The following is a summary of “Outcomes of States’ Loan Repayment and Forgiveness Programs From the Perspective of Safety Net Practice Administrators” published in the October 2022 issue of Family Medicine by Pathman et al.


Loan repayment (LRP) is available in nearly every state, and some even provide loan forgiveness to doctors who agree to work in underserved areas. However, concerning safety net procedures, it is unclear how efficient these programs are. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the perceptions of key outcomes held by administrators of safety net practices about the 3 categories of state service programs: state-financed LRPs, LRPs jointly sponsored by states and National Health Service Corps, and loan forgiveness programmes.

Directors of health centers in the community where primary care, behavioral health, and dental health practitioners enrolled in 1 of 14 states’ 26 service packages between 2011 and 2018. Out of the total of 1,380 doctors surveyed, 455 administrators (representing 54.6% of those who participated) responded to the survey. Administrators’ assessments of their sites’ recruitment challenges; the relative ease, speed, and expense of hiring the participating (index) clinician with the service program; anticipated effects of the programme on participant retention; participant job performance.

Most administrators (66.1% said it was difficult to hire physicians in the index clinician’s specialty) but found that the service program made it easier (81.7% said it was easier), faster (65.4% said it was quicker), and sometimes cheaper (34.8% said it was cheaper only rarely), so It is expected by 78.8% of program managers that clinicians will stay with the organization for longer if they participate. Participants are seen as providing high-quality care (96.9%) and making valuable contributions (92.4%). The evaluations made by directors of these three types of programs are quite comparable to one another. The directors of safety net clinics tend to think that the loan payback and forgiveness schemes established by the states are helpful in their efforts to attract and retain qualified medical professionals.

Source; jabfm.org/content/35/5/1015

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