The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) is encouraging providers to apply for the 1,000 newly created Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency slots that were issued in the FY 2022 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule. The rule included CMS’ final distribution methodology for 1,000 new residency positions, updates to the Rural Training Program (RTP, previously called Rural Training Tracks, or RTTs), and per-resident amount (PRA) and full-time equivalent (FTE) count resets for certain hospitals that were enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, P.L. 116-260).
CMS finalized a methodology for distributing up to 5.0 FTE per year, per hospital. Priority will be given to hospitals in geographic primary care or mental health Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA), based on the applicant’s HPSA score. Starting in FY 2023, no more than 200 slots will be distributed per year.
The application is available on the CMS website under the Section 126: Distribution of Additional Residency Positions tab. Applications are due by March 31. Awards will be announced by Jan. 31, 2023, though the CMS stated in the final rule that they may announce awards before this date. Awards will be effective July 1, 2023.
