The Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians is highlighting this critical shortage in rural areas and calling for incentives that might encourage more physicians to locate in underserved areas of the state, according to the report.
The Academy of Family Physicians is pushing for legislative solutions that include using taxes on smokeless tobacco to pay off loans for physicians who opt to practice in underserved areas. Texas passed a measure like this last year, according to the report, and physicians have since migrated there.
Read the News9.com report on Oklahoma’s physician shortage.