Large swaths of New Mexico, the fifth largest state in the country, have limited health care access because of persistent shortages of health care professionals.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico partnered with the New Mexico Medical Society to award $500,000 in grants to help 10 independent medical practices recruit doctors and improve care access to residents statewide.
The practices have used the grants to attract needed care providers — including nephrologists, maternal and fetal medicine specialists and gastroenterologists — with signing bonuses, salary support and reimbursement for moving costs.
“Recruiting and retaining talented physicians is one of the most pressing challenges facing New Mexico’s health care system,” says Dr. Brian Etheridge, BCBSNM’s chief medical officer for Medicaid. “By investing in immediate recruitment needs and long-term workforce development, we’re helping to ensure that families in every corner of the state have access to the care they deserve.”
Almost all of New Mexico’s 33 counties have been designated as health professional shortage areas, the Rural Health Information Hub has documented. Since 2013, more than 375 doctors, have stopped practicing in New Mexico, according to information presented by the medical society.
The state needs another 522 doctors to treat its estimated 2.1 million residents, according to the medical society. However, fewer than 40% of University of New Mexico medical school graduates remain in the state to practice, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Less than a quarter of doctors who complete UNM residencies stay, the medical society says.
“The grants represent not just funding, but a commitment to revitalizing our physician workforce in New Mexico,” says Annie Jung, the medical society's executive director. “We are excited to see the impact new physicians will have in their communities.”
Malpractice insurance costs, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates and lack of access to specialized care are among reasons physician recruitment and retention lag in New Mexico, experts say.
For years, Dr. Tudor Ocneanu of the Santa Fe nephrology practice, Nephrophiles, has had difficulty hiring doctors, with two refusing job offers. A BCBSNM grant helped recruit and hire Dr. William Vasquez Espinosa, who recently finished training in California.
“He’s been seeing new patients since he came in,” says Ocneanu, whose practice sees thousands of patients, some of whom travel more than four hours to receive care.
Dr. Steffen Brown, president of Piñon Perinatal, an Albuquerque-based maternal-fetal medicine practice, says a BCBSNM grant was crucial to helping him hire Dr. C. Trammell Cox, board certified in obstetrics and gynecology with a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine from UNM. After spending a dozen years getting educated and trained, specialized doctors like Trammell often seek opportunities in more urban or affluent parts of the country, Brown says.
“Dr. Cox is off to a wonderful start and is beloved by his patients,” says Brown, whose practice also provides services in Grants, Colfax, Las Cruces and Silver City. “Compensation really has to be one of your recruitment tools.”
BCBSNM’s grant partnership with the medical society is part of an effort to increase the state’s care access. The company also has invested more than $2.6 million in nursing education and scholarships to strengthen New Mexico’s health care workforce.
“Access to health care is a fundamental need for every community, and we know it takes commitment and collaboration to address the unique challenges facing New Mexico,” says BCBSNM President says Janice Torrez. “These grants are an important way we can help independent practices bring much needed physicians to underserved areas. By investing in local providers, we are helping to strengthen the health care system and improve the lives of families throughout the state.”