News Briefs: Week of August 3-7

This roundup includes the following news briefs:

Primary care training programs funded under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act will receive $47.6 million of $200 million authorized for training programs by the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

HHS also announced that $50 million from the $200 million will go to fund equipment purchases for primary care training programs. In addition, the agency will provide $10.2 million to increase the diversity of the health professions workforce.

Administration and enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, security rule has been transferred from CMS to the Office for Civil Rights, or OCR. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the change in an Aug. 3 news release.

According to the release, the OCR has been responsible for enforcement of the HIPAA privacy rule since 2003. Moving enforcement of the security rule to the same agency within HHS "will facilitate improvements by eliminating duplication and increasing efficiency," said Sebelius.

The Robert Graham Center, which is the AAFP's health policy research arm, has received three separate grants to study the physician workforce and high-functioning patient-centered medical homes, or PCMHs.

The Josiah Macy Foundation awarded a $150,000, 18-month grant to the center to produce a mapping tool for states and medical schools to determine where medical students end up practicing and how they serve states.

In addition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has given the center a $60,000, 18-month grant to study the primary care workforce and the ideal patient panel size.

The Graham Center and the AAFP's National Research Network also will lead a $250,000 study of a network of clinics in south Texas. The WellMed Medical Group, is an example of an integrated PCMH, according to Robert Phillips, M.D., M.S.P.H, director of the Graham Center. The Graham Center will study various facets of WellMed to determine how they became a high-functioning medical homes and what lessons can be gleaned from their experience, Phillips said.