.

(d) Describe the practice location's referral system that includes:

(i) On-call sharing;

(ii) How patients from other health care entities in the service area, specifically publicly funded employers, will be able to access the sponsored physician's services.

(e) Provide written notice to the department and all publicly funded employers in the applicant's HPSA within thirty days of the sponsored physician's start-date of employment. The notice must include:

(i) The sponsored physician's name, employment start date, and practice location;

(ii) Services to be provided; and

(iii) Identification of accepted patients, such as medicaid, medicare, and the availability of a sliding fee schedule of discounts.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.185.040 and P.L. 110-362. WSR 16-17-060, § 246-562-085, filed 8/12/16, effective 10/1/16. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.185 RCW and Public Law 108-441. WSR 06-07-035, § 246-562-085, filed 3/8/06, effective 4/8/06.]

RCW 70.185.040 and P.L. 110-362. WSR 16-17-060, § 246-562-085, filed 8/12/16, effective 10/1/16. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.185 RCW and Public Law 108-441. WSR 06-07-035, § 246-562-085, filed 3/8/06, effective 4/8/06.