August 26, 2009
RX for Rhode Island
Loan forgiveness program for primary care physicians and other professionals is first of its kind in Rhode Island
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Medical Society, and Rhode Island Student Loan Authority team up with Foundation to bolster primary care in the Ocean State
 |
| Newell Warde, PhD, executive director of the Rhode Island Medical Society, (left) and Jerry Fingerut, MD, medical director of the Blackstone Valley Community Health Center, were among those who attended the August 26 announcement at the Foundation. | A coalition of local organizations – The Rhode Island Foundation, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), and the Rhode Island Medical Society (RIMS) – have joined forces to create a $1.1 million loan forgiveness pool for primary care physicians and other professionals, with the goals of lowering healthcare costs and addressing the state’s shortage of these essential coordinators of care and enhancing access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for all Rhode Islanders. The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) will serve as administrator of the loan forgiveness program. Loan forgiveness applications are available on the RISLA website.
“When we established the Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island at the start of the year we announced our intention to create a loan-forgiveness pool to address a growing need to attract physicians and other professionals to this practice area,” stated Neil Steinberg, Foundation president and chief executive officer. “We also openly expressed interest in joining with other organizations to increase the available loan dollars. We’re delighted that Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island contributed $500,000 to the Rhode Island Medical Society and was generous enough to add those funds to our existing pool of $600,000 committed over three years, becoming our first funding partner in this important new venture.” Steinberg noted that the Foundation is in talks with other potential funders. While the immediate loan forgiveness is directed at primary care physicians, the loan forgiveness program will eventually serve a wide range of healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, social workers, and perhaps dentists and dental hygienists.
James E. Purcell, president and chief executive officer at BCBSRI, expressed his enthusiasm for this effort to increase the number of primary care physicians in our community. “We must take dramatic steps to promote the vital role that primary care physicians play in providing high-quality healthcare as well as increase the number of primary care physicians in Rhode Island. Our support for the loan forgiveness program is just the latest example of our ongoing commitment to achieving these goals.”
 |
| Diane Siedlecki, MD, president of the Rhode Island Medical Society, talks with Richard Salit, Providence Journal staff writer. | Rhode Island Medical Society President Diane Siedlecki, herself a primary care physician, concurred. “Focusing loan forgiveness in the area of primary care is a wise investment for Rhode Island,” she said, adding, “Primary care physicians – internists, pediatricians, and family practitioners – along with the other healthcare professionals in this field not only care for patients, but also educate them about strategies and behaviors to stay healthy. It’s very simple: good primary care equates with better outcomes and lower costs by promoting prevention and improving coordination of all aspects of care.”
Primary care provides continuity and integration of all aspects of healthcare, and a central point of connection with an ever more complex and difficult to navigate healthcare system. It is widely acknowledged that gaps in primary care lead to patients utilizing the state’s emergency rooms as their source for primary care, driving up the costs for everyone. Conversely, detailed studies from the Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth and The Commonwealth Fund found that populations with ready access to primary care physicians realize improved health outcomes, reduced mortality, lower utilization of health care resources, and lower overall costs for care.
Nationally and locally there is a shortage of primary care physicians. In fact, a recent report issued by the American College of Physicians noted that, “Primary care, the backbone of the nation’s health care system, is at grave risk of collapse.” A 2008 study by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that only two percent of students graduating from medical school plan to practice primary care. It is predicted that the United States will need 40 percent more primary care physicians by 2020. Currently, 66,000 Rhode Islanders are without primary care physicians or facilities.
RISLA offers loan forgiveness programs for nurses and nurse educators who practice in the state, and interest-free loan repayment for these groups, Rhode Island teachers, and Rhode Island pharmacists. “This is a natural extension of our college planning and education financing activities. Given our twenty-five plus years experience in administering education loans, we can implement a new program like this quickly and efficiently,” said Charles P. Kelley, executive director of the agency.
An advisory committee including representatives of all funders of the loan forgiveness program and other groups will review applications and determine loan forgiveness awards up to $20,000 annually for up to four years for physicians. It is anticipated that the first awards will be announced in January 2010.
Earlier this summer the Foundation announced grants totaling $1.6 million from the Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island, awarded to eight local organizations in three specific focus areas: making primary care services available where and when people can use them; making affordable medications available in connection with primary care; and increasing awareness and education about the importance of primary care and taking personal responsibility for healthcare behaviors.
|