Maryland Lawmakers Consider Ways To Recruit, Retain Physicians In Rural Areas

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 04 Mar 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Maryland lawmakers are looking for ways to recruit and retain physicians in rural parts of the state where a physician shortage is "leaving some residents without access to basic health care and leading to more costly and serious illnesses," the Baltimore Sun reports. According to the Sun, many primary care physicians and specialists "are reluctant to leave the city for the country, where they typically get paid less, work more and find fewer job opportunities for their spouses, who aren't always ready to give up the trappings of life near an urban area." A study conducted in 2008 by the Maryland Hospital Association and the Maryland State Medical Society found that 32% of the state's physicians are expected to retire by 2015, at which point the demand for physicians will be even higher as the overall population will be aging.

To address the shortage, state lawmakers are considering expanding the state's loan forgiveness program for PCPs and specialists who agree to work in rural communities for a certain number of years following medical school. State Sen. Rob Garagiola said that the current loan forgiveness program is "very inadequate," suggesting that by increasing hospital rates by only a slight fraction, a fund could be created to pay down $14 million worth of debt for physicians willing to practice in underserved areas. Garagiola also has proposed legislation that would set minimum reimbursement rates for certain procedures, as rural physicians incur the same high medical malpractice insurance rates as their urban counterparts but receive below average reimbursements. Maryland lawmakers also are considering a proposal that would establish a rural residency program, as approximately half of all physicians go on to practice where they complete their residency, the Sun reports.

Claudia Baquet, dean of policy and planning at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a member of a state taskforce that studied rural issues, said, "I think we stand a good chance of making some meaningful changes to address physician shortages in rural and underserved areas, despite the economic issues" (Desmon, Baltimore Sun, 3/1).

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