25 USC 1616 - Community health aide program

View all text of Subchapter I [§ 1611 - § 1616r]

§ 1616l. Community health aide program

(a) General purposes of programPursuant to section 13 of this title, the Secretary, acting through the Service, shall develop and operate a Community Health Aide Program in the State of Alaska under which the Service—

(1) provides for the training of Alaska Natives as health aides or community health practitioners;

(2) uses those aides or practitioners in the provision of health care, health promotion, and disease prevention services to Alaska Natives living in villages in rural Alaska; and

(3) provides for the establishment of teleconferencing capacity in health clinics located in or near those villages for use by community health aides or community health practitioners.

(b) Specific program requirementsThe Secretary, acting through the Community Health Aide Program of the Service, shall—

(1) using trainers accredited by the Program, provide a high standard of training to community health aides and community health practitioners to ensure that those aides and practitioners provide quality health care, health promotion, and disease prevention services to the villages served by the Program;

(2) in order to provide such training, develop a curriculum that—

(A) combines education regarding the theory of health care with supervised practical experience in the provision of health care;

(B) provides instruction and practical experience in the provision of acute care, emergency care, health promotion, disease prevention, and the efficient and effective management of clinic pharmacies, supplies, equipment, and facilities; and

(3) establish and maintain a Community Health Aide Certification Board to certify as community health aides or community health practitioners individuals who have successfully completed the training described in paragraph (1) or can demonstrate equivalent experience;

(4) develop and maintain a system that identifies the needs of community health aides and community health practitioners for continuing education in the provision of health care, including the areas described in paragraph (2)(B), and develop programs that meet the needs for such continuing education;

(5) develop and maintain a system that provides close supervision of community health aides and community health practitioners;

(6) develop a system under which the work of community health aides and community health practitioners is reviewed and evaluated to ensure the provision of quality health care, health promotion, and disease prevention services; and

(7) ensure that—

(A) pulpal therapy (not including pulpotomies on deciduous teeth) or extraction of adult teeth can be performed by a dental health aide therapist only after consultation with a licensed dentist who determines that the procedure is a medical emergency that cannot be resolved with palliative treatment; and

(B) dental health aide therapists are strictly prohibited from performing all other oral or jaw surgeries, subject to the condition that uncomplicated extractions shall not be considered oral surgery under this section.

(1) Neutral panel

(A) Establishment

(B) Membership

(2) Study

(A) In general

(B) Parameters of study

(i) the ability of the dental health aide therapist services under this section to address the dental care needs of Alaska Natives;

(ii) the quality of care provided through those services, including any training, improvement, or additional oversight required to improve the quality of care; and

(iii) whether safer and less costly alternatives to the dental health aide therapist services exist.

(D) Consultation

(3) ReportThe neutral panel shall submit to the Secretary, the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing the results of the study under paragraph (2), including a description of—

(A) any determination of the neutral panel under paragraph (2)(C); and

(B) any comments received from Alaska tribal organizations under paragraph (2)(D).

(d) Nationalization of program

(1) In general

(2) Requirement; exclusionSubject to paragraphs (3) and (4), in establishing a national program under paragraph (1), the Secretary—

(A) shall not reduce the amounts provided for the Community Health Aide Program described in subsections (a) and (b); and

(B) shall exclude dental health aide therapist services from services covered under the program.

(3) Election of Indian tribe or tribal organization

(A) In general

(B) Action by Secretary

(4) Vacancies

(e) Effect of section

(Pub. L. 94–437, title I, § 119, as added Pub. L. 102–573, title I, § 111, Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4539; amended Pub. L. 111–148, title X, § 10221(a), (b)(1), Mar. 23, 2010, 124 Stat. 935.)